Name

Katherine Bates

Date of Birth

18th May 1982

Height

176cm

Years Pro

8 years

Home Town

Sydney, Australia

2009 Team

Team Columbia-HTC

Current Residence

Sydney, Australia/Boulder, CO

Hobbies

Hiking, reading, shopping, going to the beach

Cycling Strengths

Flat and windy races, track, criteriums, domestique

Career Highlights

2007 World Points Race Champion
2006 Australian Road Champion
2nd 2005 Geelong Road World Cup
4th 2004 Olympics, IP
6th Beijing Olympics, Points Race

It’s Personal...

I have a “pet” wooden elephant named Inigo
I’ve only experienced winter once in the last 10 years
I’m obsessed with stiletto shoes and race with a gold one on my necklace
My most prized possession is a Kate Bates bobblehead doll
I have lived in 7 different countries on 3 continents since I was 18

Name

Kelly Benjamin

Date of Birth

5/7/75

Height

5’6”

Weight

138 lbs

Years Pro

5 years

Home Town

Kansas City, MO

2009 Team

Colavita/Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light

Current Residence

Portland, OR

Hobbies

Hiking, Camping, Surfing, Wake boarding

Cycling Strengths

Teamwork, dedication, sprinting, and water bottle carrying!

Career Highlights

International Cycling Classic Overall (Superweek) 2007, 2008
USA Crit Series Overall 2008
Tulsa Tough Omnium 2008
Austin AT&T Downtown Criterium – 1st 2008
Member 2007 USA National Track Team

2009 Highlights

Sea Otter Criterium – 1st
Beaufort Memorial Crit – 1st
Gateway Cup/Tour or Missouri Overall – 2nd

It’s Personal...

• Former Firefighter and Fire Apparatus Engineer
• Completed the Ironman Triathlon in 2000
• Was an NCAA All American swimmer at UNLV and Nebraska
• Plan to swim the English Channel after cycling
• Dream of competing in the World Series of Poker (after I become rich and famous!)

Name

Rushlee Mae Buchanan

Date of Birth

1/20/88

Height

170cm

Weight

62kg

Years Pro

4 years

Home Town

Te Awamutu , NZ

2009 Team

TIBCO

Current Residence

New Zealand

Hobbies

Cooking, my veggie/herb garden, walking in summer, studying for my BBS, shopping (for shoes preferably)

Cycling Strengths

I love working for my teammates, doing the hard yards on the front

Career Highlights

Melbourne World Cup, Gold, Women’s TP 2009
NZ National Criterium Champion 2010
Oceania Women’s Team Pursuit Champion 2010
Junior World Track Championships, Silver, 2005
Oceania Individual Pursuit, Bronze, 2010

2009 Highlights

Melbourne World Cup, Gold, Women’s TP 2009
NZ National Criterium Champion 2010
Oceania Women’s Team Pursuit Champion 2010

It’s Personal...

• I’m an only child
• I live in a small country town in NZ
• I do part-time study from NZ via the Internet
• I always tend to overpack when traveling!

Name

Catherine (Cath) Cheatley

Date of Birth

April 6, 1983

Height

170cm

Years Pro

4 years

Home Town

Wanganui, New Zealand

2009 Team

Colavita/Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light

Current Residence

Wanganui in NZ; Kutztown PA in USA

Hobbies

Cooking, looking at maps, quoting movie lines, skyping with my husband and anything outdoors.

Cycling Strengths

All round.  Getting better at those climbs!

Career Highlights

2007 Bronze Medal World Track Champs Points Race
2009 10th Road World Champs Mendrisio
2008 Beijing Olympian –NZ Road race and Points race
2x NZ Road Race Champion
2005 International Tour of Wellington -1st GC

2009 Highlights

10th Road World Champs Mendrisio
6th Montreal Road World Cup
5th NRC Individual rankings with 10 podium placings

It’s Personal...

• I am a human Garmin!
• Qualified Secondary School teacher (worked 3 years fulltime)
• I can eat copious amounts of ice cream in one sitting
• Currently studying extramurally towards a Bachelor of Accountancy
• I like inventing car/van games to keep myself and everyone else occupied during long trips

Name

Theresa Cliff-Ryan

Date of Birth

June 19, 1978

Height

5'8"

Weight

140 lbs

Years Pro

4 years

Home Town

Cedar Springs, MI

2009 Team

Verducci/Breakaway Pwd Delta 7 Sports

Current Residence

Where ever my bike box is: Cedar Springs, Philadelphia, and Canberra, Australia 

Hobbies

Playing with my pups; fixing up cars and motorcycles with my husband Gary Ryan

Cycling Strengths

Sprinting and Track

Career Highlights

29x World Champion and a Pan American Games Champion - Inline Speed Skating
2006 National Crit Champion Cycling
3x bronze medalist Track World Cups
2007 Somerville and Chris Thater winner
2009 UCI Perth GP -Points race winner

2009 Highlights

2009 Fitchburg Overall Points Champion
2009 2nd Somerville, Chris Thater, Hanes Park and Clarendon Cup
2009 3rd Presbyterian Crit

It’s Personal...

