Beijing-bound Cheatley celebrates with US cycling win

New Zealand cyclist Catherine Cheatley celebrated her selection for the Beijing Olympics with a superb overall victory in the 49th Fitchburg Longsjo Classic in Massachusetts.

Cheatley, formerly from Wanganui but now based in Invercargill, grabbed the lead on the second day and decisively held her advantage to claim the four-stage event for her Cheerwine pro team.

The New Zealand was added to the track team for Beijing and answered in the best possible way to become the third kiwi to win the classic, following Jacqui Nelson in 1994 and Sarah Ulmer two years ago.

“We are thrilled for Catherine which is her second win of the season,” BikeNZ High Performance Director, Mark Elliott said. “She is a world class rider who has come back from injury and surgery to prove that she deserves her selection for Beijing.”

Trailing by five seconds after the opening day time trial, Cheatley took the lead on the second day where she used her Olympic selection for extra motivation as she out-climbed race leader Kristin McGrath (Colavita/Sutter Home) and another top climber Kathleen Billington (Power Bar) to claim the lead on general classification.

"I feel like I've had a weight lifted off my shoulders," said Cheatley about her Beijing selection. "I'm really motivated at the moment to do well. And I wanted to do a good climb because the team did such a good job."

Cheerwine continued to dominate with teammate Robin Farina won a two-up sprint against Anna McLoon (Colavita/Sutter Home) on the third stage with Cheatley retained a 19-second lead overall from McGrath.

While US national champion Tina Pic (Colavita/Sutter Home) took out the final day criterium, Cheatley finished safely in the peloton to take the overall honours ahead of McGrath (Colavita/Sutter Home) and teammate Farina.

"I’m really stoked and I felt really tired and took two weeks off racing so I wasn’t really sure how I was going to come into this," said Cheatley.

"I felt good all week and happy that I could capitalize off of it and get a win for the team."

Final General classification

Catherine Cheatley (NZl) Cheerwine Cycling, 6:18.41, 1; Kristin Mcgrath (USA) Colavita/Sutter Home at 19 seconds, 2; Robin Farina (USA) Cheerwine Cycling, at 1m20s, 3; Kathleen Billington (USA) Connecticut Coast Cycling, at 1:27, 4; Stacy Marple (USA) Cheerwine Cycling, at 1:35, 5.