Viva Crit Vegas - USA Crit Finals

LAS VEGAS - After an eventful opening act the day before with the Excel Sports Cross Vegas, racing continued during INTERBIKE week with the USA Crits Finals.

The backdrop for last Thursday's twilight/night criterium was the beautiful Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, with the races held in the parking lot of the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. The course, nicely swept and of even surface, made for a fast and technical 1-kilometer.

Sponsored by Rock Racing, the event featured Men and Women Professional races, and an Industry Cup Challenge for Interbike exhibitors. The latter, which I wished I had paid more attention to as it featured a few riders that formerly graced the professional peloton, turned out to be a mixed bag of differing levels of experience. It was headlined by The Lion King, Mario Cipollini (inset), but also included the likes of Steve Bauer, Mark McCormack [now a representative for Fuji] and Bicycling Magazine's Joao Correia.

Cipo was prevented from roaring one last time as he went down in a heap of people in turn one of the final lap. Kenny Williams (Full Speed Ahead) was the beneficiary of the crash, as he was already well ahead of the field and cruised home to claim the victory. Correia finished in second and Clayton Goldsmith (Hayes Bicycle Group) third.

The Pros
Admittedly, I had some built-in biases [or rather rooting interests] going into both pro races. The Vegas Criterium allowed me the opportunity to watch my friend, Vanderkitten Liz Hatch, race in person, and to meet the staff and riders of Toyota-United.

Women:
Forget about the notion that the Women's race is merely an appetizer to the main course, the Men's race, because these ladies can fly. The field contained its share of heavy hitters despite the exclusion of some prominent names due to their participation in the World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany.

Both Cheerwine [with Laura Van Gilder and Kelly Benjamin] and Aaron's Corporate Furnishings [Kat Carroll and Sarah Caravella] fielded strong teams. But the race also served as the debut of Team Vanderkitten, with Liz and freshly inked Leigh Valletti.

Image: Leonard Basobas

Despite being off the front early, Liz packed it in after 45 minutes of racing; not having the legs that evening. In the meantime, Leigh had a mechanical (kink in the chain) and pulled out as a result of having to start a lap down. Officially, Leigh was still listed as finishing in 54th [thanks for the edits Liz].

Image: Leonard Basobas

Although several riders attempted to solo, the race was ultimately brought together by the Cheerwine train. They successfully delivered the package [Van Gilder] with the lovely Rochelle Gilmore (Menikini) and Shontelle Gauthier (Bicycle Sport Shop) contesting the final sprint.

Photo: Jonathan Devich/epicimages.us

During the Women's race I ended up making a new friend, Chris, of XPlane/Team Revolution. The elite team, based out of St. Louis, is comprised of several women from around the Midwest. Chris was there to root on her lone teammate, Carrie Cash. Carrie rode strongly all evening but definitely tired at the end, finishing in 11th.

After the race, I caught up with Liz for a few, and also ran into Shannon Hutchison-Krupat (Aaron's Corporate Furnishings). I met Shannon earlier this summer in Columbus, OH where she raced in the Tour of Grandview. To my surprise, the lady with one of the most infectious and effervescent smiles around, actually remembered me from "the hill," [if you've raced Grandview then you know of what I speak] where I was cheering on the riders that day. She raced mainly in support of her teammates in Vegas, and came in 31st.

Men:
The late start, the mixture of hip-hop and house music, and the "call-up" girls dressed in red and black (below) all seemed strangely appropriate for a cycling event sponsored by Rock Racing and held just off the strip of the city of "Lost Wages."

Image: Dave McElwaine/www.trailwatch.net

Since I didn't have the appropriate camera gear for night action photos and with the VIP area of Rock Racing [where I took in most of the Women's race given that its right at the start/finish line] being nearly inaccessible at this point, I headed over to the Toyota-United tent. And given the outcome of the race, it turned out to be the perfect place.

Thanks to all the support from Sean Weide [Communications Director] of our blogging venture, Amy Walker [General Manager] and United's team owner, Sean Tucker, already knew of me and had a working knowledge of the Triple Crankset. Amy was gracious enough to lend me a hand [quite literally, as I suffered a broken clavicle during Demo days] while she took care of the business end of marketing the team and its products.

Image: Leonard Basobas

On Mr. Tucker's arrival, I was able to speak to him briefly about the new staff additions of Len Pettyjohn and the recently retired Scott Moninger as Director and Assistant Director, respectively. Mr. Tucker's reply, "well, you really can't go wrong with either guy." [We hope to bring you an expanded interview with United's owner sometime in the near future].

The race ended up being hard, fast, and crash filled. For several moments, I thought it wouldn't be Toyota's night as one rider after another ended up beside me and the team car as the race progressed. First it was Chris Wherry, and then as Mr. Tucker and the rest of the staff began to pin their hopes on others, both Jose Manuel Garcia and Ivan Stevic pulled up behind me.

With the race nearing its conclusion, the boys of Kelly Benefit Strategies/Medifast organized up front to put the screws to the remaining field. In the final lap, it looked as if the tactic would reap its benefit [inadvertent pun] as a large crash in turn one took out or slowed down most of the field. Martin Gilbert, Kelly Benefit's crit specialist, looked every bit like the winner as he had a substantial gap on everyone.

Then, big Ivan Dominguez (Toyota-United) began to slowly reel him in. The atmosphere around the team's tent at that moment reminded me of something out of March Madness, where your team's best player has just rebounded the ball but needs to drive full court to make the winning shot in the waning seconds.

At each sweeping turn on the course's back stretch, you could see the gap shortening, but you weren't quite sure if Dominguez would have enough road to catch him before the line. In the background, the level of chatter and cheering began to reach fever pitch with Stevic's distinctive voice yelling out, "C'mon Papi!"

When Gilbert and Dominguez reached the final turn, they were even. As Dominguez crossed the line, in typical fashion, the crowd around me erupted and seemed locked in one large group embrace. Gilbert finished second, with teammate David McCook rounding out the podium.

Image: Jonathan Devich/epicimages.us

Dominguez's final comment to closing out the crit season on the highest of notes, "Normally I wouldn't say this...but who's the F---in' Man?!"

No one told me there would be a quiz...