VAC Women Light Up NorCal At Cat's Hill & The Clo-terium

Cat's Hill Criterium - Los Gatos, CA - 5/5:
Sato wins Queen of the Mountain; Brown 3rd; Patella 4th

The women of ValueAct Capital dominated the Cat's Hill Classic from the gun. The race combines the skills of a criterium along with a the fitness and power required for the grueling 23 percent climb every lap. After a flurry of attacks, Taitt Sato found herself in a two-woman break. Shortly thereafter, Martina Patella bridged making a group of three they powered away from the rest of the field for a good portion of the race.

The ValueAct Capital duo drove the break and Taitt Sato gained a large margin on the always competitive Queen of the Mountain Competition, which tallies up points based on who reaches the top of the difficult climb first each lap.

Eventually the break was reeled in, but ValueAct's Courtenay Brown was in the field ready to pounce. The team continued to animate the remainder of the race by attacking the false flats and Sato continually beating the competition to the top of the massive climb.


Taitt claiming the QOM points

On the final lap, 9-time race winner and former World Champion Karen Brems jumped hard on the pedals and powered to the line for another win. The rest of the field shattered behind her, with Brown sprinting in for 3rd place, Patella in 4th and Sato in 8th. Sato won the prestigious Queen of the Mountain Competition in 2006, making this her second consecutive year of domination in the event.


Santa Rosa Clo-terium, 5/6:
ValueAct Capital Takes 1st & 3rd

ValueAct Capital's Taitt Sato and Martina Patella raced the Santa Rosa Clo-terium, sponsored by Clover Organic Dairy in the beautiful downtown Santa Rosa and finished victoriously. With help of her teammate, Patella solo-ed in for the win with over a 45 second advantage over the charging field. The course is fast but technical, weaving through several blocks of the downtown Santa Rosa area. The field was large, containing many of California's strongest criterium racers, despite temperatures nearing 90 degrees and strong winds.

The ValueAct Capital women won the race through strength, smarts, and savy teamwork. This course typically results in a field sprint, but today the ValueAct Capital women could not be contained. Sato set up Patella for the win with agressive riding and a very threatening break-away that lead to a fast paced chase which shattered the field. When Sato's two-woman break-away was eventually caught by the field, Patella counter attacked and opened up a gap. For the remaining six laps of the race, Patella continued to increase the advantage to over 45 seconds with the help of Sato setting tempo to keep the chasing field ineffectual.

"Today we won this race because of incredible teamwork. Taitt had basically shattered the field with her power on the flat and windy sections of the course. By the time I attacked, the strongest in the field had already been tired out trying to chase Taitt and could not follow me. The Serotta HSG bike was a huge advantage today because it handled so well on the technical course that I could make up a lot of time flying through the corners."


Martina wins the Clo-terium

Despite her huge display of teamwork, Sato still managed to claim second in the field sprint, rounding out the podium in 3rd place behind former U.S. Olympian Laura Charameda.

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