bicycle.net -- cycling news, product reviews, original essays, podcasts & video :: Tour of California 2009

TIME PRO Cycling’s Daniel Ramsey took the penultimate leg of the 2008 USA CRITS Series in San Francisco yesterday at the inaugural running of the San Francisco Twilight Criterium. Ramsey, one of the more experienced members of the TIME squad, was the beneficiary of a mechanical that that took 3rd place finisher Jorge Alvarado (Kahala/Lagrange) out of the final moments of competition.

“I was just trying to keep pressure on the other teams so mine could make a move. I bridged up on the final break and no one came with me. Alvarado and I started working well together. He’s a strong rider but he broke his saddle…unlucky for him. He told me to go ahead. So the win was easy.” 118 men initially rolled to the line of the one kilometer course on Union Street in downtown San Francisco to contest the $10,000 prize purse. Alvarado was aggressive from the start, figuring into a five man break that also included Alessandro Bazzana (Successful Living). Bazzana spent much of the evening out in front of the field, continually chasing down moves and eventually nabbing the mid race prime. Every break that managed to establish even a momentary gap over the main field, however, caused a high speed reaction from the pack. At one point, those riders who had yet to call it a night were stretched out on course in a 15’second’long single file.

With three laps remaining, Alvarado, Ramsey and Successful Living’s fast man Ricardo Escuela established what would be the evening’s winning effort. The trio held a 13’second gap over the remainder of the peloton, but Alvarado’s unfortunate mechanical put the race in Ramsey’s hands.

This is the second USA CRITS victory for the TIME squad, who’s Eric Barlevav won a dramatic sprint finish at this year’s Harlem Skyscraper Classic in early June, flying off of his bike as he threw his frame forward at the line.

The women’s race fielded some of the strongest talent in American cycling, including long time veteran Laura Van Gilder of the Cheerwine squad, two time Olympian and 2004 National U.S. Time Trial Champion Christine Thorburn (Webcor), and Canadian Olympian Gina Grain (Webcor).

But the night belonged to PROMAN Professional Cycling Team’s Shelley Olds. Throughout the course of the race, several breakaways threatened to permanently split the field of 58 riders. Kat Carroll of the Aaron’s squad put in one aggressive effort after another in the hopes of putting the race away early. With only six laps left to go Carroll made one last effort that brought Van Gilder, her teammate Sarah Bamberger, Christine Thorburn and Chrissy Ruiter (ValueAct) along with her. Carroll attacked again and put 15 seconds between her and the other members of the momentary break and an entire 40 seconds on the peloton.

In the end, however, the field all came altogether with two laps remaining and Olds pulled off the formidable task of besting not only Van Gilder, but Series leader Kelly Benjamin (Cheerwine) for the lion’s share of the $5,000 purse.

“Laura Van Gilder attacked on the top of the hill and I just stuck on her wheel,” Olds said afterwards of the finish. “It was great to have a wheel right here; it was really windy. I grabbed her wheel and made it around her.”

With San Francisco now behind them, TOSHIBA-Santo’s rider Yosvany Falcon still retains a slight edge in the men’s overall competition over TIME’S Adam Myerson, while Kelly Benjamin’s lead over Vanderkitten’s Jennifer Wilson is equally thin in the women’s overall.

Vanderkitten can console itself with its 149’point lead over Cheerwine in the women’s team competition. That is not the case, however, in the men’s team competition, where TOSHIBA only maintains a 44 point lead over TIME Pro Cycling.

In the laps lead competition, TOSHIBA’S Mark Hekman holds a two lap advantage over Colavita SutterHome’s Kyle Wamsley, while Kat Carroll will most certainly win the women’s side of that competition with only one event remaining.

The series now heads to its thrilling conclusion at the USA CRITS Finals in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 25th. Organized in conjunction with cycling’s biggest industry event, Interbike, the race will once again be held beneath the glimmering façade of the Mandalay Bay Resort, and will be broadcast live and on-demand at Universalsports.com.