USA CRITS: Skylar Schneider and Marcos Mendez score decisive wins at Greenville Cycling Classic

Skylar Schneider (L39ION of Los Angeles) and Marcos Mendez (Foundation New York) won the elite races at Greenville Cycling Classic Thursday night, the fourth stop of USA CRITS.

Schneider delivered the knock-out punch on the final corners of the 50-lap elite women's race, beating Elizabeth Harden (Kingdom Elite Racing) and Andrea Cyr (HigherDOSE - Renova) to the line in downtown Greenville, South Carolina.

Harden and her teammate Ray led into the last lap of the six-turn 'L-shaped' course, Schneider and Cyr glued to their wheels. Ray pulled off for Harden, but it was Schneider who blitzed the front group on turn five and created distance after turn six.

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Women's Individual series leader Liza Ray (Kingdom Elite Racing) rolled across the line in fifth place, just off the wheel of Rebecca Lang (Team Winston Salem-FLOW). Harden and Lang second and third, respectively, in the individual standings.

This was the first race in the series for both Schneider and Cyr, who faced off at Redlands Bicycle Classic with Schneider taking a pair of podiums and Cyr earning two top 10s.

Already dominant at Sunny King Criterium and LaGrange Cycling Classic in April, Mendez earned his third series victory. His Foundation Cycling New York teammate Bryan Gomez finished second in the bunch sprint, holding off a charge from Team Cadence Cyclery pb Waldo Racing duo Luke Fetzer and Cade Bickmore, third and fourth respectively.

Leonel Rodriguez (The Paceline Project) finished fifth and continued to lead the men's individual standings with his consistency of top finishes. Preston Eye (Clif Family Drifters Cycling) finished sixth, and retained a slim margin in the overall ahead of Mendez.

The series remains in South Carolina Friday night for the Spartanburg Criterium presented by Spartanburg Medical Center and Gibbs Cancer Center, with the sixth on Saturday night in Suwanee, Georgia.

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