Definitely Thater Than Sooner

With Mark Hekman (A & F Pro Development) on the shelf for the season, Frank Travieso and Yosvany Falcon (AEG - Toshiba Jet Network) looked to inherit the overall lead in the USA Crit series with a good showing at the Chris Thater Memorial Criterium in Binghamton, NY this past weekend. Neither slammed their fist on the table with any authority in an effort to claim the top prize, finishing 10th and 18th, respectively, but then again they didn't really need to.

The same protective attitude seemed to pervade the rest of the field, as Health Net presented by Maxxis, looked to maintain their NRC lead in the team category over Toyota-United. With only two other teammates in the field, Health Net's Karl Menzies described their dilemma to Cyclingnews' Kirsten Robbins.

"The problem was the NRC for us, the team title. Our only objective today was to make sure we stayed ahead in the NRC standings. We didn't care about who was up the road as long as we stayed glued to Toyota to keep close in the points standings. We didn't win but we took third and fifth in the race points gaining more points total than their second place [Ivan Dominguez] today. It's a s**t way to race but that's what we came here to do."

Taking the victory was Kyle Wamsley (Navigators) whose relentless attacking paid off.

Men's Podium:
1 Kyle Wamsley (Navigators Insurance)
2 Ivan Dominguez (Toyota-United)
3 Karl Menzies (Health Net)

On the women's side, Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Verducci Breakaway; and formerly of Wolverine Sports Club) claimed the victory ahead of Kelly Benjamin (Cheerwine) and Erica Allar (Penn-State) in a unusually small field for an NRC race.

USA Crit series points leader, Laura Van Gilder (Cheerwine), maintained her position coming in fourth.