Keough fastest sprinter in Charlotte
By Kirsten Frattini published
Protest over final sprint causes upset on the podium
Jake Keough (UnitedHealthcare) benefited from a perfect team lead-out to take the victory at the Presbyterian Hospital Invitational Criterium on Saturday night in Charlotte, North Carolina. He took a run to the line in the bunch sprint and out-paced Australian Criterium Champion Jonathan Cantwell (V Australia) in second and Alejandro Borrajo (Jamis-Sutter Home) in third.
“It was our race to lose from the start,” Keough said. “We raced smart all night and it was really hard and we didn’t control it until those last few laps when we did our lead-out. Everyone was attacking, it was stop and go and everyone was attacking. It was a hard race to win and I think we earned the win.”
Cantwell protested the sprint with race officials following the final sprint. Several riders alleged that Keough abruptly switched lines in the finishing straight. Officials ruled in favour of Keough saying that they did not see the incident. Cantwell declined to comment.
“Cantwell is a classy rider, Australian National Criterium Champion, and when he lines up, nine times out of ten he is the one we are looking at to be the big competition,” Keough said. “I have full respect for him. I don’t know what happened, we sprint from the front. The team rode the front for the last seven laps and we worked really hard for it.”
Cantwell lined up under sweltering heat to defend his title in the Pro-Cat 1 men’s race for a whopping $50,000. Three rows of riders including Elite, Amateurs and Professionals were called to the start line. Notable sprinters included Luca Damiani (Kenda/5-hour Energy), Menzies (UnitedHealthcare), Frank Pipp and Kyle Wamsley (Bissell), Mark Hekman (Clevland Clinic Sports Health), Christian Helmig (Elbowz Racing) and Emile Abraham (AeroCat-Cycling) and USA CRITS overall series leader Luke Keough (MountainKhakis p/b Smart Shop), among others.
“I think the whole race was a little more quiet than usual because of the heat, the air was really heavy,” Borrajo said. “It was an easier race because there weren’t a lot of attacks. It was still a hard pace, but the humidity made it a strange race.”
The dumbbell-shaped race course offered the fans a chance to see the riders twice through the finish area and a four-corner circuit on each end. The Pro-Cat 1 men raced for 80 kms. Race organizers kick-started the race with a $1000 prime won by Cantwell.
Heath Blackgrove (Elbowz Racing) went on a solo move in the first few laps of the race and he was followed by chaser Jose Navarro (GM Bikes). Bissell and UnitedHealthcare seemed interested in keeping the field together during the early parts of the race. John Loehner (Stan’s No Tubes-AXA Equitable-CRCA) picked up several race primes during his solo efforts.
“The primes were an incentive tonight,” said Blackgrove, who made nearly $2000 in primes on the day. “But I think breakaways would go and then a prime would just happen. I was going to try and break up the race, try and get a breakaway going and try and win the race.”
Kenda/5-hour Energy made a chase effort but was quickly marked by riders from UnitedHealthcare and Bissell. Yosvany Falcon (RealCyclist.com) made a solo move followed by Chad Hartley (Kenda/5-hour Energy), who worked together to hold a small lead over the field for several laps. Soladay and Bobby Lea (Pure Energy Cycling-ProAir HFA) tried to bridge across.
The next series of riders to attempt a breakaway included Kyle Wamsley (Bissell), Clayton Barrows (Stan’s No Tubes-AXA Equitable-CRCA) and Tom Soladay (Kelly Benefit Strategies-OptumHealth). Wamsley won the mid-race prime for USA CRITS points.
Soladay continued to ride solo several laps before his breakaway was neutralized with 14 laps to go by riders attempting to bridge across. Bissell and UnitedHealthcare continued to have a strong presence at the front of the field. Andy Baker (Bissell) made his move but was covered by Davide Frattini (UnitedHealthcare). Daniel Holt (Team Type 1-Sanofi Aventis) went on a solo flyer for one lap. He was followed by Ben Zawacki (Mountain Khakis p/b Smart Shop) and Jonny Clarke (UnitedHealthcare).
Blackgrove made one final move and stayed off the front for three laps, picking up a $1000 prime. Luis Amaran (Jamis-Sutter Home) made a short effort to try and bridge across, but the two riders were reabsorbed into the field with four laps to go by the UnitedHealthcare train.
“We had a small team here because the other part of the team is racing in Brazil,” Borrajo said.
