McRae Third At Tulsa; Hanley Injury Update

Tulsa, Okla. – Jen McRae scored Team Type 1’s third podium finish of the Tulsa Tough omnium criterium series with a third-place finish Sunday while teammate Monique Hanley continued to assess the extent of injuries she sustained in a crash Saturday.

McRae’s placing behind winner Shelley Olds (Proman Hit Squad) and runner-up Carmen McNellis (Colavita-Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light) earned Team Type 1 valuable points toward maintaining its lead in the National Racing Calendar (NRC) team standings. McRae also finished third in the omnium competition.

Team Type 1’s Alison Powers, the NRC individual leader, also figured prominently in Sunday’s race before finishing fifth. The reigning national time trial champion soloed for about 10 laps, never gaining more than a dozen seconds’ lead. But the efforts by other teams to chase her down certainly took their toll.

“Basically that destroyed the whole field,” Team Type 1 Team Director Jack Seehafer said. “There were about 25 riders left by the time they caught her. Coming out of the last corner, she was second wheel behind Shelley Olds. Had Alison not done all that work early on, she might have even won.”

While her teammates were racing, Hanley was checking out of the hospital in anticipation of a return to her U.S. home in Philadelphia. The Australian broke three of her four thoracic vertebrae (T2, T3 and T4) in a massive pile-up Saturday that also separated her shoulder and left her with extensive bruising and road rash.

“It’s been really, really painful for me,” Hanley said. “The shoulder seems like no issue compared to my back.”

Shoulder surgery will be required while the spinous process fractures will have to heal on their own.

“It’s really a question of pain management and not doing anything that makes it worse when it comes to my back,” Hanley said. “As for my shoulder, I won’t be able to even get on the bike for six weeks or so after the surgery.”

Managing her Type 1 diabetes will also be a challenge, she said, since she only has the use of one hand to test her blood sugar.

“I’m grateful to have great tools, including the FreeStyle Navigator (continuous glucose monitor) and the OmniPod to make my life easier," she said. “Extra insulin will be required, and I'll be using Apidra to help me out with this."

Hanley wasn’t the only one hurt in Tulsa. Teammate Kori Seehafer, the sprint classification leader of the Women’s Prestige Cycling Series, did not compete after she was struck by a trailer being pulled by a truck. The incident happened Wednesday while the team was stopped at a traffic light during a training ride. Injuries to her left leg and knee make her questionable for Sunday’s Liberty Cup race in Philadelphia.