2026 Oakland Grand Prix — Women's P123, 3/4/5, Masters

Date: September 20, 2026

AVRT Racers: Kathay Tousant, Stephanie Hayos
Top Result: Kathay Tousant — 1st/10, W3/4/5 | Stephanie Hayos — 3rd/3, P/1/2/3

Course: Four-corner crit with a tight chicane raced as a hairpin turn. About 60 degrees, slightly damp with light winds.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/20259196759

Nutrition: One bottle of 90g carb mix, plus a pre-race bagel.

 Race Recap - Kathay

In my ongoing pursuit to sharpen my bike handling and cornering tactics, I signed up for the Oakland GP, known for its brutally tight hairpin turn. I'd raced TBC Crit earlier this season, which had its own U-turn, so I went in mentally rehearsing that same kind of bravery.

One of my biggest takeaways from TBC Crit was this: if you're not in the first few wheels through a tight corner, you often have to sprint out of the saddle just to catch back on. Since I arrived early to watch my partner race the Men's Cat 4, I posted up at the chicane to study the best lines and watched exactly that scenario play out live. The peloton got strung out through the corner, and the back two-thirds of the field were forced to sprint just to reach the chicane the leaders had already exited.

With that fresh in my mind, I went into the race with three goals: 1) stay in the top three wheels, 2) hold my position and not get bullied off wheels, and 3) keep an eye on Shannon G, who'd beaten me two weeks earlier at the SF Giro. This edition combined all three Women's races (picked separately) into one field, which made for an interesting dynamic.

At registration, a great surprise: Stephanie! Always good to spot another orange teammate in a sea of purple (6 Sprinkles was out in force). I also clocked a National TT champ in the field and made a mental note to mark her, even racing up in the 1s, figuring she'd ride strong and could potentially help lead me into a breakaway.

At the start, I settled onto the Orion rider's wheel, feeling solid about my positioning. I looked down for a single second, and in that second she launched a full-throttle attack, bringing a Cat 2 rider with her. Shannon G immediately went to chase, and I was right on her wheel. We traded pulls trying to bring the breakaway back, but eventually both realized we were just burning matches for nothing. Knowing Shannon and I were picked separately, I recognized she could actually be an asset if this came down to a group finish.

From there, Shannon and I were almost always first or second wheel through every corner. Whenever a Sprinkles rider sent an attack, whether a flier or another breakaway attempt, I jumped on it immediately to shut down any chance of someone else slipping away. Shannon seemed to be thinking the same way. Whenever I closed a gap, she'd cover the next move, and vice versa. That pattern held as the lap counter ticked down.

Heading into the final two laps, I told myself to lock in. I wasn't giving up my position, and I started mentally preparing for the sprint I knew was coming. Coming into the final corner before the downhill sprint straight, Stephanie came around me. From there it was Stephanie, Shannon, and me, and I was hoping Stephanie could pull around Shannon in the final meters. In the end, the order we entered that last corner was the order we crossed the line.

I'm proud of taking the win in the 3/4/5s. It's a full-circle moment considering not too long ago I was getting pulled halfway through TBC Crit, and now I'm not just finishing crits, I'm podium-ready.

Race Recap - Stephanie

Kathay’s recap is on point! To add a bit of color, the race was spicy from the get-go. We averaged 23.4 mph, which led to a crash in the hairpin around 15 mins in and a few being pulled/dropping out (everyone is fortunately ok!). 

 I had planned to race 345, but had learned that the women's fields were combined shortly before I arrived, so I decided to sign up under p123. I haven't been riding much and had done a longer ride the day before, so my goal for the day was to just sit in, choose fast/easy lines through the corners and see if I could cobble together a sprint that I haven't seen since June.

Shannon spent a lot of time on the front chasing and Kathay was also pushing the pack pace when Shannon would move off. Super Sprinkles pulled a bit early in the race and launched some attacks which looked strong, but I was unaware that it was solely P123 riders in the breakaway and had assumed Super Sprinkles was trying to hold the pack back from catching one of their own off the front. I felt pretty terrible for the first 13 mins and didn't think I had enough energy stores to dig a hole with Shannon and Kathay to try to chase the breakaway down. 

The race continued at a hard but steady pace, with a few attacks. The race basically came down to the finish: The field sprint started on the slight hill before turn 3, as I attacked for better corner positioning. I did not overtake Shannon before turn 4, in hopes for a lead out, but mentally I wasn't willing/prepared for a fully invested sprint to attempt to overtake her. All in all, that led to a 4th place overall finish and 3rd out of 3 in my category.

It was great watching Kathay push and chase throughout the race. She did a great job shutting attacks down and ensuring that the group didn't get complacent. I also appreciated that all the women were open to racing together so the field was a bit larger.