• I love animals – especially dogs – and cannot hold a conversation when there’s an animal around
• My parents called me “chicken legs” when I was young because of my skinny legs
• Now my husband sometimes calls me “chicken wing” because of breaking my collar bone
• I have over 250 movies in my DVD collection

Name

Andrea Dvorak

Date of birth

10/09/80

Height

5’5”

Years Pro

4 years

Hometown

Crozet, VA

2009 Team

Colavita/Sutter Home Women’s Cycling Team p/b Cooking Light

Current Current Residence

Crozet, VA

Hobbies

Cooking, mountain biking, running, dancing

Cycling Strengths

All-around

Career Highlights

1st place Fitchburg Longsjo Road Race 2009
3rd place CSC Invitational 2008
3rd place Stillwater Criterium NVGP 2009
1st place Green Mountain Stage Race/Stage 1 2006
5th place Shenandoah 100 Mtn Bike Race

2009 Highlights

1st place Fitchburg Longsjo Road Race
 3rd place NVGP Stillwater Criterium
6th Overall NVGP

It’s Personal...

• Andrea attended UVA Law School and is a Bar-Certified lawyer in the state of Virginia
• Andrea is a veteran rider who has raced with the US National Team and raced in the Women’s Giro d’Italia
• Andrea’s parents are Czech immigrants and she is fluent in Czech
• Andrea knows how to dance the waltz, rumba, salsa, and triple-step swing. She and her husband have been spotted taking over many a dance floors
• Andrea fell off a cliff while mountain biking in Durango and tore her MCL. She then got up and crashed thirty minutes later trying to get home.

Name

Shontell Gauthier

Date of Birth

September 8, 1968

Height

5'3"

Weight

117 lbs

Years Pro

4 years

Home Town

Baton Rouge, LA

2009 Team

Colavita/Sutter Home Cycling Team p/b Cooking Light

Current Residence

Austin, TX

Hobbies

Listening to live music, sampling fish tacos around Texas, watching sports on TV

Cycling Strengths

Snap, sprinting, bike handling

Career Highlights

6th - Liberty Classic, 2006
3rd- Manhattan Beach GP, 2007
4th, Crit Nationals, 2006
1st - Kelly Cup, 2008
BMX National Champion - 1984, 1985

2009 Highlights

2 Top 10 finishes Tour of PEI, 2009
Sprint Jersey winner at Super Week
2 stage wins at Super Week

It’s Personal...

• Off the bike, I work in social services with mentally disabled and the homeless
• Started racing BMX bikes when I was 11
• Born and raised in Louisiana
• I have 2 Springer Spaniels

Name

Heather Logan-Sprenger

Date of Birth

May 14,1982

Height

5’9

Weight

135lbs

Years Pro

2 years

Home Town

Madoc, Ontario, Canada

2009 Team

Colavita/Sutter Home Women’s Cycling Team p/b by Cooking Light

Current Residence

Moffat, Ontario, Canada

Hobbies

All sports, guitar, cooking,

Cycling Strengths

All-rounder

Career Highlights

6th GC tour of PEI, UCI 2.1 2008
20th Montreal World Cup
19th Elsy Jacobs Grand Prix, UCI 1.2
4th National Elite women’s road race
Competed for Team Canada at 2009 Women’s World Cycling Championship (Mendriscio, Switzerland)

2009 Highlights

20th Montreal World Cup
19th Elsy Jacobs Grand Prix, Luxembourg UCI 1.2
4th National Elite women’s road race

It’s Personal...

• Completing last year of PhD in exercise physiology & metabolism
• Now in 8th season playing professional women’s hockey in National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL); 5-time NWHL Cup champion
• 4-time gold medal with Canada at the women’s U22 World Ice Hockey Championships
• Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame 2004
• Clean Air Champion – speak to schools on the impact of cutting down green house emissions and the importance of being active

Name

Jessica Phillips

Date of Birth

May 22,1978

Height

5’5”

Weight

120 lbs.

Years Pro

4 years

Home Town

Aspen, CO

2009 Team

Independent

Current Residence

Wherever I am that day

Hobbies

Skiing, hiking, snowshoeing, cooking

Cycling Strengths

Time-trialing and solid teammate!

