Katie Hall is Queen of the Mountain, winning Amgen South Lake Tahoe stage for third time

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - It was a great day of cycling for the women racing in the Amgen Tour of California, light winds, mild temperatures and clear skies. They left the Heavenly California Lodge at 11:00 a.m. and the first racer crossed the finish line three hours and six minutes later after a trip through Christmas Valley, Hope Valley, Alpine County and the big climb on Kingsbury Grade.

Katie Hall, 31, of Saratoga, California won the day, but it was a close one as she crossed the finish line 29 seconds ahead of Tayler Wiles.

Four of the top 22 finishers Friday sat down with South Tahoe Now on May 9 when they were training in South Lake Tahoe, Local celebrity Howie Nave took them on a bike tour from Clyde's Roasting Company to Round Hill Pines and back.

Hall has now won the Lake Tahoe portion of Amgen three times (2015, 2017, 2018). She focused on Kingsbury and altitude while in Tahoe two weeks ago, efforts that paid off as she became the Queen of the Mountain.

Hall, of UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling, and Trek-Drops’ Tayler Wiles (Fairfax, Calif.), jumped out of the pack with about 5 miles to go in today's mountainous South Lake Tahoe stage, with Hall ultimately pulling ahead to a solo stage victory, which she also claimed last year on the same stage finish. Having lost the race lead last year to Anna van der Breggen by just one second gained through Sprint points on the final circuit stage in Sacramento, Hall’s goal today was to gain enough time to protect her lead tomorrow on the same course.

“I just wanted to come out and race my bike and give it another good, hard try, and I feel good to come away with a 29 second gap today,” said Hall.

Battling a very steep final kilometer into Heavenly Mountain Resort, Wiles trailed in next over the finish line, with CANYON//SRAM Racing’s Kasia Niewiadoma (POL) in third. The three hold the same positions on the overall leaderboard going into the race conclusion tomorrow, with Hall at 29 seconds over Wiles and 1’07” over Niewiadoma.

Presented by Visit California, Stage 2 (W) was a 67.1-mile climb-centric day in South Lake Tahoe. The day included the 7,740-foot summit of Luther Pass and the grueling HC climb up Kingsbury Grade, a monster of a climb at 8 miles in length, 2,600 feet elevation gain, and an average 6% grade.

Hall’s ride earned her the Lexus Queen of the Mountain Jersey as well as the Visit California Sprint Jersey. Hagens Berman | Supermint Pro Cycling’s Lily Williams (USA) earned the Breakaway from Heart DiseaseTM Most Courageous Rider Jersey for spending a portion of the day in a solo break, and the TAG Heuer Best Young Rider Jersey goes to Rally Cycling’s Sara Poidevin (CAN).

Stage 2 Podium

1. Katie Hall (USA), UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team (USA) 3h06'41"
2. Tayler Wiles (USA), Trek-Drops (GBR) +25"
3. Kasia Niewiadoma (POL),CANYON//SRAM Racing +1'01"

Jersey Winners after Stage 2:

Amgen Race Leader Jersey – Katie Hall (USA), UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team (USA)

Breakaway from Heart DiseaseTM Most Courageous Rider Jersey – Lily Williams (USA), Hagens Berman | Supermint Pro Cycling (USA)

Lexus Queen of the Mountain (QOM) Jersey – Katie Hall (USA), UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team (USA)

Visit California Sprint Jersey – Katie Hall (USA), UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team (USA)

TAG Heuer Best Young Rider Jersey – Sara Poidevin (CAN), Rally Cycling (USA)