Copyright Black Dahlin/Tour de Bloom
Rebecca Reza
May 6, 2025
Virginia’s Blue Ridge Twenty28 Emily Erhlich sailed to victory Monday to win the Builders FirstSource Palisades Time Trial at the 2025 Tour de Bloom. The course
was set on a 30km out-and-back country road in Palisades, located about 30 miles from Wenatchee.
Speaking with riders after the stage, many would state the course
was suited to a pure time trial specialists. Ehrlich was the only rider to finish in
under 40 minutes, setting a blazing time of 39:09, ahead of Lauren Stephens in
second (40:22) for Aegis Cycling Foundation, and Ehrlich’s teammate, Marlies
Mejias (40:47).
Stage 4 was set in the rural area of Palisades, a quaint town filled with apple
orchards surrounded by canyons. Temperatures had risen ever so slightly to a
comfortable mid-60s when the first rider left the starting house at 9 AM. Fount
Cycling Guild’s Jennifer Wheeler set the first time to beat at 41:19, ahead of Skyler
Goudswaard of Cyclery Racing at 41:40. The time would keep Wheeler in the hot
seat for most of the stage, until Ehrlich burst through the finish line to win the stage.
The general classification would see a big shake up at the end of the day. Lauren
Stephens had been leading Alia Shafi by 12-seconds, ahead of Marlies Mejias in third
another 21 seconds behind her. At the start of the day, Ehrlich was 54-seconds
down on GC in 9 th place, but would secure a new advantage above her rivals to move
her into the pink jersey and overall lead. Lauren Stephens retained the Queen of the
Mountains jersey, while the other classifications remained the same with Marlies
Mejias (Twenty28) leading the points classification, and Mia Aseltine (Competitive
Edge) in the Best Young Riders jersey.
The queen stage is set for Tuesday, for the Ed Farrar Memorial Road Race, this time
starting with our Pro Men. The UCI Women start at noon for 3 laps of the Golf
Course loop and the final lap up Joe Millar Road, the same training grounds as
American Sprinter Tyler Farrar used during his professional career. The golf course
loop includes a 1-mile climb at 5.7% gradient. After completing that three times, the
peloton will face the final loop with a 6.4-mile climb averaging a 5.7% gradient
before they hit the grand finale on the final 6.6-mile climb averaging 8% with a max
gradient of 12.2% before crowning the first UCI Tour de Bloom champion.
Catch all the action live, on our YouTube channel starting at 8 AM with the Pro Men,
followed by our UCI Women at noon.
