Ina Yoko Teutenberg and Sarah Uhl were both out front battling the rain, but Teutenberg had one advantage: Teammates.

With about 20 minutes left in the women's Twilight Criterium of the Cascade Cycling Classic in downtown Bend on Friday night, Uhl and Teutenberg broke away from the field and developed a lead of almost one minute.

A group of six riders - three of them Teutenberg's T-Mobile teammates - gained some ground on the two leaders as the finish neared. Knowing she had the help of her teammates, Teutenberg was able to sit on Uhl's wheel, then make her move just in time, passing Uhl just before the finish to claim the stage victory.

Uhl finished second, and Kori Seehafer of T-Mobile was third. Uhl, who races for Quark, was racing by herself as none of her teammates made the trip to Central Oregon.

"We were aggressive from the start," Teutenberg said. "We had eight riders here. We played that card and that's why we won. I knew the group behind us had three of my teammates, so I had to sit on Sarah. I have the advantage of my teammates."

Though rain was falling throughout the race, Uhl said she felt more comfortable in front, where a crash is less likely with just two riders.

"I decided to be real aggressive from the start and put myself in front," Uhl said. "I was lucky. I slipped so many times.

"I was pretty bummed when (Teutenberg) stopped working. I don't know what their (T-Mobile's) plan was. But if I wanted to stay in it, I had to do all the dirty work."

Kristin Armstrong of T-Mobile overcame a solo crash in the criterium to maintain the leader's jersey after winning the Tumalo Time Trial earlier on Friday with a time of 15 minutes, 32 seconds. She had just a two-second lead on Kristin Danielson of Ford-Basis after Thursday's stage, but she gained more than a minute on Danielson in the time trial and now leads teammate Kimberly Baldwin by 47 seconds.

Armstrong's overall time is 3 hours, 55 minutes, 50 seconds. Erin Mirabella of Bicycle Johns is 1:01 back, and Danielson is 1:31 back.

Baldwin moved into second place overall by finishing second in the time trial in 15:50.

A strong head wind and some tough hills made the time trial a difficult course, but Armstrong pulled through with the fastest time on the 6.6-mile loop, which started and finished at Tumalo State Park north of Bend.

"I think the pattern of this whole week is going to be undulating, painful hills," Armstrong said after the time trial. "Whenever I've had a good result, I don't feel real smooth, but you always have to think that nobody else can feel very smooth either because of the head wind and the hills. If you can push through that part, that's how you get the edge on the rest of the field."

Armstrong is the national time-trial champion, and she was fourth overall at the Cascade Classic last year, second in the time trial.

"It hurt, just like any time trial," she said. "I was nervous. It doesn't matter if it's nationals or Cascade, I'm always nervous. I just wanted to secure the lead for the team, and I knew Kimberly (Baldwin) would come up with a really good time.

"The great thing about our team is we're all supportive of each other. We're really connected."

With two stages remaining in the Cascade Classic, T-Mobile is now poised for an overall victory. The only question is: Which rider will win? Both Armstrong and Baldwin insist that it does not matter.

"It puts us in a perfect position, one and two," Baldwin said. "We're going to have fun the rest of the race. Our goal is to win, and whoever does it, it doesn't really matter. Cycling is a team sport."

Saturday's stage of the women's Cascade Cycling Classic is the Awbrey Butte Circuit Race, a 58-mile stage that starts at 8:40 a.m.