Freshman Sinead Miller is currently competing as part of the USA Cycling Development Program in Europe. Miller is one of 34 Americans, alongside classmate Adam Leibovitz, chosen to represent the United States in races throughout Western Europe. Sinead reports on her exploits in France.

May 1, 2009 (Day 18) - The race this past Friday went very well.  The race was in Bordeaux.  It was a 50 mile circuit race that was basically flat and somewhat technical.  It was a perfect course for me.  About 3 miles into to race a woman who raced for Orbea attacked and I immediately jumped on her wheel to cover the attack.  Before I knew it me and two other girls were up to road with a good sized gap.  The girl from Orbea who was in the break with me was strong and I needed a teammate to bridge the gap to the break and help me out up there.  Fortunately my teammate Alison Starnes did a solo bridge up to the break and so then it was two USA riders in the break and two other women.  It was looking good.  After Alison bridged up to the break we started to gain a significant amount of time on the peloton.  Before we knew it we had a 2 minute gap on the rest of the field so we then just kept a steady pace for a while.  With about 20 miles to go Alison began attacking the break to try to get away, while I just covered every wheel that tried to go with her.  Alison ended up not getting away because the rider for Orbea in the break was able to jump on each attack.  Then me and Alison decided that she would lead me out for the sprint.  Alison gave me a perfect lead out and dropped me off with about 300 meters to go and I won the sprint to take first place.  Alison ended up getting third.  It was a great day... having two USA girls on the podium. 

April 28, 2009 (Day 15) - This past Sunday I had a 70 kilometer race in Agen, France, which is about a 2.5 hour drive from where I am staying in Limoux.  It was raining and cold.  The rain made for a very technical/dangerous race because there were a lot of sharp corners and also a lot of paint on the road.  Wet paint and turns usually means crashes, but fortunately I was able to stay up on two wheels the whole race. The whole USA team got a call up to the starting line at the beginning of the race, which was very cool.  The announcer was interviewing all of us girls on that start line, but I couldn't understand his French so I had to just laugh and smile.  The race started fast with many people attacking at the very start.  About 10 miles into the race a break of three women formed.  I was in the chase group.  The women in my chase group were attacking relentlessly!  I wasn't feeling good because I have been sick for about the past week, so I tried to conserve as much energy as possible.  The pace of the group I was in was fast, but the break of three women still stayed away.  The pace was fast enough that we lapped the field two or three times.  It was actually very fun.  Since the break of three was up the road I was sprinting for 4th place.  There was a very sharp 180 degree corner about 300 meters from the finish line and I knew I could take the corner faster than most, so I decided to just lead myself out for the sprint.  I ended up winning the group sprint I was in to take 4th place.  This is my best result since I have been in Europe, so it felt good afterwards.  I was so glad I decided to compete in this race.  I was not going to because I was very sick and the damp, cold weather was not helping me lol.  But in the end it all worked out and hopefully I will be healthy again soon.  My next race is this Friday in Bordeaux and then I race in Paris on Sunday.  I'll keep the updates coming!!


April 20, 2009 (Day seven) - I just got done racing a few hours ago in Holland. I raced the Ronde van Gelderland. It was a UCI World Cup race and it was 90 miles long. There were 200 starters and all the best women racers in the world were there. I was right next to Ina Teutenberg and Marianna Vos a few times, that was cool. You can tell by just looking at them how strong they are. They just look different than your average pro cyclist. The start of the race was so fast. It was the fastest I think I've ever raced my bike. It was a flat start but very windy, so many people got dropped fast, but I was able to stay towards the front and hang in there.  Team Columbia and Cervelo were drilling the pace at the front. I started to see with blurred vision for a while. It was the hardest I've ever went I think.  Then the field was down to less than 100 and I was in there, but then a break went and I couldn't go because I was in the pain cave too bad. I then ended up in a group of about 50 women for the remainder of the race. We were behind the break and the peloton, which had about 35 or so riders in it I think. The group I was in ended up getting pulled from the race with about 30 kilometers to go. I was so bummed that the jury didn't let us finish. If you are 1 minute back from the peloton they pull you in a UCI race, so I was out of luck. I really felt strong though and I climbed very well. Better than I have yet all year. I was the last of the girls on my team to get pulled. The field ended up coming together at the end and Ina Teutenberg won in the sprint finish. I've never felt so drained after a race, but it was such a great experience and I really learned how to push myself to the limits. I still can't walk right now and I am still all cramped up from being dehydrated I think, but hopefully this makes me stronger. I have a race next weekend and it's a crit, so it should be good.

April 13, 2009 (Day one) - I just got done with my race today. It was 50 miles on a circuit. We did five laps on the circuit, and on each lap there was a two-kilometer climb up to the finish. It was about seven to eight percent the whole way so it was really hard. There were 130 women starters in the race; so it was big. Jeanie Longo, current world champion, was here and I was drafting off of her for a while. It was really cool. I stayed in the peloton the whole race except on the last lap when I died going up the hill. I was glad to make it through the whole race because we hammered up the climb each time and, by the end of the race, I was so tired. I thought I was going to die (ha ha). There were three girls who broke with two laps to go and they stayed away. I think the peloton was down to like 30 by the end of the race. It really dwindled down. Now we are driving back to the house. It was about a three-hour drive to the race so it wasn't bad.