Terrapin Twilight, Saturday, April 24, 2010
The 30th annual Athens Twilight Criterium, now sponsored by the Terrapin Beer Company, took place under the threat of storms. While earlier amateur races enjoyed clear conditions, as the sun began to set for the professional women's event, a severe storm rolled in and caused havoc for the ladies.
Colavita-Baci's new sprinter Theresa Cliff-Ryan proved to be resilient in the dreadful conditions and sprinted to an easy victory over Sam Schneider (Tibco) and Erica Allar (Vera Bradley).
In the men's race, the rain had mostly moved off, but the length and intensity of the race still led to a high rate of attrition. Only 35 riders finished behind race winner Karl Menzies (United Healthcare p/b Maxxis), runner-up Alessandro Bazzana (Fly V Australia) and Hilton Clarke (Bahati Foundation Pro Cycling).
Enjoy the video re-cap of the action from Athens, Georgia.
Historic Roswell Criterium, Sunday, April 25, 2010
The action moved to the historic town of Roswell, Georgia on Sunday for the longer and somewhat more difficult 4-corner course that undulates and features a tricky last corner.
The women's race saw plenty of attacks, most notably from Rachel Warner (BMW-Bianchi), who stayed away for 6-laps. Once again the finish came down to a sprint, and once more it was Theresa Cliff-Ryan who prevailed over Warner's teammate Sarah Caravella and Laura Van Gilder (Mellow Mushroom).
The men's race was won by Ken Hanson (Team Type 1) who took a narrow victory over Andrew Pinfold (United Healthcare) and Aussie champion Aaron Kemps (Fly V Australia).
Beaufort Criterium, Tuesday, April 27, 2010
With a day of rest behind them, the criterium specialists were ready to get back into the action on the eastern coast of South Carolina in Beaufort. The women's race saw Colavita-Baci take a different tactic, sending New Zealander Rushlee Buchanan on a solo attack that stayed away to the finish. Cliff-Ryan once again proved fastest from the field for second ahead of Erica Allar.
In the men's race it was time for Australian Crit champion Aaron Kemps to shine. He snuck in ahead of Clarke and Pinfold to claim his first win of the week.
A crash with two laps to go saw tempers fly, but fortunately no-one was seriously injured.
