Wiles powers to Women's USA Pro Challenge stage 2 win

At the end of a 58-mile (93km) stage from Loveland to Fort Collins, Tayler Wiles (DNA Cycling-K4) beat out a small lead group to take the win in the second stage of the USA Pro Challenge. Lauren Komanski (Twenty16-Sho-Air) crossed the line in second, and her teammate Kristin Armstrong finished third and retained her race lead on a windy Saturday in Colorado.

Coryn Rivera (UnitedHealthcare) and Robin Farina (BMW-Happy Tooth Dental) rode together off the front of the pack for much of the day, but they were eventually reeled in, allowing others to go on the move. A quartet of Wiles, Komanski, Armstrong, and Mara Abbott (Amy D Foundation) opened up a gap on the rest of the peloton, and the four riders maintained their advantage into the finale, where Wiles proved the strongest.

“I knew I was going to have to play it pretty smart since there were two Twenty16 riders,” Wiles said after the stage. “Lauren Komanski had gone again with 500 meters to go, so I stuck on her wheel. Then I went with about 400 meters to go, which was pretty early. It was a long straight drag and I knew if I could get a jump and get a little on the downhill I could hold it.”

The race concludes Sunday with a circuit race in Golden.