Hanson wins USA CRITS finals at TD Bank Mayor’s Cup; Luke Keough wins series

After 60 minutes of highly-animated racing, Jelly Belly presented by Kenda’s lone rider Ken Hanson took the final bunch sprint to win the USA CRITS Finals at the TD Bank Mayor’s Cup in Boston, Sunday. Luke Keough (Mountain Khakis presented by SmartStop) finished third to secure his USA CRITS overall lead.

Christian Helmig (Elbowz Racing) maintained his lead in the Sportsbase Online Lap Leader competition, while Keough wrapped up an impressive year by pulling on the Maxxis Best Young Rider jersey one last time.

From the very start of the race, it was USA CRITS Championship Series contenders that would take responsibilty early and animate the racing, with Helmig, Clayton Barrows (AXA Equitable/Stan’s NoTubes), and Clay Murfet (RideClean p/b PatentIt.com) each taking pulls at the front of the field.

An early and dangerous attack by Cuban strong-man Luis Amaran (Jamis Sutter Home) had siren bells going off in the peloton as BikeReg.com’s Robin Carpenter was able to bridge the gap up to Amaran. The duo was chased down by Bobby Sweeting (Kenda/5 Hour Energy) and Jesse Anthony (Kelly Benefit Strategies/OptumHealth), and the four-man breakaway was able to get some daylight between themselves and the field, with the largest gap reaching 10 seconds. The break stayed away for seven more laps until it was brought back by the chasing peloton, just a few laps before the mid-race sprint.

Hanson picked up maximum points (and dollars), followed by Bissell’s Daniel Holloway, Helmig, Barrows, and Bissell’s Eric Young. The sprint brought Helmig within 10 points of overtaking Barrows in the USA CRITS overall.

With eight laps to go, Elbowz Racing’s Heath Blackgrove launched a solo attack, and Anthony was able to bridge across two laps later. The two were reeled back in with one lap to go as Team Type 1’s Dan Holt and Team Mountain Khakis-SmartStop put on the hard chase.

Coming around the final turn, it would be Hanson beating out the rest of the field to take the win. Holt sprinted for second, while Keough finished third. USA CRITS contender Barrows was edged out by Keough for fourth place, while Helmig finished 18th. For his continuous attacks and strong riding, Jesse Anthony was awarded the Most Aggressive Rider presented by Cyclingnews.com.

After nine races Keough finally was able to call himself USA CRITS Champion. This is the second year in a row Mountain Khakis presented by SmartStop took the individual overall, winning in 2010 with Isaac Howe. Mountain Khakis presented by SmartStop also won the team competition for the second time in a row.

Already announced was the women’s overall competitions, which wrapped up racing after the Chris Thater Memorial in Binghamton, New York. Erica Allar took the individual overall for a second year in a row, while Kasey Manderfield (PureEnergy/ProAirHFA) won the Sportsbase Online Lap Leader competition, and Sam Schneider (Team TIBCO/To The Top) won the Maxxis Best Young Rider.

Results (.pdf)
TD Bank Mayor’s Cup/USA CRITS Finals Top Three

1. Ken Hanson (Jelly Belly p/b Kenda)
2. Dan Holt (Team Type 1)
3. Luke Keough (Mountain Khakis p/b SmartStop

USA CRITS Overall presented by Champion System
Women
1. Erica Allar (RideClean p/b PatentIt.com), 1352 points
2. Kacey Manderfield (PureEnergy/ProAirHFA), 1262 points
3. Laura Van Gilder (Mellow Mushroom), 1178 points

Men
1. Luke Keough (Mountain Khakis p/b SmartStop), 1530 points
2. Clayton Barrows (AXA Equitable/Stan’s NoTubes), 1407 points
3. Christian Helmig (Elbowz Racing), 1335 points

Maxxis Best Young Rider
Women
1. Sam Schneider (Team TIBCO/To The Top)
2. Colleen Hayduk (Pure Energy/ProAirHFA)
3. Kendall Ryan (Team TIBCO/To The Top)

Men
1. Luke Keough (Mountain Khakis p/b SmartStop), 1530 points
2. Clay Murfet (RideClean p/b Patenit.com), 1073 points
3. Euris Vidal (CRCA/Foundation), 981 points

Sportsbase Online Lap Leader presented by VeloNews
Women
1. Rushlee Buchanan (Colavita Forno d’Asolo), 17 laps
2. Kacey Manderfield (Pure Energy/ProAirHFA), 15 laps
3. Erica Allar (Rideclean p/b Patenit.com), 9 laps

Men
1. Christian Helmig (Elbowz Racing), 40 laps
2. Clayton Barrows (AXA Equitable/Stan’s NoTubes), 37 laps
3. Carlos Alzate (Exergy), 23 laps

Team Competition
Women
1. Colavita Forno d’Asolo, 3165 points
2. Team TIBCO/To The Top, 2901 points
3. Team Kenda presented by Geargrinder, 2866 points

Men
1. Mountain Khakis p/b SmartStop, 3943 points
2. Kenda/5 Hour Energy p/b Geargrinder, 3119 points
3. Elbowz Racing, 3054 points