I know there are a lot of cycling geeks like myself following worlds so didn’t want this one to slide under the radar. Rhae Shaw just put in an absolutely amazing ride to finish 7th in the elite womens TT. She had been a top age group triathlete for some years with a number of top finishes overall at Kona and other high profile races. She took a leave from her job at Microsoft to see what she could do as a cyclist and in not even one full year has put together a resume that most cyclists don’t achieve over an entire career. Herbert, this would be a great profile if you ever get a chance…truly an amazing and talented person in many ways.
Wow, that is an amazing result. If memory serves me correctly, she is a senior bank manager, or something like that.
3 Canadians in the top-7 is incredible.
Upper management at Microsoft. Sharp little cookie!
Outstanding result for Shaw and for the Canadian women. Not on the podium, but three in the top 7 is HUGE!
Both Tara Whitten, and of course the legendary Clara Hughes are old pros at this, but Rhae Shaw really is the story of the day having made the jump over from Triathlon just over a year ago.
Looks great for London and the Olympic Games next year for the Canadian women.
Whitten isn’t really an old pro. I think she’s been in cycling for about 5 years but she had immediate success and has now won multiple world titles on the track.
I tried to interview her when she was still racing as a fast age grouper and she never responded. 
But she performed awesome today for sure. Big thumbs up.
Yet, someone from my country won. 
Yea, awesome ride for Judith. Crushed it in the rain no less!
About two years ago, I was out on a ride here in Boulder on a day where everything was going well. As I turned
left from Hwy 66 onto Hwy 36 back to Boulder in Lyons, I saw a woman turning right onto Hwy 36
at the same time just behind me.
That turn was my cue to start a 20 minute interval, and I dug in and started up the long grade with a hard push. As I crested the
first roller I was stunned to see a flash of pink lycra as the woman I thought I had left far down the hill pulled through. Apparently she
thought my flat out effort was a nice social paceline and was going to take her pull.
We ended up trading pulls most of the way back to Boulder (my scheduled workout was now out the shelved for the opportunity
to ride with a beautiful hammer on her way to Hawaii ) . we chatted about the odds for the Kona pro field, touched gloves and went our separate
ways… As we pulled away, I asked her name and she shouted back over her shoulder “Its Rhae - root for me!”
so now I do…
FYI, Rhae Shaw is coached by ST’s own “roady” (John O’Donnell). I bought John’s old P3 from the ST classifieds (getting bought by me was one big come down for that bike–about like a former model having to start bussing tables in a truck stop–but I digress). John is a great guy and has helped many, many people on this board with positioning, general bike advice, and power based coaching. If anyone needs a bike coach, he would be a great choice.
Phil
Yet, someone from my country won.
Herbert,
Indeed. Conditions were much more challenging for Arndt and the later starters with the rain and the slippery conditions. Both Shaw and Hughes being un-seeded did have an advantage of going in the first grouping.
Congratulations to Judith Arndt for the win.
Not to take away from Rhae Shaw and her amazing rise, and the Canadian results (I really thought this was Clara Hughes race, and was shocked to see she was not on the podium), but that race was missing the best women’s TT’er in the world.
Because USAC and USOC were more concerned about being politically correct than sending the most proven / stongest TT’er our country has ever produced.
Oh well, here’s to London, Kristin. Can’t wait for the repeat.
Not to take away from Rhae Shaw and her amazing rise, and the Canadian results (I really thought this was Clara Hughes race, and was shocked to see she was not on the podium), but that race was missing the best women’s TT’er in the world.
Because USAC and USOC were more concerned about being politically correct than sending the most proven / stongest TT’er our country has ever produced.
Oh well, here’s to London, Kristin. Can’t wait for the repeat.
KA is a great athlete and by all accounts an even better person, but that’s a baseless claim. Judith Arndt is the best women TT’er in the world right now, and she’s deserving of the rainbow jersey. Moreover, I don’t get all of the hand-wringing and complaining about USAC on this one. The selection criteria are clear: Stevens won her spot on the team by winning Nationals. KA took a calculated risk doing NVGP right before Nationals (knowing she pretty much had to win), and it didn’t work out when she stacked it in the crit. So, that left the discretionary spot. A committee of 3 picked KA. Neben filed a protest, and was awarded the spot. Personally, I think KA offered a (slightly) better chance for a medal on that course, but that’s certainly not a clear-cut thing. Someone else reached a different conclusion. More importantly though, there’s a system in place for a rider to file a protest if they feel they have a grievance. This isn’t a case of ‘being politically correct’, this is the system working, IMHO, even if I disagree with the outcome.
But enough of that, and on to Rhae: Herbert, sorry she didn’t get back to you when you tried to interview her earlier! As good as she is at riding a bike is how bad she is at the art of self-promotion… I do think folks would be interested to hear her story though, so I’ll hassle her to contact you. In the mean time, here are the Cliff’s Notes:
Starting about 2 years ago, her boyfriend (Lang Reynolds, an accomplished bike racer in his own right) and I both started hassling her to forget about this silly triathlon thing and start bike racing. And really, it’s not that triathlon is silly…but it was extremely obvious that her real talent was on the bicycle. Her natural build is more track sprinter than marathon runner, and while she had/has the ability to be a really good triathlete, she demonstrated the potential to be a great cyclist–even with minimal training on the bike. At the end of last year, she decided she’d give it shot. It was a pretty bold move, and she went chips-in; taking a leave from her job, quitting the sport she knew and jumping completely into the deep end. It was basically the immersion program of bike racing, doing every NRC race within reason, getting a spot on the national team mid-season after having a great ride at CA natz, and heading to Europe to race after just 4 months of racing full-time on the road. She won 2 stages in her first race in Europe, which got her a ride in T of Holland, then a ride at worlds.
