Professional cyclists start arriving in Lake Tahoe for two stages of Amgen

Tyler and Cheryl Cannon, owners of Sprouts Cafe in South Lake Tahoe, opened their doors Tuesday to two of the cycling teams in town for two stages of the Amgen Breakaway from Heart DiseaseTM Women's Race empowered with SRAM on May 11-12.

DROPS and United Healthcare (UHC) were there not only to enjoy the food Sprouts is known for, but to spend time with media and sharing their stories two days before race time.

UHC arrived in South Lake Tahoe late Monday and have had just enough time to sit on the beach, take a swim and watch the sunset. They'll be using the rest of their time prior to race day to ride They took some easy ones on Tuesday and Wednesday. They are coming off a big race in New Mexico so don't need to ride hard before Thursday, nor do they have to acclimate as the Tour of the Gila race in Silver City has an elevation of just under 6,000 feet. UHC rider Tayler Wiles came in first, followed by teammate Katie Hall in second and Ruth Winder in fourth.

Area potholes don't seem to bother UHC. "You should see the roads in Colorado Springs!" said cyclist Lauren Hall.

The women had some time to evaluate the course on paper and are looking forward to the challenges the new stage 2 will bring on Friday. The racers will start their uphill climb in the Carson Valley and head up SR207, Kingsbury Grade, then descend to the lake.

"The only reason I go up is to go down," said UHC cyclist Ruth Winder. The team said their teammate Katie Hall is one that prefers going uphill as she has an advantage due to her power. The last leg of each stage goes up Keller Road in South Lake Tahoe, a stretch that might see Hall pulling away.

When comparing the Amgen race to football, Hall said it's like the playoffs of cycling events. Their "Super Bowl" is the World Championships. Teammate Lauretta Hanson added that Amgen is one of the top ranking events and that is worth a lot of points to the cyclists.

Teams race together January through September, making trips home in between races. From Lake Tahoe they'll head to Winston-Salem Cycling Classic in North Carolina at the end of May.

The ladies said they are starting to see more pay and things are moving in the right direction when compared to men's cycling. UHC has both a men's and women's team, something the girls at Sprouts says benefits them more than smaller teams with only female cyclists.

The women all took different paths to becoming the elite cyclists they are today. Ruth got started riding as she commuted to her job in Seattle, then turned to racing. Diana Penuela Martinez from Colombia said she was a skater, then used cycling to help strengthen her ankles and never turned back.

Two of the UHC group are Olympians: Manager Rachel Heal and Rushlee Buchanan, and from DROPS, Martina Ritter.

The DROPS team is based in Great Britain and is relatively knew in the cycling world having formed in 2016. The team has been in Lake Tahoe for over a week, riding around parts of the lake and getting acclimated to the altitude. Unlike UHC, the DROPS women are not fond of the potholes in Tahoe, especially those along Highway 50 in South Lake Tahoe.

In the UHC photo above, left to right: Manager Rachel Heal (GBR), Diana Penuela Martinez (COL), Katie Hall (USA), Rushlee Buchanan (NZ), Lauretta Hanson (Aust), Lauren Hall (USA), Ruth Winder (USA), Tayler Wiles (USA).

From Team DROPS, left to right: Anna Christian (GBR), Lizzy Holden (GBR), Hannah Payton (GBR), Abby-Mae Parkinson (GBR), Martina Ritter (AUT).