Luke Keough, Allar seal USA CRITS titles with wins in Vail
By Cycling News
Team SmartStop-Mountain Khakis, RideClean/PatentIt.com claim team titles
The 2012 USA CRITS Championship Series calendar came to a close with the inaugural Tour of Vail criterium, where Luke Keough (Team SmartStop-Mountain Khakis) and Erica Allar (Rideclean/PatentIt.com) emerged victorious. Both riders began the series' final race sitting comfortably in their leading positions in the overall and defended them with first place finishes. This is the third year that Allar has been crowned the women's champion, while Keough's second consecutive overall win proves that the 21-year-old's career continues to be impressive.
"It's been a great year for not only myself, but the entire team," Keough said following his win. "Everyone rode a great season and we've had some big results, but to end it with a win out here in beautiful Vail - couldn't beat it."
In the women's race, Allar, Alison Powers (NOW and Novartis for MS) and Whitney Schultz (Paceline Projects p/b Veloforma) formed a breakaway just six minutes into the women's race which spawned a gap that gradually grew to 33 seconds by the halfway point. The trio would lap the field with 18 laps remaining as the rest of the peloton competed for the 4th position. Amity Elliot of Team Kenda attacked with 13 laps to go and the 30-second lead she was able to retain on the field guaranteed her the 4th place finish.
Lenore Pipes of Rideclean/PatentIt.com marked Schultz in the final moments of the race to deliver fellow teammate Allar to a first place finish, with Alison Powers (NOW and Novartis for MS) and Whitney Schultz (Paceline Projects p/b Veloforma) coming in second and third respectively. As soon as the top four crossed the line, a crash took down much of the remaining field who were competing for the number five spot, including Robin Farina (NOW and Novartis for MS) and Allar's Rideclean/PatentIt.com teammate Colleen Hayduk.
The men's field shot straight out of the gate not long afterwards, chasing big primes like the $250 picked up by Euris Vidal (CRCA Foundation) during the first lap. Strung out two laps in, national criterium champion Ken Hanson (Optum Pro Cycling p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) was in the mix throughout the event.
There was a dangerous, five-man breakaway comprised of Andy Bajadali (Optum Pro Cycling p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies), Robin Eckmann (California Giant), Kevin Mullervy (Team Exergy), Jake Wells (Stan's NoTubes), and Colby Pearce (Horizon Organic/Panache Development) that was established with 36 laps to go, but the peloton eventually caught them on the 1km cobbled course. Mullervy attacked and soloed off the front to pick up a generous $500 prime, but eventually the turning point was as Optum Pro Cycling moved to the front of the race to set up Hanson for victory.
A $500 prime that went to Alexei Schmidt (Team Type 1 Devo) sped up the final moments of racing, and just when it looked like Hanson would in fact be able to capitalize on the work of his teammates, Luke Keough came around him out of the final corner to take the win, narrowly missing the barriers from his final burst of speed. Hanson would have to settle for second place, while Rafael Meran (CRCA Foundation) finished in third.
"Optum rode a great race. You saw that," said Keough. "They were aggressive early. They put me in the hurt locker pretty bad. I was trying to cover some moves, maybe get in that break that we thought was gonna go. It ended up not going and then they rode those last 16 laps really, really well...They rode a great race."
