Allar triumphs at Athens Terrapin Twilight Criterium

Held under warm muggy weather conditions with a crowd several people deep around the one kilometer loop, the Athens Terrapin Twilight Criterium is a party where a bike race breaks out.

Under the constant thump of dance music and the constant clang of a prime bell, Erica Allar (Ride Clean) jumped out of from the bunch and took the field sprint for the win over Laura Van Gilder (Mellow Mushroom-Rose Bandit) and Sarah Fader (Pepper Palace-Spin-Tech Training).

The cash-heavy primes kept the women on the gas throughout the whole 40 lap race. It was one of these primes that motivated Sara Tussey (Veloshine Cycling) to pull away and take several primes. Fortunately for her she was riding solo so there was no splitting the cash with breakaway companions.

As expected she was eventually pulled back into the peloton - but that didn't stop the counter-attacks.

With the pace so high by the halfway point, dropped women racers were being pulled from the race for safety reasons. Those who were still in contention were strung out in single file with Van Gilder at the front.

With the multiple attacks throughout the race, the Mellow Mushroom squad took the responsibility of keeping the breaks in check.

"I thought RideClean might contribute a bit, but they had their race to run and we had ours," said Van Gilder. "We felt confident in having a field sprint, unless there was the right mix (of riders) in a break."

With the daylight completely gone and with just three final remaining laps Tussey and Whitney Schultz (Paceline Projects p/b Veloforma) went off the front. However they only had a handful of seconds lead.

On the bell lap the women's peloton was all together and as expected a field sprint awaited to determine victory.

Coming over the small rise toward the finish line two women came into sight battling for the win. With a throw to the line Allar edged out Van Gilder at the line.

Allar had won last week in the Sunny King Criterium and was gunning for the Athens win.

"Coming off my win in Sunny King I came in knowing that Laura Van Gilder and Jacquelyn Crowell (Exergy) would potentially want to get up off the front and I was fully aware of that move. But I have pretty good pack handling skills and if it came down to a field sprint I could do well there too."

Allar explained her strategy for the last lap.

"Crowell jumped on the back straight and I got on her wheel. I knew if I was patient and timed my sprint well I could win," said Allar.

Allar maintains her lead in the USA CRITS series followed by Debbie Milne (Absolute Racing) and in third Colleen Gulick (Pure Energy Cycling).