Clarke wins Presbyterian Hospital Invitational Criterium

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The UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team’s Hilton Clarke and Jake Keough captured 1st and 3rd place respectively in the 9th Annual Presbyterian Hospital Invitational Criterium, in Charlotte, North Carolina. Team Jamis Sutter Home’s Alejandro Borrajo split the two UnitedHealthcare sprinters to finish second. Keough had crossed the line in second but was relegated to third for irregular sprinting. Clarke’s win was his second of the season and the victory allows him to remain atop the National Criterium Calendar’s (NCC) individual standings.

With the light fading in downtown Charlotte, the elite men’s race was ready to roll in the Presbyterian Hospital Invitation Criterium. The 134 riders faced 40 laps of the 1.3 mile barbell shaped course.

With just one lap completed Kyle Wamsley (Jamis-Sutter Home) was already off the front with the purpose of lining his pockets with prime money. Finally, after a couple of solo laps, the prime bell rang for $500.

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Wamsley was able to hold on for the prime, and he continued to roll in search of more prime money.

Back in the peloton the blue kits of UnitedHealthcare were at the front keeping the gap between Wamsley and two bridging riders in check.

Wamsley started to realize he was fighting a losing battle and sat up letting Jared Barrilleaux (Cal Giant/Specialized) and Heath Blackgrove (Elbowz racing) join him. Realistically they knew there was no chance of staying away for the remaining 32 laps, but with the frequent primes being announced they could at least make this a profitable evening.

UnitedHealthcare had enough of the trio’s lead, so last year’s winner Jake Keough went to the front and started to bring it back to a more manageable gap.

A $250 prime once again ignited the peloton and the entire group was head to tail as they screamed down North Tryon Street. With 30 laps remaining the local heroes were at the back, desperately trying to remain in the draft of the big teams.

While the trio gobbled up cash primes the chasing peloton continued to gain stream and take back a handful of seconds each lap.

With 28 laps remaining the three riders had a 33 second lead and once again the bell rung again – $500.

At the front UnitedHealthcare and Bissell were stringing the group out. Gaps were starting to form with in the peloton as the horsepower was tearing it apart. As a result, the breakaway lost five seconds with 25 laps remaining.

With 23 laps remaining the $500 cash prime reinvigorated the break and grew their lead to 45 seconds.

At the midway point the trio’s lead had been reduced to 30 seconds due to the efforts of Team Exergy and the UnitedHealthcare squad. However, the night’s biggest dollar prime was just a lap away – $1,000.

With the big dollar prime lurking on the horizon the peloton continued to gobble up the gap between themselves and the three riders off the front.

As the three riders rolled through the start line the thousand dollar prime was announced. Would they continue to work together or would the back stabbing begin?

Continuing to work together, Wamsley rolled across the line for the prime – they still appeared to be committed to staying away for the remaining 16 laps of the race. However, the gap was continuing to shrink – smart money was they would be caught before the race entered single digit laps.

With 14 laps to go the gap had dropped to 23 seconds with UnitedHeathcare driving the front of the peloton. The boys in blue were just letting the trio dangle off the front, discouraging a counter attack and allowing them to set up their sprinters Jake Keough or Hilton Clarke for the win.

As expected, with 12 laps remaining the three riders only had a handful of seconds separating them from the UnitedHealthcare led peloton. However, with a capture close, UnitedHealthcare look their foot off the gas pedal and let the gap grow a few more seconds.

With 11 laps remaining Barrilleaux was popped from the break and it was now just Wamsley and Blackgrove off the front. The peloton must have sensed the slow death of the break and accelerated.

UnitedHealthcare continued to control the front but seemed to be toying with the now two riders off the front. With a $500 prime grabbed by the duo and nine laps remaining it was time for a team to reel them back. All five UnitedHealthcare riders were at the front with Keough surfing fourth wheel. It seemed like he, who has returned to the States after a European campaign, was their go to guy for the field sprint.

For the final prime of the night, worth $500, Blackgrove surged ahead to take the cash. However, right on his rear wheel was the UnitedHealthcare squad. It was soon to be game over for the brave New Zealander.

With three to go Blackgrove was caught and UnitedHealthcare were in charge.

Someone didn’t tell Blackgrove as he attacked again with two other riders. It was more a show of defiance as they were quickly caught. But with two laps remaining Ben Zawacki (Team Mountain Khakis presented by Smart Stop) attacked. It was just a short lived stab at glory as at the 1.5 laps to go he was already caught.

On the bell lap UnitedHealthcare took their position at the front with Karl Menzies taking a huge pull with riders peeling off as the speed increased. Clarke seemed to be in the sweet spot of the train waiting for the final stretch.

Around the final corner Menzies completed his final pull and out of the shadows three riders had separated themselves. Crossing the line first was Clarke, followed by teammate Keough and Alejandro Borrajo (Jamis-Sutter Home) in third. However, Keough was relegated a position for not holding his line in the closing meters and moved to third, elevating Borrajo to second place.

“All five of us were riding,” said Clarke of the last laps of the race. “We brought it back to ten seconds gap and decided to leave it right there because we knew we could reel it back in. But I can tell you it was all hands on deck.”

“Watching from the sidelines it might have looked easy, but it was one of the toughest ones we’ve done.”

Immediately following the race the Charlotte squad was flying to New York for compete in the Battenkill road race.

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