Race Report: 2026 Tucson Bike Classic - Women’s 3/4/N
Race: 2026 Tucson Bike Classic - Women’s 3/4/N
Date: Feb 19 - Feb 22, 2026
AVRT racers: Hannah Chen, Samantha Dewees, Stephanie Hayos, Katie Monaghan, Kathay Tousant, Katarina Zgraja
Top Result:
Marana Time Trial: Kathay (11 of 45)
Sahuarita Road Race: Stephanie (10 of 48)
Rio Nuevo Criterium: Stephanie (1 of 50) !
Oro Valley Circuit: Stephanie (10 of 49)
Stage race GC: Stephanie (7 of 55)
Day 1: Time Trial - route
Nutrition: Bagel with vegan cream cheese for breakfast and a gel 15 minutes prior to the start of the TT.
Course: A short, flat 7.8 km one-way Merckx style time trial with one S curve near the beginning. It was raining and cold.
Recap (written by Kathay): Going into the time trial, I had mentally prepared for about a 10‑minute effort. But as Hannah and I drove to the start, the skies opened up in a full downpour, and I knew immediately that this segment was going to feel a lot longer than I’d planned. During my warmup on the course, I focused on testing my aero‑hoods position, something I’d been practicing for weeks. My strategy was simple: stay aero, keep my power as steady as possible, hold FTP for the first five minutes, reassess, and then try to build toward 110–115% of FTP.
As I lined up, the rain and nerves were unrelenting. Just as the official started counting down for the rider two ahead of me, I heard a loud crash, she had toppled over while being held for her start. It was jarring and instantly made me rethink my plan. Instead of opting for a held start, I decided I’d clip in myself.
When my countdown began, all I could think about was not fumbling the start. It took five awkward single‑leg pedal strokes before both feet were finally clipped in, and then I was off. Adrenaline took over, and I blasted through the first 90 seconds at 130% of FTP, far higher than I wanted. That effort carried me into the chicane, which I navigated cautiously with the active rain and slick pavement.
Once I accelerated out of the turns, I settled in and focused on pushing consistent power, dialing back to around 113% of FTP. Within minutes, I realized I was catching the rider who had started before me and soon after, I overtook another. With the finish line in sight, I kept my head down and emptied the tank. After crossing the line, it was awesome to see my fellow AV teammates crushing their own time trials and to cheer them on. Even though we didn’t start together like in a typical road race, the team support and presence were absolutely there and it made the day that much better.
Day 2: Road Race - route
Nutrition: peanut butter and banana on bagel
Course: Two laps of a relatively flat (max 3% grade) 20mi loop. Center line rule opened up 500m before the finish line and there was a broken down semi truck blocking the right lane on the last lap.
Recap (written by Katie): This is longer than I’d like but I swear I always try to keep it somewhat amusing. So read away or scroll to the crit and circuit:
Following the TT, Kathay and Kat were our top 2 finishers. Our plan was to try to get Kathay in a break and to keep Kat fresh for a sprint. The course did not have a lot of defining features. It was mainly flat with a few rollers in the beginning. We were racing 2 laps. This was a change from last year where 3s were a separate field and raced 3 laps. This year, the race combined 3/4/5 and we raced 2 laps for 40ish miles.
Off the gun, Kat, Hannah and I threw a lot of attacks. We figured the race was short so why not start early. Nothing was really sticking and most attacks were brought back fairly quickly. This continued through 75% of the first lap. At one point during this lap, I gave Kathay a heads up that I was about to attack and told her to counter me and I wouldn’t chase. She did a great job with the counter but unfortunately was also brought back quickly. In the future, I think we need to repeat this same attack/counter attack within a few minutes for it to be more successful. I know she has the power and stamina to stay away, we just have to catch the field at the right time. Side note: huge shout to Kathay for taking on a race of this caliber as her second real racing bike experience. I’m excited to see her crush this season.
