Lauren Hall continues Colavita's dominance

Frank Travieso (RealCyclist) broke the UnitedHealthcare stranglehold at Speed Week with a win in the 38th annual Dilworth Criterium, the penultimate event in the series. The sprinter out-kicked his four breakaway companions on a tough uphill drag to the finish after 75 minutes of hard-fought racing.

After being just one lap away from victory earlier in the week at the Downtown Walterboro Criterium, Travieso was able to turn the tables in Dilworth. The Cuban-born speedster made a decisive move during the final half of the race that turned out to be crucial. Travieso bridged across to the trio of Emerson Oronte (Jelly Belly), Christian Helmig (Elbowz Racing), and Raymond Kreder (Chipotle Development Team) who were in desperate pursuit of UnitedHealthcare's Boy Van Poppel.

"When I saw the other three guys, I knew I had to go, so I jumped hard," said Travieso.

Travieso joined the chasers and with three laps to go, helped them catch Van Poppel. This put him in good stead for the finale, but the characteristics of the nearly one mile circuit weren't necessarily to his advantage.

"The climb to the finish is very very hard and long, so I had to go early to have a chance at making it," said Travieso.

Travieso did just that, and edged Kreder at the line for the victory.

In the women's race Lauren Hall (Colavita/Forno d'Asolo p/b Cooking Light) avenged her team's disappointing loss at the Spartanburg Regional Classic less than 24 hours earlier with her first victory of the 2011 season. Hall also found herself coping with the challenges the Dilworth course put forth.

"Rushlee [Buchanan] won on that course last year so she could tell us a lot about and [those trips] over that long hill...aw, man they added up really fast," said Hall. "I thought my sprint went 500 meters, but it was longer than that. Maybe 800 meters. When I jumped, I thought 'This is such a long shot.' But I jumped, went went went, sat down, and looked back to realize that I had a bit of a gap. Then I went again and just took my natural line to the finish line. It was so close. I had no idea that Laura [Van Gilder] was right there on my tail."

For her part Van Gilder took second place and now holds a 33-point edge on the individual overall standings for her efforts. Nicky Wangsgard (Primal/MapMyRide) took the final step on the podium.

As far as the overall is concerned Colavita/Forno d'Asolo have the team standings all but locked up, although they lost the individual title when sprinter Theresa Cliff-Ryan left the series for the Pan Am Games. On the men's side of the competition, the individual standings are much tighter. UnitedHealthcare's Jake Keough holds only a four-point advantage over teammate Hilton Clarke and Carlos Alzate (Team Exergy) who are tied for 2nd place. Keough's squad though has a much healthier margin, however, in the team standings.

The 2011 USA CRITS Speed Week concludes with the Global Imports Sandy Springs Cycling Challenge in Sandy Springs, GA on Sunday.