Companioni a champion in Tampa

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.”

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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.

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