I sat in the wind towards the front for the remainder of the first lap to be ready to follow anything but not pedaling very hard. At one point during this time one of the Milton riders came up to me and told me, “Girl your saddle bag be swaying, she sagging”. For context, Milton was the largest team in our field. They are a junior Canadian development team. Overall I was actually pretty impressed how well they rode together. However, this is not the first time I’ve been made fun of for my saddle bag. And apparently high school never ends and you can be dunked on by 18 year olds mid race. So FINE, to everyone who has told me that, I’ll buy a new one. You can thank the mean girls of Milton racing (who later in stage race gave us all friendship bracelets lol).
The pace picked up a lot going into the lap 2 rollers. After sitting in the wind for the last 25% of lap 1, I almost got dropped. I noticed Kathay was also falling back so I put in a pretty big effort for us both to catch back on. Honestly, thank god for this. My motivation and watts significantly increase if it means I’m helping someone else and there is a chance I might have thought I couldn’t do it if I didn’t have Kathay on my wheel.
Attacks chilled after that. It was clear no one was getting away and it would come down to a sprint. I noticed Kat positioned herself towards the front on the final stretch leading up to the finish. I pulled around the whole group and got myself in the front with the hope of leading her out. At 2k to go, this is exactly what happened. A united girl attacked, a gap opened and tried as hard as I could to bridge the field up for Kat. Unfortunately I had nothing left and just got swarmed instead. Kat tried to chase herself but this burned her final match for the sprint. Ultimately the united girl got caught having started her sprint too early and riders who were 3-4 wheels back in the peloton were freshest for the sprint.
Overall, I’m okay with how this race played out. As a team, we took some risks that burned matches but sometimes in bike racing you need to be willing to try something that might lose you the race to ultimately win it. One of these days those risks will pay off and we are constantly getting better at choosing the moves that are worth it. Also we have to do a better job of protecting and using our sprinters. Kat actually set a personal best 5 second power PR of 1024W at mile 12 during one of her early attacks. I’d love to help set her up to showcase those numbers in the last 100 meters instead.
Day 3: Criterium - lap route
Nutrition: over 9000 caffeine, PB/banana sandwich, 1 muffin top and 1 gel before the start, ½ water bottle during the race
Course: Technical downtown crit with a U-turn. The start/finish was on a hill, which led to a left and 3 rights on poor pavement before a long straight downhill into the hairpin for an uphill finish.
Recap (written by Stephanie): Going into the crit, the squad didn’t really have a plan for tactics - I think most were focused on getting through the race safely due to the tight u-turn and large field. I had serious nerves, as I was hoping for a good result and recognized this was a good course for my skillset. That morning, I pounded enough caffeine to light up a mini horse and did my best to choke down any food possible, then rode over to the venue from our Air BnB. All of the AV ladies squad participated in the clinic or group course pre-ride, in an effort to get familiar with the hairpin at turn 5.
The peloton was forced to take a neutral lap before they lined up, but it looked like our whole squad was a few rows back on the line. Quickly after the whistle was blown, I pushed up through the group towards the front 15ish riders. I hung out there for a bit, as there was a lot of mixing going on. From the get go, Kat got right to the front for good positioning and I saw Hannah staking her claim in the front half of the field.
The first couple of laps made it very clear that the peloton took the easier corners for granted and the u-turn made most uncomfortable. The majority of the lap efforts were occurring at the top of the descent and on the S/F climb. We didn’t see much for tactics and most teams operated as individuals focused on good position and surviving.
A prime was called out about 1/3(?) of the way through which pushed the pace and Kat snagged the winnings - this started to blow up the pack. As Kat went through the S/F, the organizers called out another $100 prime but it didn’t push the peloton, as they all sat behind Kat recovering or waiting for someone else to make a move. I attacked about 1/3 of the way into the lap and railed the hairpin a bit harder so I didn’t have to waste a hard sprint to collect the preem.
