Dotti delivers at Hyde Park Blast

Fireworks flew at the third stop of the USA CRITS Series where Aerocat's Juan Pablo Dotti picked up the win at the Hyde Park Blast in Cincinnati, Ohio. Isaac Howe (Team Mountain Khakis fueled by Jittery Joes) kept the Champion System Leader's Jersey despite crashing with the 2009 Blast winner, Aerocat's Emile Abraham, in the final sprint.

Aerocat was the story of the night, animating the race, chasing down primes, and, ultimately, winning the race. Mountain Khakis fueled by Jittery Joes' Mark Hekman and David Guttenplan were in multiple breaks, but most of the race was spent defending Howe's lead.

Several breaks went away but one looked like it was going stick with 10 laps to go, and included Andy Crater (Aerocat), Ryan Dewald, Gavriel Epstein (CRCA/Foundation), Gabe Lloyd (Metlife), Andy Moskal, and Neil Bezdek (Team Mountain Khakis fueled by Jittery Joes). With three laps to go, however, the break was caught.

Dewald took a flyer off the front but was brought back with one lap to go as the peloton geared up for a field sprint finale.

Out of the last turn and about 100 feet from the finish, Howe and Abraham locked horns and went down. Abraham's teammate, Juan Pablo Dotti, sprinted to victory and the 200 points for winning boosted him from 61st place into the top 10 overall. Clayton Barrows (AXA Equitable) finished in second place, earning his second USA CRITS podium this season, while Christopher Uberti (Panther) rounded out the top three.

Women's racing returns to the Series at the Iron Hill Twilight Criterium on July 10 in West Chester, PA. It is a back-to-back weekend for the men, with the CapCrit returning on July 11 in Washington DC on Pennsylvania Avenue.