Full Results
1 | Erica Allar (RideClean/PatentIt.com) | 0:58:48 |
2 | Alison Powers (NOW and Novartis for MS) | |
3 | Whitney Schultz (Paceline Projects p/b Veloforma) | 0:00:04 |
4 | Amity Elliot (Team Kenda) | 0:01:40 |
5 | Kat Carr (Paceline Projects p/b Veloforma) | 0:02:01 |
6 | Lenore Pipes (River CIty Women's Racing) | 0:02:02 |
7 | Liz Gerrity (Team Kenda) | |
8 | Gwen Inglis (Team Kenda) | 0:02:03 |
9 | Kyleanne Hunter (XO Communications p/b Cisco) | |
10 | Colleen Hayduk (RideClean/PatentIt.com) | 0:02:07 |
11 | Lauren De Crescenzo (Team Kenda presented by Geargrinder) | 0:02:08 |
12 | Amy Charity (Steamboat Velo) | 0:03:40 |
13 | Robin Farina (NOW and Novartis for MS) | |
14 | Anne Donley | |
15 | Vera Divenyi (Naked Women's Racing p/b Tribella) | 0:06:07 |
16 | Colleen Gulick (Pure Energy Cycling-ProAirHFA) | 0:06:09 |
1 | Luke Keough (Team SmartStop-Mountain Khakis) | 1:13:00 |
2 | Ken Hanson (Team Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) | |
3 | Rafael Meran (CRCA/Foundation) | 0:00:01 |
4 | Mike Friedman (Team Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) | |
5 | Kevin Mullervy (Team Exergy) | |
6 | Euris Vidal (CRCA/Foundation) | 0:00:02 |
7 | Isaac Howe (Kenda/5-hour Energy Cycling Team) | |
8 | Oscar Clark (The 706 Project) | |
9 | Jesse Goodrich (Juwi Solar Cycling) | |
10 | Colby Pearce (Horizon Organic / Panache Elite Cycling) | |
11 | Robin Eckmann (California Giant Berry Farms/Specialized) | 0:00:03 |
12 | Jean-Michel Lechance (Rossetti Devo Cycling Team) | |
13 | Alexey Shmidt (Team Type 1) | |
14 | Jeff Perrin (Juwi Solar Cycling) | 0:00:04 |
15 | Sean Sullivan (Elbowz Racing) | |
16 | Keith Harper (BOO Bicycles) | |
17 | Ian Holt (Juwi Solar Cycling) | |
18 | Colin Jaskiewicz (Champion System p/b Stan's NoTubes) | |
19 | Taylor Shelden (Competitive Cyclist Racing Team) | |
20 | Allan Rego (Champion System p/b Stan's NoTubes) | 0:00:05 |
21 | Jake Wells (Stan's NoTubes/AXA Equitable) | |
22 | Michael Dessau (Slipstream-Craddock Junior Development) | |
23 | Gavriel Epstein (Champion System p/b Stan's NoTubes) | |
24 | Zack Allison (Mercy Cycling Team) | 0:00:06 |
25 | Don Powell (GS Ciao) | 0:00:07 |
26 | David Guttenplan (Team United Healthcare Georgia/The 706 Project) | |
27 | Stephan Hirsch (The 706 Project) | |
28 | Mark Hyatt (National Capital Velo Club/UnitedHealthcare) | 0:00:08 |
29 | Ryan Mele (Stan's NoTubes/AXA Equitable) | |
30 | Jorge Espinoza (GS Ciao) | |
31 | Brett Peters | 0:00:09 |
32 | Thomas Brown (Team SmartStop-Mountain Khakis) | |
33 | Kit Recca (Horizon Organic / Panache Elite Cycling) | |
34 | Shane Kline (Team SmartStop-Mountain Khakis) | 0:00:10 |
35 | Clay Murfet (Team SmartStop-Mountain Khakis) | |
36 | Eric Losak (Team Clif Bar Cycling) | 0:00:11 |
37 | Aaron Pool | |
38 | Brian Jensen (TradeWind Energy Cycling Team) | |
39 | Alejandro Guzman (CRCA/Foundation) | 0:00:12 |
40 | Dylan Jones (Mercy Cycling Team) | |
41 | Greg Daniel (Slipstream-Craddock Junior Development) | 0:00:13 |
42 | Matt Charity (Steamboat Velo) | |
43 | Blake Anton (Team Clif Bar Cycling) | |
44 | Kevin Cawley (Tokyo Joe's -Whole Foods/Primal) | 0:00:14 |
45 | Justin Brunner | 0:00:15 |
46 | Neil Bezdek (Team SmartStop-Mountain Khakis) | 0:00:16 |
