Barrows nabs USA Crits win

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Clayton Barrows (AXA Equitable) won the sprint ahead of a late-race breakaway of 10 men and captured a victory at the Iron Hill Twilight Criterium, round five of the USA Crits Series held in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Bobby Lea (Bahati Foundation) and Guido Palma (Jamis-Sutter Home) placed second and third respectively.

“The majority of the guys in the second group were racing for the win,” Lea said. “I had a pretty good idea who was a lap up and who wasn’t. Jamis took control of the finish and my teammate Yosvany brought me up on the inside but I could come around Clayton at the line.”

Race officials offered the peloton an exciting one kilometre circuit that included in the historical downtown area of West Chester, Pennsylvania.

A 14-rider breakaway lapped the field mid-way through the men’s criterium. With 20 laps to go, a second group of eight broke away from and it included roughly six riders from the original break that lapped the field.

“I was in two groups yesterday,” Lea said. “The first went away half way through the race and I went away again with 20 laps to go and that stayed away all the way to the line. About six or seven of those guys were also in the first break.”

The second breakaway included Barrows, Lea and Palma and teammates Frank Travieso and Anibal Borrajo (Jamis-Sutter Home), Mark Hekman (Mountain Khakis-Jittery Joes), Tim Rugg (Battley Harley-Davidson), Scott Zwizanski (Kelly Benefit Strategies) and Yosvany Falcon (Bahati Foundation Elite Cycling Team).

The leaders sprinted for the line where Barrows took the win ahead of Lea and Palma. Palma’s teammate Frank Travieso won the field sprint.

Ellis solos to victory in West Chester; Allar leads USA Crits Series

Lauren Ellis (BikeNZ) took a solo victory at the Iron Hill Twilight Criterium held in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Erica Allar (Vera Bradley Foundation) won the bunch sprint for second place ahead of Sara Caravella (Team Card).

Allar moved into the overall lead in the USA Crits Series. She began accumulating points toward the series’ ranking in April when she placed third at the Athens Terrapin Twilight held in Georgia. Her second place at the Iron Hill Twilight Criterium moved her into the overall lead with two races remaining at the Presbyterian Hospital Invitational in Charlotte, North Carolina and the Chris Thater Memorial in Binghamton, New York.

“I’m excited to have the jersey,” Allar said. “I can’t pretend I didn’t want to win the race, but the jersey was the main objective. I’m happy to have the jersey heading into Presby [Presbyterian Hospital Invitational Criterium] which is a hometown race.”

The professional-elite women’s peloton was prepared to ignite the 40-kilometre criterium. “The crowds were absolutely phenomenal,” Allar said. “There were thousands and thousands and thousands of people out there tonight. It was awesome.”

“They [BikeNZ] had the numbers,” explained Allar. “I believe they were the pursuit team. It was pretty apparent that they wanted to get someone off the front, and with their track racing background, I knew that if they got someone off solo, they could stay away. This put solo riders like myself on the defensive.”

Ellis broke away from the field and maintained a some 30-second lead ahead of the peloton. Allar used her savvy criterium skills to put herself in good position to win the final sprint for second place.

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