Menzies completes Speedweek with a UnitedHealhcare trifecta

Image 1 of 14

Jake Keough and the rest of the UnitedHealthcare squad put a bow on the finale of the 2011 USA CRITS Speedweek series at the Global Imports Sandy Springs Cycling Challenge today. Not only did teammate Karl Menzies win the final event, but the team swept the final series' podium as well. Keough maintained his hold on the individual overall title. In the women's race Team TIBCO/To The Top's Jennifer Wheeler snapped the team's Speedweek dry spell with a last minute surge on the tough Sandy Springs course to cap the 2011 series.

Following seven days of intense racing, UnitedHealthcare took up the gauntlet once again as the laps ticked down on the richest week in U.S. bike racing. With three men included in what would become the winning move, UnitedHealthcare made sure that they left nothing to chance.

"When we got everyone onboard," Keough said after the event. " I said to the guys 'We've got to go full gas and try and lap this field.'"

And lap the field they did. The group of 15 riders that came together with 23 laps to go, came around the back end of the peloton 10 minutes later. In final minutes of racing, Keough's squad asserted their dominance one again by driving the break to its conclusion. As the group came to the finish veteran sprinter Karl Menzies came across the line first. Behind him Keough took second and Hilton Clarke came in third to complete their sweep of the podium

Despite also securing the men's overall Speedweek championship, Keough was most happy this week with his team's unity as opposed to any title or individual victories he took along the way.

"The whole team is riding really strong and riding as a cohesive unit. For us, I think that was the big takeaway of the whole week."

Wheeler lands win for Team TIBCO/To The Top

On the women's side of the series Jeniffer Wheeler finally brought Team TIBCO/To The Top a Speedweek win after having been repeatedly denied a victory throughout the week. Wheeler laid in wait for most of the 40 lap contest while the rest of the field tried to come up with the day's winning formula.

"Nothing was really going until the end, so I was tucked in at around 10th place, and when I saw (Colavita's) Edita Janeliunaite go off the front, I thought 'I'm going to go for it.'" Wheeler said following her win. "We tried a bunch of stuff this week, so today our strategy was just to look for opportunities and take advantage of them."

Janeliunaite and Wheeler were fairly certain their escape would stick, and Wheeler had grown confident enough on the six-turn Sandy Springs course to take the chances necessary to win.

"That course was so fun and you could really pick up a lot of speed. I had 38 laps or so to learn how to take the corners and see the lines that other people were taking, so towards the finish that's what really helped the most."

Janeliunaite held on for second place and Nicky Wangsgard (Primal/MapMyRide) rounded out the podium in third.

The top end of the individual overall placings were a mirror image of what they had been 24 hours earlier, despite the fact that there wasn't all that much separation between the top contenders going into the Sandy Springs event. Keough finished the week 20 points ahead of teammate Hilton Clarke and Laura Van Gilder held onto to her series winning lead by maintaining a final 33 point edge over Christina Gokey-Smith (Rouse Bicycles). UnitedHealthcare had a more than comfortable advantage once the final overall team tally's were made over Team Exergy, and Colavita/Forno d'Asolo were in a similarly dominant position over Team TIBCO/To The Top. The U25 titles remained with Keough for the men and Samantha Schneider for the women.