STAGE FIVE

UCI WOMEN - STAGE FIVE

ED FARRAR ROAD RACE

Tuesday May 6th, 2025

Malaga Washington, USA

Presented By

RECAP

RESULTS

PHOTOS

Stephens Hammers Her Way to Tour de
Bloom Title

Hannah Wynne

May 6th, 2025

Aegis Cycling’s Lauren Stephens hammered her way up the brutal final segment of the UCI Women’s Stage 6 to claim victory over both the stage and the 25th Tour de Bloom. Three minutes and fifteen seconds later, Valkyr Cycling Team’s Paula Gil Echevarria crested the hill, securing second on the stage and third overall. Frankie Hall (Aegis Cycling) crossed 1'15" later for third.

Tuesday’s Ed Farrar Queen Stage, presented by Biosports Physical Therapy, marked the end of a challenging five days of racing and the first year marking UCI status. For some teams, the end of the stage wrapped up a long three weeks of American multi-day stage road races, informally nicknamed the ‘U.S. Grand Tour.’ The grueling period of racing starts with the Redlands Bicycle Classic in Redlands, CA, is followed by the Tour of the Gila in Silver City, New Mexico, and ends in Wenatchee, WA with the Tour de Bloom.

Offering their first ever UCI-level 2.2 Women’s stage race, this year’s Tour de Bloom was an especially impactful finale to the unofficial tour. The 25th Tour de Bloom also made history by presenting full live coverage of all pro stage races, both men’s and women’s, thanks to a collaboration with Guatemalan streaming team, Duro Al Pedal, and professional cycling coverage organization, RadioTourUS. It was another great opportunity, afforded to us by our sponsors and Wenatchee community, to be able to showcase the talent on the American road circuit and engage with the U.S. cycling community at large.

The Ed Farrar Queen Stage certainly gave this year’s riders ample opportunity to show off their skills. The first portion of the race consisted of three short laps around the Golf Course loop. An intermediate sprint marked at the end of each lap, for a sum of three intermediate sprints total. Next was the Joe Miller segment, a scenic but demanding 6.4-mile climb at a 5.7% grade, where the first QOM line was located, followed by a -5.3% grade, 5.5 mile descent. The riders then ascended the Joe Miller climb once more for the final QOM opportunity before turning left to begin the final segment of the course, a beautiful ascent through the county’s secluded apple orchards, ending in a brutal 6.6-mile climb that reached, at times, a maximum grade of 12.2%. There was a final 300m of gravel before the finish, one last challenge for the tired riders.

Following neutral rollout as the stage began, Aegis Cycling Team, including polka-dot jersey leader Lauren Stephens, and Virginia’s Blue Ridge Twenty28, with pink jersey leader Emily Ehrlich and green jersey leader Marlies Mejias, wasting no time moving to the front of the field. Virginia’s Blue Ridge Twenty28, showing the sudden, skilled team moves the group is known for, secured control of the front from Aegis Cycling, approaching the first sprint in a single-file train with sprinter Marlies Mejias perfectly positioned to attack for top sprint bonus.

With only 200m to go until the first sprint, Aegis Cycling attacked the left side, but it was too late. Twenty28 took the first sprint entirely, with first place bonus going to Marlies Mejias, the second place bonus awarded to Rylee McMullen, and the third place bonus awarded to Sofia Arreola.

An attack from Automatic caught the field off guard following the first sprint, an Automatic rider took the lead and driving the pace on the second Golf Course Loop climb. Virginia’s Blue Ridge Twenty28 was overtaken only for a moment, though, regrouping their train around Mejias in the front of the field again as the second intermediate sprint approached. In a very similar fashion to the first sprint, Twenty28 kept tight control of the front of the peloton, again earning the entirety of the intermediate sprint bonus points, Mejias earning the first place bonus.

Speedblock p/b Terún made a brief bid to challenge Twenty28 leading into the third sprint, along with some movement by CCB p/b Levine Law Group, PatoBike BMC, and LA Sweat, but Virginia’s Blue Ridge Twenty28 had their third intermediate sprint approach tightly locked down. Fanning out, the team blocked the attack from behind, then lengthened into a single-file train with Anna Hicks breaking the wind in lead. The third intermediate sprint results were the exact same as the second, awarded again to Mejias, Arreola, and McMullen, respectively.

Aegis took lead of the field as the peloton began the ascent into the Joe Miller segment, setting a fast tempo on the climb. Although Aegis set a steady pace, the members of Fount Cycling, lead by Wheeler, slowly but steadily overtook them, pushing the pace even faster up the climb.

Fount’s Jennifer Wheeler held the front for almost the entire Joe Miller climb, until Aegis attacked on the ascent approaching the first QOM, stealing the front from Fount. Using their momentum, three Aegis riders, a Fount rider, and a Valkyr rider launched a breakaway, and were unable to maintain it over the first Queen of the Mountains. First and second place QOM went to Aegis’ Frankie Hall and Lauren Stephens, in that order; third place QOM went to Fount’s Alia Shafi, that would ensue a tight battle all the way to the finish line for the classification title.

The five-rider break was slowly reabsorbed back into the front of the field as the road descended and then flattened before the next approach to the second QOM. It looked as though the field may relax for a moment, but attacks began launching from several different teams and riders, as others sprang into action to keep them from escaping. The relentless pace continuing into the beginning of the next Joe Miller ascent.

PatoBike and Valkyr were steadily maintaining their position in the lead group, but Aegis and Fount continued to fight for control of the front as the Joe Miller climb started, Aegis holding the peloton until the ascent really started to get underway. Even as Wheeler took the lead, Aegis, especially Lauren Stephens in the polka dot jersey, stuck right behind. Fount had stated earlier that morning that they were excited to challenge the final ascent, with climber Alia Shafi a strong competitor against Aegis’ Lauren Stephens. Stephens, current polka dot jersey leader and 2025 Tour of the Gila champion, already acquired a reputation for her strength and skill level when it came to stages exactly like the one they currently faced. The final stage of the Tour of the Gila (on which she claimed stage and overall race victory) was almost exactly the same as the Ed Farrar Stage, except the Mogollon ascent in Gila was a bit longer. Coming from her Gila win only a week ago, Stephens was expected to be in top form for this stage especially.

Both Fount and Aegis were part of a smaller group that launched as the peloton approached the second QOM and the turnoff to the final ascent. Notably also present in the breakaway were the green and pink jersey leaders Mejias and Emily Ehrlich (Twenty28). This had been somewhat unexpected, since they had arrived not long after. It would be a thrilling final ascent.

Stephens’ teammate Katherine Sheridan began to fall off the back of the lead group, but would catch back on several times before the elastic finally snapped. When she did so, Lauren Stephens jumped off of the front of the lead group, but was caught. As Katherine Sheridan began to fall off again, however, Lauren Stephens attacked again, and the group could do nothing to stop her as Fount’s Alia Shafi, then finally Frankie Hall, fell back one by one, leaving Stephens to power up the hill and win by over a three-minute gap.

Standing at the finish after yet another incredible victory, Lauren Stephens shared how important she felt it was that another UCI Women’s race existed. “It’s just exciting to see we have the UCI racing coming back to America,” Stephens said. “We had quite a few back in the past, and we had a little lull with Covid, but I think we see that it’s coming back.”