Career Highlights

2009 US Time Trial Champion
14th World Championships, Time Trial
Teammate for 2004 Tour de L’Aude yellow jersey (Nurnberger)
2002 US Road Champion
Teammate for overall World Cup Jersey 2002 (Saturn)

2009 Highlights

14th World Championships, Time Trial
US Time Trial Champion
1st Cascade Time Trial

It’s Personal...

• I teach skiing in Aspen part-time
• I have a BS Nutrition from the University of Vermont
• Missoula, MT is one of my favorite places to live; even as a cyclist, it was awesome!
• I have two Labs:  one black, one yellow.  Their names are Cazador and Jager, which mean “hunter” in Spanish and German
• My dream vacation is a ski trip to the Alps or Canadian Rockies

Name

Carmen Small

Date of Birth

4-20-80

Height

5’5”

Weight

120 lbs

Years Pro

3 years

Home Town

Durango, CO

2009 Team

Colavita/Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light

Current Residence

Durango, CO

Hobbies

Anything outside, hiking, camping,

Cycling Strengths

All-arounder

Career Highlights

Colorado state time trial champion 2005
1st Rocky Mountain Omnium Criterium 2006
8th Overall Mt. Hood Cycling Classic 2007
8th Elsy Jacobs RR, Luxembourg 2008
1st Annual High Uintas Classic 2009

2009 Highlights

Tulsa Tough day 3, 2nd
La Route de France Feminine –Stage 2 RR – 9th
Grand Prix de Dottignies, Holland, April 6 – 18th

It’s Personal...

• Graduated with a Math Degree from CSU
• Taught Math for 4 years before cycling
• Played Volleyball in college for 2 years
• Competitive Kayaker; competed in 2 Junior Olympics

Name

Modesta Vzesniauskaite

Date of Birth

10/17/83

Height

173cm (5’8”)

Weight

60kg (132 lbs)

Home Town

Panevezys, Lithuania

2009 Team

Bigla

Current Residence

Lithuania

Hobbies

Sports, dancing, nature

Cycling Strengths

All around

Career Highlights

2004 Campionato del Mondo (Verona)-5
2005 Campionati Europei Under 23 (Russia)-3
2005 Giro di San Marino / Generale- 1
2008. Campionato Lituano-1
2004 Giro d'Italia Femminile – Generale-5
2008 Grand Prix de Chambéry-

2009 Highlights

Giro di Toscana, 1° tappa-1
Gracia-Orlova, 5° tappa-2
Grand Prix de Chambéry-1

Name

Rachel Heal - Directeur Sportif

Date of Birth

April 1, 1973

Years Racing

12 years

Home Town

Chester, UK

2009 Team

Colavita/Sutter Home Cycling Team p/b Cooking Light

Current Residence

Dunboyne, Ireland

Hobbies

Running, road riding (now a hobby not a job!), waterskiing, cooking

Career Highlights

Bronze Medal 2002 Commonwealth Games RR
1st Stage 7, Tour de l’Aude Feminin 2004
2004 Olympian
7x World Championships Team Member for GB
14 medals at GB National Championships (RR, TT, Cyclo cross, Points, Pursuit, Scratch)

It’s Personal...

• I have a masters degree in Chemical Engineering
• I worked for Cadbury Ltd for 5 years
• I played competitive Rugby
• I am trying (not very successfully) to learn to speak French
• I climbed Snowdon (highest mountain in Wales) when I was three

Name

Tina Pic - Directeur Sportif

Date of Birth

5/9/1966

Years Racing

15 years

Home Town

Alexandria, VA

2009 Team

Colavita/Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light

Current Residence

Buford, GA

Hobbies

Windsurfing, waterskiing, wakeboarding sort of, running, skiing, mountain biking, anything outside…

Career Highlights

6x US National Crit Champion
2x Pam Am Gold Road Race Champion
6x World Team Member
5x NRC Champion
3rd New Zealand World Cup 2005

It’s Personal...

• I have a BS in Finance/Marketing from the University of Virginia
• I worked for Molson Breweries for 4 years selling beer
• I have a cat named Bones who is little, fluffy and much tougher than me
• Went back to the University of GA for pre-med courses for medical school and started racing my bike instead
• Worked for Club Med for a year after college

Name

Adrian Hedderman - Mechanic

Date of Birth

August 27, 1973

Home Town

Limerick, Ireland

2009 Team

Engraveit.it

Current Residence

Dunboyne, Ireland

Hobbies

Watching TV, relaxing on couch

Career Highlights

1st Des Hanlon Memorial
1st Tour of Ulster
1st Monie Nolan
1st Cycleways Cup
1st Ras lumini

It’s Personal...

• Qualified Plumber
• Played Hurling & football
• Have 3 sisters and 2 brothers
• Proud to be IRISH
• Grew up in County Limerick, Ireland (yes it’s a real place, not just a type of poem)