The next couple of laps were a blur, but, with 7 to go, Kat slid out in the hairpin (which I later learned also claimed Katie early on when she tried to tail gun) and jumped back up in an effort to stay with our pack. She was starting to chase, but the moto pulled her for a free lap and then was told she could not rejoin as it was the end of the free laps. She got totally jilted!!
The race was status quo until 3ish to go; I was sitting 3rd wheel ready to ride whatever tactics to the finish. Going up the climb, a Milton girl threw an attack so I jumped on her wheel. She did manage to string out the group a little bit, but didn’t open up much of a gap.
On the bell lap, I started an attack right before turn 2 and managed a decent gap going through the crappy pavement. I kept pushing watts around the next 2 corners and downhill, where another rider was slowly making up some ground. I took the hairpin conservatively, as we were entering pretty hot and did my best to accelerate out of the corner and minimize the draft. About half way up the sprint I knew the woman to my rear left wasn’t going to catch me so I eased a little bit, but then I saw another coming from my back right so I got out of the saddle for another push to make sure I wasn’t overtaken. Super stoked to catch a W for AV and a few upgrade points! All in all, I really enjoyed the course and was proud of the results.
Day 4: Circuit - lap route
Nutrition: A muffin for breakfast, then I panicked on the way to the race realizing my stomach was grumbling. Mooched a banana and PB+J sandwich from Hannah and Kathay (thanks guys!!), and had a pack of shot blocks 30-ish mins before the race. 30-ishg carb in 1 bottle for the race.
Course: Non technical four right-turn circuit ending with a sustained climb of 2-4%.
Recap (written by Kat): With the last race of the weekend, everyone seemed to have gotten their nerves out. Our best GC rider Stephanie was sitting in 7th place prior to the circuit race. We did not pigeon hole ourselves on any specific tactics for the day, just to end the weekend on a strong note, whatever that meant for each individual. For myself, I wanted a bit of redemption after my frustrating crit the other day, but I also made a purpose to not put too much pressure on this race, as I may have done that the day before and it was a harder pill to swallow when things did not go my way.
In classic fashion, about 4 minutes before our race was to start, Katie’s rear tire started making a hissing noise. I can say maybe my biggest achievement of the day was utilizing my race day flat kit (dynaplug, co2, and applicator), plugging her flat and zapping it with co2 in a matter of minutes. I knew it would be of use one of these times.
Once the race was off, I was mostly focused on positioning. I spent the first lap checking out how the other girls were doing, and keeping my head on a swivel to see where my teammates were. I thought that moving up in the group would be difficult in this race (as was heard from some other folks prior to the race), but when we were in the race I did not seem to have many troubles which was nice. I ended up following the wheel of a girl in a purple-ish jersey for much of the race, which very conveniently kept me in the front 7-ish riders consistently, and also prevented me from sitting at the front.
On the last lap, the pace quickened, a girl accelerated hard before the corner heading into the downhill, and got a bit of space on the front of the group. The United girl (GC leader) chased her down. I remember there being a slight gap between those two and the rest of us. I’m pretty impatient, so I jumped on to close that gap. As I accelerated, I remember thinking that was a dumb idea, as I was using up energy before the climb to the finish, but I was 3rd wheel now. Then, before I knew it, I wasn’t generating any power. I looked down and my chain had fallen off on the outboard side of my drivetrain. I tried desperately to pedal it back on, but it wasn’t going. I heard Stephanie pass me, she cursed on my behalf and I wished her luck on the final slog. I eventually got passed by the main first group (maybe 20 girls?). As I was coasting along, I managed to reach down and guide my chain back on, thank goodness. I pushed as hard as I could to the finish but I was in no man's land at this point in time. Although frustrating, I was at least happy to cross the line this time. In the end, Stephanie played her stealth game well, and crossed the line in 10th! Kudos to Hannah who finished in the pack at 14th on the day as well! Kudos to Kathay who finished the race despite her seatpost completely slamming on her… And kudos to Katie and Sam for powering through on the final day of a mentally/physically challenging weekend! We’ve got a great team.