47 | Matt Brooks (Team Type 1- Development) | |
48 | Chris Monteleone (Team SmartStop-Mountain Khakis) | |
49 | Russell Harding (Natural Grocers Cycling Team) | 0:00:17 |
50 | Greg Krause (Juwi Solar Cycling) | 0:00:18 |
51 | Brian Nix (Groove Subaru-Alpha Bicycle Co) | 0:00:19 |
52 | Charles MacCassin (Juwi Solar Cycling) | |
53 | Jacob Hill (Firefighters Racing p/b Advocare) | 0:00:20 |
54 | John Bergmann (Team Clif Bar Cycling) | |
55 | Brian Hill (Stan's NoTubes/AXA Equitable) | 0:00:21 |
56 | Kevin Selker (Tokyo Joe's -Whole Foods/Primal) | |
57 | Nate Wilson (California Giant Berry Farms/Specialized) | 0:00:23 |
58 | Phil Gronniger (Groove Subaru-Alpha Bicycle Co) | 0:00:29 |
59 | Ariel Mendez-Penate (Champion System p/b Stan's NoTubes) | 0:00:35 |
60 | Mike Creed (Team Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) | 0:00:44 |
61 | Tim Srenaski (GS Boulder/Trek Store) | |
DNF | Taylor Jung (Ronin Racing) | |
DNF | Mitchell Jacaruso (Champion System p/b Stan's NoTubes) | |
DNF | Adam Alexander | |
DNF | Clayton Feldman | |
DNF | Tony Hall (Champion System p/b Stan's NoTubes) | |
DNF | Andrew Bajadali (Team Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) | |
DNF | Logan Vonbokel (Mercy Cycling Team) | |
DNF | Alan Zalewa | |
DNF | Scott Wall (Bicycle Ranch) | |
DNF | Austin Vinton (Mercy Cycling Team) | |
DNF | Matthew Segur (Mix1) | |
DNF | Mark Shimahara (Team Clif Bar Cycling) | |
DNF | Scott Soden (Great Divide Brewing Company) | |
DNF | Lance Sulzen (Groove Subaru-Alpha Bicycle Co) | |
DNF | Jay Salazar (Salt Lake City Cycling (SLCC)) | |
DNF | Colby Ricker (Sonic Boom Racing) | |
DNF | Conor Mullervy (Team Exergy) | |
DNF | Eric Juzysta (Team Rocky Mountain Health Plans) |
1 | Erica Allar (RideClean/PatentIt.com) | 2180 | pts |
2 | Colleen Gulick (Pure Energy Cycling) | 1543 | |
3 | Colleen Hayduk (RideClean/PatentIt.com) | 1448 | |
4 | Debbie Milne (Absolute Racing) | 1351 | |
5 | Laura Van Gilder (Mellow Mushroom-Rose Bandit Racing) | 1313 | |
6 | Lenore Pipes (RideClean/PatentIt.com) | 809 | |
7 | Sarah Fader (Pepper Palace/Spin-Tech Training p/b ABRC) | 801 | |
8 | Robin Farina (NOW and Novartis for MS) | 696 | |
9 | Kathryne Carr (Paceline Projects p/b Veloforma) | 657 | |
10 | Christina Gokey-Smith (NOW and Novartis for MS) | 633 |
1 | RideClean/PatentIt.com | 5874 | pts |
2 | Team Kenda p/b Geargrinder | 4247 | |
3 | Mellow Mushroom/Rose Bandit Racing | 3226 |
1 | Luke Keough (Team SmartStop-Mountain Khakis) | 2283 | pts |
2 | Oscar Clark (UnitedHealthcare of Georgia p/b The 706 Project) | 2122 | |
3 | Euris R. Vidal (CRCA/Foundation) | 1893 | |
4 | Rafael Meran (CRCA/Foundation) | 1773 | |
5 | Colin Jaskiewicz (Champion System p/b Stan's NoTubes/CRCA) | 1770 | |
6 | Emile Abraham (Rossetti Devo Cycling Team) | 1753 | |
7 | Gavriel Epstein (Champion System p/b Stan's NoTubes/CRCA) | 1739 | |
8 | Jean-Michel Lechance (Rossetti Devo Cycling Team) | 1448 | |
9 | Isaac Howe (Kenda/5-Hour Evergy Pro Cycling p/b Geargrinder) | 1248 | |
10 | Ryan Mele (Stan's NoTubes/AXA Equitable) | 1058 |
1 | Team SmartStop-Mountain Khakis | 6787 | pts |
2 | CRCA/Foundation | 6561 | |
3 | Champion System p/b Stan's NoTubes/CRCA | 6080 |
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