Landis and Pic lead USAC NRC standings

Tour winner Floyd Landis (Phonak) and Tina Pic (Colavita Cooking Light) are at the top of USA Cycling's National Racing Calendar standings after 33 events on the 43 race calendar. Propelled by overall wins at both the Amgen Tour of California and the Ford Tour de Georgia, Landis has 1270 points to his credit, a 100 point advantage over Health Net’s Nathan O’Neill (Aus). Pic has notched wins at the Garret Lemire Criterium, the Sunny King Criterium, Bikejam, the Tour of Sommerville, the CapTech Classic and the CSC Invitational to give her 1661 points.

Recent winner of both the elite women’s time trial and road race at the USA Cycling National Festival at Seven Springs, as well as the Nature Valley Grand Prix and the Tour of the Gila, Kristin Armstrong (Team Lipton) currently sits in second place in the women’s individual standings with 1547 points.

Armstrong’s teammate, Laura Van Gilder is currently ranked third in the United States as Team Lipton holds a 436 point advantage in the women’s team standings over Pic’s Colavita Cooking Light squad.

With four riders in the top ten, including the second and third-ranked riders in the men’s standings, Health Net holds a commanding 1394 point lead in the men’s team standings over second-ranked Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team, which has 3136 points. In addition to O’Neill’s second-place ranking, New Zealand’s Greg Henderson is ranked third. Canada’s Gord Fraser is ranked sixth and Australia’s Karl Menzies is ranked seventh, giving the internationally flavored U.S.-based squad a solid lead.

With ten races remaining on the 2006 USA Cycling National Racing Calendar, the International Tour de ‘Toona is currently being contested in Altoona, Pa. July 24-30.

USAC NRC standings