Carr wins West Reading Radsport Criterium

Skyline's Adam Carr won the West Reading Radsport Criterium as the sun went down on Saturday. He took the win ahead of Michael Margarite (CRCA-The Weather Channel Spec) and Geno Villafano (CCAP).

As the sun started to set in West Reading, the breeze picked up and blew straight down the homestretch against the riders contesting the West Reading Criterium. That wind worked to the advantage of Mike Margarite and John Delong (Team Skyline), who took off from the field early and built up a lead that stretched to 17 seconds, nearly getting out of the site of the 100 riders in the field and at times looking like they might close the gap to the Acura NSX pace car.

With both riders' teammates blocking efforts to chase, it looked for a moment like the race might be decided early, but with a few mid-race primes the gap to the two leaders started to come down. When three-time Olympian Bobby Lea (Burner Fitness) came to the front, with an assist from the Doylestown Bike Works team, the break's fate was sealed.

Mid-race laps were marked by Weather Channel, Texas Roadhouse, CS Velo, and local favorites Skyline trading attacks, but after the near-miss with the early break, the field was disinclined to let anything get too far up the road.

The elastic finally snapped with about six laps to go when a group of four riders -- Margarite, taking his second trip off the front, Adam Carr, Geno Villagano (CCAP), and Michael Jones, a former Health-Net Maxxis rider now racing for Nalgene p/b Sager Beer Works -- got clear of the bunch and quickly built a big advantage.

Lea, who lives nearby, hit the front again with two laps to go, but without much cooperation in the chase, the advantage shifted to the breakaway where Skyline's Adam Carr took the "gambler prime," and then won the race a lap later -- the evening's second such double.

Jones finished fourth and Jelly Belly's Curtis White won the field sprint for fifth.

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