Modesta Vzesniauskaite is from Lithuania, and rides for Colavita, a solid team which has been known to employ some stunning riders in recent times like Dotsie Bausch and Tiffany Cromwell. Modesta is classic blonde, and perhaps the most beautiful rider ever to grace the women's pro peloton. While perhaps there have been classier riders like Nicole Brandli, I don't think any rider I can recall could match Modesta for her stunning good looks. When she looks good, she is stunning, no other words come to mind.

Modesta would certainly be the Anna Kournikova of cycling and she has class which really sets her apart from other girls who are pretty and aspire to ascend the ranks of the pro peloton. I can't really think of anyone this beautiful since Marianne Berglund, but in my opinion, Modesta is probably the most beautiful rider to ever enter the pro ranks. Her easy going charm and personality only adds to her character and makes her a great asset to the pro women ranks, IMO.

I had heard very early on from friends in Europe that Modesta would be riding for Colavita this year. I had known about this great talent already for many years since my friends run her fan club and have followed her in Europe for many years. This is a long time veteran of women's racing in both UCI races, World Cup, World Championships and the Olympic games. There is nothing this great rider has not competed in. Indeed, early in her career she also competed in the HP Women's Challenge and was here when Nicole Cooke won the San Francisco Grand Prix.

I was told by my friends in Europe that she would come over to do our Merco Classic. She arrived in USA a bit late and had not trained much yet for the new season. However, she rode very well considering she hasn't even rode much since last year. She's got great form based on her years of experience and she also took 6th place in the Foothills race just seconds behind the sprinters. In the Merco Grand Prix she took 7th place, but again only 1 second behind the top sprinters. This is great talent no doubt. She hasn't even come into form yet, and its quite likely she will do well on the NRC circuit, although she's not used to crits cause they don't really have many in Europe.

She told me she's not used to crits and that the Merco crit was hard so early in the season for her. However the Merco Grand Prix field was stellar to say the least attracting some great talent this year. With HTC leading the way, the criterium was really a showcase for the Merced community. I ran into Modesta as she was taking in the all the fun near the barbecue pits. We sort of ran into each other serendipity style. I think she was expecting me since I had been in contact with her friends about racing in California.

Note: Modesta's English is not very good, otherwise I would of done an interview. It could of been a great interview, but I felt it would be too difficult for both of us. Modesta came to America to improve her English as well as bike race, so if she returns to America for another season, next year her English should be greatly improved.

This was the first time I met her in person, and I must say she is even more beautiful and stunning in person then her photographs would ever do justice to. I found her to be very mature and relaxed about the cycling culture. I haven't met anyone that relaxed and cool about the cycling culture since Liz Hatch, however she had the coolness and same professional even handed approach to the press that reminded me of Amber Neben at Redlands. I also noticed she had some really powerful legs after at least a decade or more of racing at the world class level.

From all appearances she was the consummate professional both on and off the field. One thing I noticed too that since she is from Lithuania, she seems to have that old school easy going personality of the east soviet block. She had no pretenses and isn't given to any nonsense or stereotypes you see sometimes in the peloton. As far as I can tell, she's very mature about every aspect of cycling, both in racing and that part which works for the fans in the press, photos, race reports, etc. She knows that it helps both the sport move forward as well as moving her image forward. It's not that she really needs it, as she is already world famous in Europe.

Personally I found her to be one of the most refreshing riders I have ever met, and I wish we had more of them like her. I remember James Raia wrote in the San Francisco Examiner about the fact we could use more women pros like Erica Allar. Well, the sport sure could use more women like Modesta Vzesniauskaite! Simply, this rider has it all. She's glamorous, she's a great talent, and she has a wonderful mature level headed personality on and off the field whic you rarely see all those traits in pro women. She certainly has my highest regards and I wish her luck and great season for 2010!

Note: Even though the HTC gallery has been up twice as long as Modesta's gallery and contained some breathtaking action shots of the Merco TTT, Modesta's gallery stats indicate that she is getting 3 times as many hits per photo as the HTC gallery. In reality, that's more like six to one when you do the math. HTC women's team is as professional as you can get, and they are well liked and respected by a large number of cycling fans. Their hits on this website have also been impressive, but I guess what's worth mentioning here is that high profile women like Modesta are a huge asset to the sport, and they can only help the overall image of the sport.

This is good both for her and everyone else who stands to benefit as well. When the sport is brought to a higher respectable level of both class, talent and notability, this is good for everyone involved all across the board. I remember from college days, they used to say you want to hang out with those who are smarter then you. You want to step up, not down. Same is true for cycling, we want the sport to step up, not down, and those few rare women pro cyclists who are talented, charming, experienced, well seasoned and spice up the sport by bringing notability in the sense that Anna Kournikova did is a good thing, and we all benefit from that.

Cheers!

Victoria Pendleton Speaks to some of these very issues! Excellent read!!

Victoria Pendleton Interview - (Bike Radar)