The 2013 edition of the USA Cycling National Criterium Calendar (NCC) completed its last two stops as riders competed in a pair of races during the past week. The action started on Thursday in Las Vegas, Nev., where riders contested USA CRITS Finals. The racing continued on Saturday on the east coast as riders competed in Boston in the TD Bank Mayor’s Cup.
Luke Keough (Sandwich, Mass./UnitedHealthcare) swept the two races, winning Thursday’s race in Las Vegas before traveling across the country and winning Saturday’s race in Boston. Keough collected 200 points to solidify his third-place finish in the NCC men’s standings. Hilton Clarke (AUS/UnitedHealthcare) topped the final standings with 1,544 points, 208 points ahead of Carlos Alzate Escobar (COL/UnitedHealthcare), who finished second. Keough placed third with 1,287 points while a fourth rider from UnitedHealthcare, Karl Menzies (AUS) finished fourth in the standings with 868 points. Shane Kline (Bally, Pa./Team SmartStop-Mountain Khakis) rounds out the top five with 823 points, only 45 points behind Menzies.
NCC women’s standings winner Erica Allar (Tucson, Ariz./CARE4CYCLING powered by Solomon Corp) won Saturday’s race in Boston after placing second on Thursday in Las Vegas to boost her season-long total to 1,555 points. Laura van Gilder (Cresco, Pa./Mellow Mushroom) finished second on Saturday after placing third on Thursday to collect 135 points and secure second place in the standings with 1,103 total points. Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Cedar Springs, Mich./Fearless Femme p/b Pure Energy Cycling Vie13) ended the season in third place with 824 points. Samantha Schneider (Milwaukee, Wis./Team TIBCO-To the Top) won Thursday’s race to move into fourth place of the standings with 688 points. Kimberley Wells (AUS/Fearless Femme p/b Pure energy Cycling Vie13) ended the season in fifth place with 655 points.
There was one change to the NCC men’s team standings in the final week. Champion System p/b Stan’s NoTubes overtook Team Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies and ended the season in fourth place. Only 23 points separated the two teams. UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling finished the season in the top spot with 5,352 points while Team SmartStop-Mountain Khakis claimed second place with 2,021 points. Jamis Hagens Berman completed its campaign in third place with 646 points, 169 points ahead of Champion System p/b Stan’s NoTubes.
Team TIBCO-To the Top, in part due to Schneider’s strong riding, surged up the NCC women’s team standings to finish the season in second place with 1,150 points. CARE4CYCLING powered by Solomon Corp secured the top spot and ended the campaign with 2,216 points. Colavita-Fine Cooking claimed third place, only 29 points out of second place and 127 points ahead of Fearless Femme p/b Pure Energy Cycling Vie13, which placed fourth. Exergy TWENTY16 ended the NCC in fifth place with 672 points.
Check out a photo gallery from the TD Bank Mayor’s Cup.
Check out a photo gallery from the USA Crits Finals.
Full results from the TD Bank Mayor’s Cup and USA Crits Finals are available online.
| USA Cycling NCC Standings:
Men’s Standings Women’s Standings Men’s Team Standings Women’s Team Standings |
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| For complete standings, visit the NCC’s official webpage at usacycling.org/ncc. |
Ron Callahan is the chief cook and bottlewasher at Bike World News, doing everything from website design to bike reviews.