USA CRITS: Shannon Koch notches second series win as Marcos Mendez edges Lucas Bourgoyne for men's win in Omaha

Shannon Koch (Kingdom Elite Racing) scored her second victory of USA CRITS while Marcos Mendez (CRCA/Foundation) held off USA CRITS leader Lucas Bourgoyne (Team Cadence Cyclery p/b Encore Wire) for his first win of the series on Saturday at the inaugural Aksarben Tirc p/b Visit Omaha race in Nebraska.

Jeydy Praderas (Kingdom Elite Racing) finished second and Elizabeth Harden (Team Flicker) went third on Saturday night at the new midwest race as their teams fought for positions in USA CRITS, with just one race remaining. 

The top three women are separated by just 34 points after eight races. Aylena Quevedo (Kingdom Elite Racing) maintained a slim overall lead in the USA CRITS women's individual standings with a top 10 finish and retained the leader's jersey. She was nine points ahead of Harden, and third-placed Koch was another 25 points back. Fourth-placed Ali LeCraw of Team Flicker is well off the pace at 164 points back.

In the men's race, Mendez came into Omaha fresh off a win at Conshy Classic in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. He scored big points for his CRCA/Foundation team with the victory ahead of Bourgoyne and former USA CRITS overall champion Danny Summerhill (L39ION of Los Angeles) on the podium in third. 

The overall standings for men have been dominated across the series by Team Cadence Cyclery p/b Encore Wire duo Bourgoyne and Luke Fetzer, who remain in the top positions one and two, respectively. Castaneda moved into third overall after Omaha, bumping dow Michael Garrison (MGR p/b Speed l Club), who announced on social media he would forgo the remaining USA CRITS calendar to focus on USPRO Road National Championships. Athens winner Clever Martinez (CRCA/Foundation) was fifth with one race to go.

The men's points totals will include just eight of the nine races when the champions are determined on May 24 at the USA CRTS Finals in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, as their race at LaGrange Cycling Classic on May 3, stop six, was cancelled due to inclement weather. The women were able to compete on May 3 and a full nine-race point tabulation is expected to determine the series winner at Winston-Salem Cycling Classic.

Named for the Aksarben Village area which hosted the new two-kilometre course, the Aksarben Tirc p/b Visit Omaha criterium provided a unique five-corner course. The first turn was on an out-and back path for a parade around a roundabout on Pine Street next to the campus of University of Nebraska-Omaha. From there, riders returned past the start-finish for a counter-clockwise loop with the more conventional set of four 90-degree corners that dropped them back north on South 67th to the finish line.

The series culminates in North Carolina on Saturday, May 24, one night following the elite criterium events at USA Cycling Pro Road Championships in Charleston, West Virginia, with the junior and under-23 criterium national championships on Thursday, May 22. The packed weekend also has Tour of Somerville in New Jersey on May 26. 

"In 2024 the Winston-Salem event moved back to Memorial Day where it had been for many years. Local scheduling conflicts prevent a move to any other date close to that weekend. The closeness of Winston-Salem to Charleston [360 miles by car - Ed.] does allow for attending both, though not ideal," Gene Dixon, founder of USA CRITS, told Cyclingnews earlier this spring.

Results - Aksarben Tirc p/b Visit Omaha

Standings USA CRITS