1 | Jake Keough (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling) | 1:55:35 |
2 | Jonathan Cantwell (V Australia) | |
3 | Alejandro Borrajo (Jamis-Sutter Home) | |
4 | Demis Aleman (Jamis-Sutter Home) | |
5 | Andrew Pinfold (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling) | 0:00:01 |
6 | Serghei Tvetcov (AeroCat Cycling Team) | |
7 | Kyle Wamsley (BISSELL Pro Cycling) | 0:00:02 |
8 | Karl Menzies (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling) | |
9 | Euris Rafael Vidal (Foundation/CRCA) | 0:00:03 |
10 | Emile Abraham (AeroCat Cycling Team) | |
11 | Yosvany Falcon (Realcyclist.com Pro Cycling Team) | |
12 | Joey Rosskopf (Team Type 1-Sanofi Aventis) | |
13 | Weimar Roldan (Colombian National Team) | |
14 | Luis Alberto Romero Amaran (Jamis-Sutter Home) | 0:00:04 |
15 | Eric Young (BISSELL Pro Cycling) | |
16 | Luke Keough (Team Mountain Khakis presented by SmartStop) | |
17 | Chad Hartley (Kenda-5 Hour Energy p/b GearGrinder) | |
18 | Frank Travieso (Realcyclist.com Pro Cycling Team) | 0:00:06 |
19 | Andrew Dahlheim (BISSELL Pro Cycling) | |
20 | Chad Burdzilauskas (Texas Roadhouse Cycling Team) | |
21 | Joseph Schmalz (ELBOWZ Racing) | 0:00:07 |
22 | Rafael Meran (Foundation/CRCA) | |
23 | Thomas Brown (Team Mountain Khakis presented by SmartStop) | 0:00:12 |
24 | Colin Jaskiewicz (MetLife Cycling Team) | |
25 | Daniel Holt (Team Type 1-Sanofi Aventis) | 0:00:17 |
26 | Keck Baker (XO Communications / Battley Harley-Davidson) | 0:00:19 |
27 | David Forkner (Foundation/CRCA) | |
28 | Jose Frank Rodriguez (Team Coco's) | 0:00:20 |
29 | Patrick Allison (Birmingham Velo PB Donahoo Auto) | |
30 | Owen Nielsen (Happy Tooth) | |
31 | Jose Navarro (GM Bikes) | 0:00:21 |
32 | Clay Murfet (RideClean p/b PatentIt.com) | |
33 | Ryan Dewald (XO Communications / Battley Harley-Davidson) | |
34 | Stephen Housley (Chemstar p/b UnitedHealthcare) | 0:00:22 |
35 | Clayton Barrows (Stan's No Tubes / AXA Equitable) | |
36 | J Gabriel Lloyd (MetLife Cycling Team) | 0:00:23 |
37 | Thomas Soladay (Kelly Benefit Strategies-OptumHealth) | 0:00:27 |
38 | David Guttenplan (Chemstar p/b UnitedHealthcare) | 0:00:35 |
39 | Andrew Gonzales (ELBOWZ Racing) | 0:00:37 |
40 | Arles Castro (Colombian National Team) | |
41 | John Grant (Texas Roadhouse Cycling Team) | 0:00:38 |
42 | Marco Li (Garneau-Club Chaussures-Norton) | 0:00:45 |
43 | Josh Oxendine (DIY Music p/b AYC) | |
44 | Travis Livermon (Team Mountain Khakis presented by SmartStop) | 0:00:48 |
45 | Austin Roach (MetLife Cycling Team) | 0:00:49 |
46 | Christian Helmig (ELBOWZ Racing) | 0:01:06 |
47 | Jonathan Clarke (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling) | 0:01:08 |
48 | Hilton Clarke (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling) | 0:01:09 |
49 | K Frank Pipp (BISSELL Pro Cycling) | 0:01:12 |
50 | Isaac Howe (Kenda-5 Hour Energy p/b GearGrinder) | 0:06:11 |
51 | Robert White (Kenda-5 Hour Energy p/b GearGrinder) | |
52 | Winston David (Globalbike Elite Team) | |
53 | Jonathan Hamblen (Team Mountain Khakis presented by SmartStop) | |
54 | David Williams (BISSELL Pro Cycling) | |
55 | Davide Frattini (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling) | |
56 | John Simms (Jamis-Sutter Home) | 0:06:12 |
57 | Shane Kline (BISSELL Pro Cycling) | |
58 | Patrick Bevin (BISSELL Pro Cycling) | |
59 | Adrian Hegyvary (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling) | |
DNF | Joshua Carter (Aerocat Cycing Team) | |
DNF | Diego Garavito (Aerocat Cycing Team) | |
DNF | Sabastian Cancio (Aerocat Cycling Team) | |
DNF | Mark Warno (AVC/Team Hagerstown) | |
DNF | Andy Baker (BISSELL Pro Cycling) | |
DNF | Aaron Frahm (Chemstar p/b UnitedHealthcare) | |
DNF | Wally Bixby (Chemstar p/b UnitedHealthcare) | |
DNF | Brian Hill (Chemstar p/b UnitedHealthcare) | |
DNF | Gavriel Epstein (Chipotle Development Team) | |
DNF | Nicholas Inabinet (Cleveland Clinic Sports Health RGF Cycling p/b Felt Bicycles) | |
