Companioni a champion in Tampa
Jamis-Sutter Home rider tops Brennan from breakaway
The 2016 TUFMED USA CRITS Championship Series started off with a bang in Tampa, Florida on Saturday, with Ruben Companioni (Jamis-Sutter Home) taking top honors after handily lapping the talented 80 plus field with Mac Brennan (Holowesko Citadel Racing Team p/b Hincapie Sportswear).
Brennan’s teammate, Travis McCabe, took third at the end of the night, crossing the line first out of a late break of six riders that included Aldo Ilesic (Astellas Cycling Team) and Oscar Clark (Holowesko-Citadel).
“It is very important for me, because it is the first race of the series and I am very happy when I win,” Companioni said after his win. “I was worried because I knew Brennan was strong. I was feeling good on the final lap and knew I could win on the sprint.”
Companioni, who finished second at the Grand Prix two years ago, credited his victory to a strong pre-season training program.
“I have been training the last two months in Colombia with my teammate, Javier Acevedo,” the Cuban rider said. “My preparation this season has been very strong.”
And “strong” the Cuban powerhouse proved to be on the flat, 0.54-mile, four-corner circuit. The Jamis rider challenged the Astellas and Holowesko-Citadel teams and, after finishing second to Daniel Holloway (GIANT Racing) last year, looks to be an obvious contender for the overall crown.
Holloway came out of the gates firing on all cylinders on the first of 10 races in the TUFMED USA CRITS Series. Coming off several six-day races in Europe, Holloway looked to be in good form and showed it by testing his legs at the front in the opening laps of the race.
Starting off the high stakes action was Oscar Clark (Holowesko-Citadel), who took a flyer around 12 minutes into race, taking several riders with him up the road. The move was short lived, however, when Companioni sensed the danger and brought the move back.
Holowesko-Citadel set off with an aggressive string of attacks in response that also turned out to be fruitless. The next serious move came 35 minutes into the race, when Companioni attacked and took Mac Brennan with him up the road. The duo whittled out a 30 second gap at the mid point in the race, despite Astellas and Finish Strong missing the move.
Ed Veal (RealDeal/D'Ornellas), bronze medalist in the Pan Am Games team pursuit, and Clark tried to bridge across when the leaders were already enjoying a half a lap lead. Astellas took over the front of the field, but were unable to contain the leading duo, who eventually lapped the field with 15 minutes left in the race.
Meanwhile, at the front of the field, McCabe, Clark, Fletcher Lydick (Team Finish Strong), who will wear the BikeReg Best Young Rider jersey in Clearwater next weekend, Justin Pfaff (Stradalli-Wizard Racing Development Team), Aldo Ilesic (Astellas), Frank Travieso (UnitedHealthcare of Georgia p/b The 706 Project) and Thomas Gibbons (UnitedHealthcare of Georgia p/b The 706 Project) escaped up the road and gained a max lead of 17 seconds.
After catching the back of the main field, Companioni attacked in pursuit of the seven leaders with less than 10 laps to go. Brennan bridged across and again, both were working together to catch the lead group on the road.
With one lap to go, Ilesic attacked his breakaway companions early on the backstretch. McCabe reacted immediately and overtook the Astellas rider for third place.
Companioni easily powered away with the win out of the fourth corner, gaining a bike length on Brennan before posting up for victory.
The next installment in the thrilling TUFMED USA CRITS Series will be in Clearwater, Florida on March 26th. The TUFMED USA CRITS Pro Men’s race start time is 4:15PM ET and, as always, will be streamed live on Ultrasport.tv and Cyclingnews.com.
