Rebecca Reza

May 5, 2025

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Lauren Stephens climbed to victory to secure her second stage win in Plain for stage 3 of the 2025 Tour de Bloom. The Aegis Cycling Foundation rider finished seconds ahead of Alia Shafi of Fount Cycling and Mia Gil Echevarria racing for Valkyr. Stephens managed to take over the lead once again in the Queen of the Mountain classification.

The UCI Women lined up at the start Sunday amid cool temperatures hovering in the upper 40s. In the front of the field, the current jersey leaders prepared for neutral rollout. Virginia’s Blue Ridge Twenty28’s Marlies Mejias wore the pink leader’s jersey after her performance at Friday night’s Twilight Criterium. Mejias is also leading the green sprint jersey, but was represented in the field by runner-up Lauren Stephens (Aegis Cycling Mixed Team). Next to them was Fount Cycling Guild’s Jennifer Wheeler, still holding the polka dot Queen of the Mountain jersey, and best young rider Mia Aseltine (Competitive Edge Racing). 

Neutral rollout set a relaxed pace as the riders started the long, winding descent.Virginia’s Blue Ridge Twenty28 were first to control the front of the field after the 1 km neutral stretch ended, looking to gain bonus seconds available on the stage for Mejias who sat 33-seconds down on GC. Fount Cycling Guild moved to the front as well, the Seattle-based team also very comfortable with the demands of today’s stage. 

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8-10 mph winds buffeted the riders as the field climbed along the north shore of Lake Wenatchee. Fount Cycling started to set a more aggressive tempo, the team working together beautifully to hold a single-rider draft train at the front of the field. Although the peloton was able to stay together, riders at the back were pushing to avoid the field being split. 

 

The field reached the turnaround point, heading back down the lake’s shore in the direction they had come. Riders were warned to be on the lookout for fallen pine cones as they started the curved descent, a unique challenge presented by racing in the pacific northwest. Undaunted, several riders made a bid to control the front of the field as the descent sped up. 

 

Virginia’s Blue Ridge Twenty28 and Fount Cycling Guild swapped work at the front of the field, taking turns setting the pace. Sprinters Emily Ehrlich (Twenty28),  Alia Shafi (Fount), and Jennifer Wheeler (Fount) were crucial in pushing their teams into the lead. 

 

Marlies Mejias and Rylee McMullen of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Twenty28, and Lauren Stephens (Aegis Cycling), respectively took first, second and third place bonuses on the first intermediate sprint. Automatic Racing made a bid for the front of the field as the peloton started to reach the end of the long descent. 

 

Automatic Racing overtook Twenty28 and Fount for lead of the field as the peloton started to ready themselves for the stretch leading up to the final climb. Competitive Edge Racing and Aegis could be seen trying to shuffle forward as well. 

 

Rylee McMullen (Twenty28) picked up another bonus by taking first in the second intermediate sprint, with Elizabeth Dixon (Fount) taking second and Jennifer Wheeler taking third. With only 5 km to the final, riders turned their focus to the last battle. 

 

As the 1 km climb began, PatoBike briefly overtook Lauren Stephens in the lead. Lauren Stephens reclaimed her position at the front of the field, then,  using her momentum from the shuffle, launched an attack and broke away from the peloton, followed closely by Fount Cycling’s Alia Shafi, Paula Gil Echevarria (Valkyr), and Lorena Villamizar of PatoBike. 

 

Echevarria and Villamizar found the pace too hard to follow as they fell away as the climb steepened, leaving Stephens and Shafi to battle head to head up the ascent. Although Shafi stayed on Stephens’ wheel for a few turns, she eventually started to fall back as well, Stephens showing her strength as a climber as she maintained her speed up the hill and crossed the line to take the stage for Aegis Cycling. Shafi of (Fount) crossed next for second, and Paula Echevarria of Valkyr Cycling Team took third. 

 

The Pro Women’s Time Trial presented by Builders First Source starts Monday at 9:00 am, with riders starting at 1-minute intervals.