It was a bit of a leap of faith for the CA national team coaches to give this sort of opportunity to someone in her first full year of bike racing, but I feel she demonstrated that she deserved that opportunity with how she performed this year. Still, hats off to those folks for keeping an open mind to a brand new rider. And lastly, I’ll say that there’s no way she could have accomplished what she did without the incredible infrastructure of bike racing in the Pacific Northwest. There’s a reason that so many great bike racers have come out of this area, and that’s because there are a lot of quality events, and racers have the opportunity to race often and against a high level of competition. Doing a lot of men’s P1/2 races was really key in helping her get up to speed quickly. This area really is an example of how racing at the grass roots level can work, so a huge thanks has to go out to all of those who make it such a great place to race your bike.
Here’s a photo for everyone to pick apart. Notice that her seat is in the correct position:
Never said JA was not deserving to win. But I reserve my right to my judgement on her level of class after the “flying of the bird” episode at the Athens Oly RR finish :).
As far as NVGP, check out just who else was in the field. KA beat ES and AN in the opening TT by 23 and 29 secs. They were just lucky to avoid getting crashed on in the crit.
She beat them both at the Amgen TT earlier in the year. So KA has one bad race (nats) on one day over the course of what, years?
ES had every claim to her spot, that was never in question.
If you look at the TT results over not only over the course of this year, but in year’s past, it’s obvious who the better choice might have been. And since the USA didn’t medal yesterday (or even come close) it’s wide open for London next year for team selection. So KA has a VERY good shot now at representing, and repeating, next year.
Never said JA was not deserving to win. But I reserve my right to my judgement on her level of class after the “flying of the bird” episode at the Athens Oly RR finish :).
As far as NVGP, check out just who else was in the field. KA beat ES and AN in the opening TT by 23 and 29 secs. They were just lucky to avoid getting crashed on in the crit.
She beat them both at the Amgen TT earlier in the year. So KA has one bad race (nats) on one day over the course of what, years?
ES had every claim to her spot, that was never in question.
If you look at the TT results over not only over the course of this year, but in year’s past, it’s obvious who the better choice might have been. And since the USA didn’t medal yesterday (or even come close) it’s wide open for London next year for team selection. So KA has a VERY good shot now at representing, and repeating, next year.
Those women took a risk as well going to NVGP! But they also had less at stake at Natz.
Well, as far as the Amgen Tour goes, KA had the luxury of preparing specifically for that event; Neben had her trade team obligations all season, and was racing in Europe for a lot of the season. IIRC, she basically flew in right before the event, got off a plane and raced–and was still right there w/KA. Again, I personally think KA offered a slightly better chance on that course–but I don’t think it was a clear cut decision, and I could see someone else reaching a different conclusion. I also think it’s fair to file a protest when a member of the original selection committee is/was KA’s personal coach, since there’s an obvious COI, even if that conflict is disclosed.
So really, my main point is that while I may not agree with the decision, the process by which is was made seems pretty fair to me–yet lots of folks are complaining about how USAC is ‘messed up’. I simply don’t see it that way.
John,
Thanks for that back-ground on Rhae.
I had known of her because good friend Roch Frey had coached her at one time.
It was interesting listening to the commentators on EuroSport yesterday and what they were saying about the Canadian women and that we must have this great system and pipeline at developing great road racers and in particular time-trialers - when in reality nothing could be further from the truth. There is no system and it’s purely timing and good fortune that has brought these three amazing women together at this time:
Tara Whitten - had been up until this year a track specialist( albeit one of the best in the world), but had little road racing experience.
Clara Hughes - while a legend, is in reality coming out of retirement.
Rhae Shaw - Came from triathlon just a year ago, and does not even live in Canada!!
Whatever the case - bodes well for Canada for next year at the Olympic Games. We now have three possible chances at Olympic glory next summer. Better than nothing.
I’m happy to know Rhae for several years from working at Microsoft. It has been great watching her cycling career unfold. It was obvious from even a hack like me that her bike was the strongest of all three disciplines so jumping to bike racing only makes sense.
I am a big fan and am thrilled she did so well at Worlds.
If you look at the TT results over not only over the course of this year, but in year’s past, it’s obvious who the better choice might have been.
You do know that Neben is a past world champ, right? And was 4th last year while Armstrong didn’t race? And that she did a bigger schedule this year while Armstrong didn’t race in Europe? And beat her at Nationals, which was one of the selection criteria? If they followed the selection criteria, then the correct choice is obvious. (not KA)
If the US had the same “no dopers going to worlds” rule as another country, the outcome of the US team would have been different.
Nice aerobar on Shaw’s bike - fastest UCI legal bar. Bet she signs some deals and has a few less logos next year!
John,
Thanks for that back-ground on Rhae.
I had known of her because good friend Roch Frey had coached her at one time.
It was interesting listening to the commentators on EuroSport yesterday and what they were saying about the Canadian women and that we must have this great system and pipeline at developing great road racers and in particular time-trialers - when in reality nothing could be further from the truth. There is no system and it’s purely timing and good fortune that has brought these three amazing women together at this time:
Tara Whitten - had been up until this year a track specialist( albeit one of the best in the world), but had little road racing experience.
Clara Hughes - while a legend, is in reality coming out of retirement.
Rhae Shaw - Came from triathlon just a year ago, and does not even live in Canada!!
Whatever the case - bodes well for Canada for next year at the Olympic Games. We now have three possible chances at Olympic glory next summer. Better than nothing.
Roch was my coach at U of A swim camps when I was 9-11
she was 36th in the road race too - very impressive since she is so knew to road racing.