Fly V Australia and Team Vera Bradley Foundation hold on to NRC leads after 10 events

Brad Huff (Springfield, Mo./Jelly Belly p/b Kenda) won the USA Cycling National Racing Calendar’s ninth event, the Tulsa Tough, taking the three-event omnium crown by virtue of wins in the opening two events. Huff’s lead-out man in the criterium series, Sean Muzich (Phoenix, Ariz/Jelly Belly) placed second overall ahead of Jeremy Wiscovitch (Glendora, Calif./Williams Cycling p/b SCVelo) in third. Recently crowned USA Cycling Collegiate Criterium National Champion Jennifer Purcell (Wichita Falls, Texas/MSU Cycling) won the Tulsa Tough women’s omnium title, earning second-place finishes in two of the three criteriums. Seventeen-year-old Coryn Rivera (Tustin, Calif./Peanut Butter & Co TWENTY 12) won Sunday’s final crit and placed second overall while Christina Smith (Denton, Texas/Veloforma) finished third.

German strongwoman Ina-Yoko Teutenberg (GER/HTC-Columbia) defended her 2009 win at this year’s TD Bank Liberty Classic in Philadelphia, a women’s-only NRC contest. Teutenberg outsprinted a world-class field, including top finishers Shelley Evans (Scotts Valley, Calif./Peanut Butter & Co. Twenty 12), Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Cedar Springs, MI/ Colavita-Baci Pro Cycling Team) and Brooke Miller (Sebastopol, Calif./TIBCO-To The Top) to secure her title and move into second place in the overall individual NRC women’s standings.

In the men’s season’s overall standings, Luis Amaran (CUB/Jamis-Sutter Home p/b Colavita) holds the overall individual lead, but his Jamis-Sutter Home p/b Colavita squad allowed a diverse Fly V Australia team to take back their team overall lead. With their successful performance in Tulsa, Jelly Belly also moved into the NRC’s top five.
Despite a surge by Teutenberg, Alison Powers (Pinecliffe, Colo./Team Vera Bradley Foundation) and her Team Vera Bradley Foundation continue to hold the lead on the women’s side of the standings. The Vera Bradley ladies early NRC lead is however being challenged by a slew of talented ladies including the TIBCO squad who jumped into the top five this week and sits at number four as well as the Peanut Butter and Colavita squads who are in a near deadlock for second.
After 10 of 24 events, the USA Cycling National Racing Calendar standings are as follows:

Men’s Individual Standings
1. Luis Amaran (CUB/Jamis-Sutter Home p/b Colavita) 597
2. Benjamin Day (AUS/Fly Australia) 428
3. Ben Jacques-Maynes (Watsonville, Calif./Bissell Pro Cycling) 365
4. Levi Leipheimer (Santa Rosa, Calif./Team Mellow Johnny’s) 265
5. Alejandro Barrajo (ARG/Jamis-Sutter Home p/b Colavita) 251

Men’s Team Standings
1. Fly V Australia – 1072
2. Jamis-Sutter Home p/b Colavita – 1061
3. Bissell Pro Cycling – 790
4. Jelly Belly p/b Kenda – 722
5. UnitedHealthCare p/b Maxxis – 634

Women’s Individual Standings
1. Alison Powers (Pinecliffe, Colo./Team Vera Bradley Foundation) 568
2. Ina-Yoko Teutenberg (GER/HTC-Columbia) 424
3. Mara Abbott (Boulder, Colo./Peanut Butter & Co Twenty 12) 381
4. Katheryn Mattis (Mountain View, Calif./Webcor) 335
5. Laura Van Gilder (Pocono Pines, Pa./Mellow Mushroom) 289

Women’s Team Standings
1. Team Vera Bradley Foundation – 1377
2. Peanut Butter & Co. Twenty 12 – 888
3. Colavita/Baci Pro Cycling – 886
4. TIBCO-To the Top Pro Cycling – 791
5. Webcor Builders – 661