Hanson wins Tulsa Tough opener

UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling continued its dominance at Tulsa Tough Friday during the Blue Dome criterium, as Ken Hanson grabbed the top step of the men's podium and Hannah Barnes took the women's win.

The UnitedHealthCare Blue Train nearly swept the podiums of all three Tulsa races last year, with Luke Keough and Carlos Alzate finishing one-two each day and Karl Menzies grabbing the third spot in all but Sunday's finale.

The Blue Train was able to go one-two Friday with Hanson and Keough, while Daniel Holloway (Athlete Octane) rode an aggressive race and sneaked in for third. The UHC women capitalized on their first appearance in Tulsa and also placed two riders in the top three, with Coryn Rivera taking the third spot behind Colavita Fine Cooking's Erica Allar.

The men opened up the three-day omnium with a fast run around the nearly figure-eight course in the Tulsa entertainment district called Blue Dome. Attacks flew from the gun as primes inspired the riders to pick up the pace early and often. Several small groups of riders got a slight advantage, but none of the moves stuck for long until Holloway got away about 22 minutes into the 60 minute race.

Holloway was joined by two riders from Team Mike's Bikes and built a sizable gap before UHC took up the chase and started to close things down. Holloway faded back into the field with about 15 laps to go, but several riders remained off the front and put pressure on the Blue Train.

UnitedHealthcare brought the escapees back with three laps to go, and from there the team's lead-out train did what it does best: deliver the sprinters to the line without a serious challenge. Hanson followed Menzies through the final corner and then jumped on the straightaway. He flew past his teammate with Keough tucked in his slipstream for the one-two result, although Hanson admitted later that wasn't the plan at the start of the day.

"We just wanted to make sure that we made the fastest lead-out for Luke," Hanson said. "Karl did a really long late lead-out, and he led through the last corner. I didn't really have a chance to pass him he was going so fast. So it just kind of worked out that way for us. We might switch it around the other couple of days, but for sure we are happy with first and second. It's huge for us."

UHC will also be happy with four riders in the top five; Hilton Clarke and Menzies finished fourth and fifth, respectively, while only Holloway could crack the team's dominant performance.

Barnes completes UHC dominance

The women's race started just like the men's race, with an attack on the first lap from Pepper Palace's Robin Farina. But primes worth as much as $500 inspired the chase, and Farina, who had been joined by four other riders, was soon back in the fold.

DNA Cycling's Heather Fischer jumped away next and gained a small gap before the UHC-led chase pulled her back after just four laps. Farina countered the move and jumped away again, this time bringing UHC's Cari Higgins along with her. Vanderkitten's Liza Rachetto and Colavita's Jessica Prinner latched on as well, but it was Farina who supplied most of the
power.

The escapees built a workable gap, but the UnitedHealthcare chase again pulled them back with 12 laps remaining. Reigning criterium champion Alison Powers (UnitedHealthcare) immediately countered and took a flyer up the road, and Barnes countered when her teammate was caught. Barnes had a gap of 20 seconds, but the field pulled her back with five laps to go.

From that point, UnitedHealthcare took over the front of the race completely and drove up the pace as the field hurtled toward the finish of the 50-minute race. In the finale, Barnes easily out-sprinted Allar for the
win, while Rivera finished off the podium. UHC's Powers crossed the line in fourth, followed by Sarah Fader (Pepper Palace) in fifth.

Tulsa Tough continues Saturday with the Brady Village criterium and concludes Sunday with the River Parks criterium and its infamous climb up
Cry Baby Hill.

Results