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team |
---|---|
1 | Ruben Companioni (Jamis-Sutter Home) |
2 | Mac Brennan (Holowesko | Citadel Racing Team p/b Hincapie Racing) |
3 | Travis McCabe (Holowesko | Citadel Racing Team p/b Hincapie Racing) |
4 | Aldo Ino Ilesic (Astellas Cycling Team) |
5 | Thomas Gibbons (UnitedHealthcare of Georgia p/b The 706 Project) |
6 | Frank Travieso (UnitedHealthcare of Georgia p/b The 706 Project) |
7 | Oscar Clark (Holowesko | Citadel Racing Team p/b Hincapie Racing) |
8 | Fletcher Lydick (Team Finish Strong) |
9 | Chad Conley (Snyder Factory Racing) |
10 | Justin Pfaff (Stradalli/Wizard Racing Development Team P/B Wizard Coaching Services) |
11 | Daniel Holloway (GIANT Racing ) |
12 | Ed Veal (Real Deal/D'Ornellas) |
13 | Geron Williams (Unattached) |
14 | Eamon Lucas (Astellas Cycling Team) |
15 | Ryan Aitcheson (Astellas Cycling Team) |
16 | Benjamin Renkema (Team Finish Strong) |
17 | Matt Moosa (Team Finish Strong) |
18 | Christopher Uberti (Team Finish Strong) |
19 | Ian Keough (Astellas Cycling Team) |
20 | Zack Kratche (Amore & Vita-USA Racing) |
21 | Enrique Lopez (Stradalli Cycle~Safftti Smart Wear ) |
22 | Connor Sallee (Plano Athletic Cycling Club/PACC) |
23 | Andrei Krasilnikau (Holowesko | Citadel Racing Team p/b Hincapie Racing) |
24 | Rainiel Sanchez (Topview Sports/Advanced Cycles) |
25 | Parker Kyzer (Finish Strong) |
26 | Darren Dowling (Sarasota Cycling Club) |
27 | Andrew Scarano (UnitedHealthcare of Georgia p/b The 706 Project) |
28 | Michael Gearren II (Cyclus Sports) |
29 | Frankie Gonzalez (Interactive Metronome Development) |
30 | Adam Morris (Palmer Cycling) |
31 | John Brizzard (Palmer Cycling) |
32 | Andsz Flaksis (Holowesko | Citadel Racing Team p/b Hincapie Racing) |
33 | Fredd Matute (Performance Team by Rossetti) |
34 | Willem Kaiser (UnitedHealthcare of Georgia p/b The 706 Project) |
35 | Samuel Connell (Stradalli/Wizard Racing Development Team P/B Wizard Coaching Services) |
36 | Albertus Rohling (Intelligentsia Coffee) |
37 | Emile Abraham (UnitedHealthcare of Georgia p/b The 706 Project) |
38 | Steven Perezluha (Support Clean Sport / SeaSucker / Guttenplan Coaching) |
DNF | Danzie Stewart (Galiz Cycling Team) |
DNF | David Monismith (Pioneer Mortgage pb Yourkey.com) |
DNF | Scott Cugno (Pioneer Mortgage pb Yourkey.com) |
DNF | Roy Foley (LaRocco & Associates Final Touch Cycling Team) |
DNF | Benjamin Richardson (Indiana University-Bloomington) |
DNF | Doug Zell (Intelligentsia Coffee) |
DNF | Chris Tricoli (Support Clean Sport / SeaSucker / Guttenplan Coaching) |
DNF | Chad Hartley (GIANT Racing) |
DNF | Charkie Huegel (Nine Lives Carbon Repair) |
DNF | Timothy Burton (Real Deal/D'Ornellas) |
DNF | Andrew Schluck (Unattached) |
DNF | Andres Munera (Unattached) |
DNF | Lucas Wardein (Unattached) |
DNF | Christopher Collins (Stradalli/Wizard Racing Development Team P/B Wizard Coaching Services) |
DNF | Joshua Brown (Cyclus Sports) |
DNF | Artur Sagat (Pioneer Mortgage pb Yourkey.com) |
DNF | Patrick Diver (Unattached) |
DNF | James Brown (Intelligentsia Coffee) |
DNF | Allison Anjos (Unattached) |
DNF | Yip Tsang (Performance Team by Rossetti) |
DNF | Brian Karlow (Intelligentsia Coffee) |
DNF | Travis Dorman (Team Truly Spokin) |
DNF | Brian Davis (Compass Research Cycling Team) |
DNF | Bruno Moreira (LaRocco & Associates Final Touch Cycling Team) |
DNF | Brian Sciba (Red Eye Velo) |
DNF | Michael Heagney (Intelligentsia Coffee) |
DNF | David Mesa (Red Peloton) |
DNF | Marlon Williams (Galiz Cycling Team) |
DNF | David Pavlik (Support Clean Sport / SeaSucker / Guttenplan Coaching) |
DNF | Anton Varabei (Real Deal/D'Ornellas) |
DNF | Lucas Livermon (Cyclus Sports) |
DNF | Marc Boults ( LaRocco & Associates Final Touch Cycling Team) |
DNF | Adam Leibovitz (GIANT Racing) |
DNF | Nathan Labecki (GIANT Racing) |
DNF | Devin Reavis (Boone Area Cyclists) |
DNF | Jose Frank Rodriguez (Stradalli Cycle-Safetti Smart Wear ) |
DNF | Patrick Sansbury (Racers Edge Cycle Shop / GetYourPowerUp.com) |
DNF | Billy Jones (Intelligentsia Coffee) |
DNF | Jake Silverberg (Astellas Cycling Team) |
DNF | Andrew Hammond (Palmer Cycling) |
DNF | Edward Novak (Palmer Cycling) |
DNF | Matt Green (Astellas Cycling Team) |
DNF | Franklin Deese (Cyclus Sports) |
DNF | Oshane Williams (Galiz Cycling Team) |
DNF | Sebastian Morfin (Stradalli Cycle-Safetti Smart Wear ) |
DNF | Alex McLaughlin (Stradalli Cycle-Safetti Smart Wear ) |
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A former professional and two-time cyclo-cross US national champion, Beard is also an award-winning journalist and cycling commentator. Since leaving competition, she has written for several major cycling media outlets, worked as media director for major US stage races and consulted with men's and women's professional cycling teams.
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