DNF | Alan Antonuk (Cleveland Clinic Sports Health RGF Cycling p/b Felt Bicycles) | |
DNF | Patrick Weddell (Cleveland Clinic Sports Health RGF Cycling p/b Felt Bicycles) | |
DNF | Andre Vandenberg (Cleveland Clinic Sports Health RGF Cycling p/b Felt Bicycles) | |
DNF | James Baldesare | |
DNF | Mark Hekman (Cleveland Clinic Sports Health RGF Cycling p/b Felt Bicycles) | |
DNF | Juan Esteban Araango (Colombian National Team) | |
DNF | Carlos Uran (Colombian National Team) | |
DNF | William Munoz (Deportivo CICO Rionegro) | |
DNF | Maxwell Robb (DIY Music p/b AYC) | |
DNF | Michael Raynor (DIY Music p/b AYC) | |
DNF | Cody Johnson (DIY Music p/b AYC) | |
DNF | Heath Blackgrove (ELBOWZ Racing) | |
DNF | Alejandro Guzman (Foundation/CRCA) | |
DNF | Alexander Bremer (Foundation/CRCA) | |
DNF | Jeff Schiller (Garneau-Club Chaussures-Norton Rose) | |
DNF | Kyle Knott (Team Globalbike p/b Catoma) | |
DNF | Trey Miller (Team Globalbike p/b Catoma) | |
DNF | Marc Williams (Globalbike Elite Team) | |
DNF | Scott Edge (Team Globalbike p/b Catoma) | |
DNF | Simon Bennett (Globalbike Elite Team) | |
DNF | Luis Zayas | |
DNF | John Crow (Happy Tooth) | |
DNF | Cory Scott (Happy Tooth) | |
DNF | Adam Ray (Industry Nine) | |
DNF | Fernando Antogna (Jamis-Sutter Home) | |
DNF | Shawn Milne (Kenda 5 Hour Energy P/B GearGrinder) | |
DNF | Luca Damiani (Kenda-5 Hour Energy p/b GearGrinder) | |
DNF | Christopher Monteleone (Kenda-5 Hour Energy p/b GearGrinder) | |
DNF | Scottie Weiss (Kenda-5 Hour Energy p/b GearGrinder) | |
DNF | Spencer Gaddy (Kenda-5 Hour Energy p/b GearGrinder) | |
DNF | Andy Munas (MetLife p/b groSolar) | |
DNF | Ben Faulk (Mock Orange Racing) | |
DNF | Bobby Lea (Pure Energy Cycling/ProAirHFA) | |
DNF | Cole House (Realcyclist.com Pro Cycling Team) | |
DNF | Andy Crater (Serenity Bikes p/b Yoga One) | |
DNF | Marc Prutton (Stan's No Tubes / AXA Equitable / CRCA) | |
DNF | John Loehner (Stan's No Tubes / AXA Equitable / CRCA) | |
DNF | Joseph Whitman (Stan's No Tubes / AXA Equitable / CRCA) | |
DNF | Jim Cunningham (Team Carolina Tri-Metro Reprographics) | |
DNF | Yosmani Pol (Team Coco's) | |
DNF | Leonardo Martinez (Team Coco's) | |
DNF | Neil Bezdek (Team Mountain Khakis presented by SmartStop) | |
DNF | Adam Myerson (Team Mountain Khakis presented by SmartStop) | |
DNF | Benjamin Zawacki (Team Mountain Khakis presented by SmartStop) | |
DNF | Jerome Townsend (Team Mountain Khakis presented by SmartStop) | |
DNF | Andrea Ciacchinni (Team Type 1-Sanofi Aventis) | |
DNF | Strad Helms (Team Type 1-Sanofi Aventis) | |
DNF | Alex Bowden (Team Type 1-Sanofi Aventis) | |
DNF | Charles Eldridge (Team Type 1-Sanofi Aventis) | |
DNF | Adam Bergman | |
DNF | Kevin Attkisson (Texas Roadhouse Cycling Team P/B Motorex) | |
DNF | Jared Nieters (XO Communications / Battley Harley-Davidson) | |
DNF | Timothy Brown (XO Communications / Battley Harley-Davidson) | |
DNF | Zachary Felpel (XO Communications / Battley Harley-Davidson) | |
DNF | Jean-Michel Lachance (Team Canada) | |
DNF | Mike Midlarsky (Realcyclist.com Pro Cycling Team) | |
DNF | Damien Dunn (Hub) | |
DNF | Marcus Morgan (Preferred Parking) |

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Kirsten Frattini is an honours graduate of Kinesiology and Health Science from York University in Toronto, Canada. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's WorldTour. She has worked in both print and digital publishing, and started with Cyclingnews as a North American Correspondent in 2006. Moving into a Production Editor's role in 2014, she produces and publishes international race coverage for all men's and women's races including Spring Classics, Grand Tours, World Championships and Olympic Games, and writes and edits news and features. As the Women's Editor at Cyclingnews, Kirsten also coordinates and oversees the global coverage of races, news, features and podcasts about women's professional cycling.
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