High Road’s Chantal Beltman won the Commerce Bank Liberty Classic in a late-race solo move. After Beltman and her High Road teammates Mara Abbott and Kim Anderson went clear with Tibco’s Joanne Kiesanowski on the last of four trips up Manayunk Wall, America’s strongest women’s team played its numbers. With less than three miles to go, Abbott attacked, drawing out Kiesanowski. Beltman then countered and it was game over.

“It was just before Lemon Hill where I went, and I gave it all until the finish. I had nothing to lose with Ina [Teutenberg] in the bunch,” Beltman said, referring to High Road’s sprinting ace, who won the first two races of the Commerce Bank Triple Crown in Lehigh Valley and reading.

An elated Chantal Beltman (Team High Road) heads for the podium.

Photo: © 2008 Action Images

The trailing three were scooped up by the remnants of the front field group, but Beltman was long gone. With the temperature soaring into the 90s — radio and television news constantly repeated extreme weather warnings — Beltman drove it home.

Tibco’s Brooke Miller and Teutenberg duked it out in the sprint for second. Both riders threw their bikes at the line; Miller took it by a fraction.

“We had it very much under control today. It was awesome. It was really a team effort. I was really glad to win,” Beltman said. “At the end, no one had much left anymore. But I like the heat. It’s good for me. I saw that everybody was at their limits, so I thought I’d have one more go. And it worked out well.”

By winning in Lehigh Valley and Reading then taking third in Philadelphia, High Road’s Ina Teutenberg claimed the Triple Crown title — her third in as many years.

“It’s not a real Triple Crown, you know, but Big Brown didn’t win yesterday in his race, either,” Teutenberg joked after the Liberty Classic, referring to a complete sweep of all three races as well as the Belmont Stakes horse race, where the favorite took the opening two wins. “We wanted to win the race — that was the main goal for the day. We did, so it doesn’t really matter how.”

The podium (L-R) Ina Teutenberg (High Road), Chantal Beltman (High Road), and Brook Miller (Tibco).

Photo: © 2008 Action Images

Earlier in the day, former world time trial champion Kristin Armstrong (Cervelo-Lifeforce) put in a dangerous solo move.

“Kristin rode well,” Teutenberg said. “She’s a world-class rider who had a tremendous spring in Europe, racing like we’ve never seen her race before in the road races. So when she gets three minutes, it takes a whole team to bring her back.”

Unfortunately for Armstrong, High Road brought bigger guns to the duel than Cervelo-Lifeforce. Beltman was just one of them.

“Chantal had a great day today, she was in every break, and she helped pull Kristin back,” Teutenberg said. “She deserved to win today. She was definitely the strongest out there.”