Fly V Australia re-takes men’s team lead while Colavita-Baci moves into 2nd on women’s side

Ben Kersten (AUS/Fly V Australia) and Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Cedar Springs, Mich./Colavita-Baci) each helped their teams improve their position in the overall USA Cycling National Racing Calendar standings with victories in the country’s longest running bike race, the Tour of Somerville in New Jersey. Kersten barely edged his Fly V Australia teammate Alessandro Bazzana (Oxnard, Calif.) on Memorial Day in the men’s NRC portion of the race commonly referred to as “the Kentucky Derby of cycling.” After winning the event in 2007, Cliff-Ryan’s win in Somerville puts her amongst exclusive company as one of only eight multiple-year winners of the 35-year run of the women’s event.

The Basecamp International Liberty Cycle served as the seventh NRC event and also went off last week in New Jersey. Lisbon Quintero (New York, N.Y./CRCA Foundation) earned the win in the men’s-only NRC event as the 40-lap criterium helped Bernards Township celebrate its 250th anniversay on Wednesday.

Kersten’s win propelled him inside the top 10 in the NRC men’s individual standings, but more importantly the squad’s 1, 2 finish helped them overtake the Jamis-Sutter Home p/b Colavita squad and regain the men’s team lead. Jamis-Sutter Home p/b Colavita’s Luis Amaran (CUB) still holds the lead in the men’s individual standings however.

Despite not racing on the NRC this week, Alison Powers (Pinecliffe, Colo./Team Vera Bradley Foundation) and her Team Vera Bradley Foundation continue to hold a strong lead on the women’s side of the standings. Cliff-Ryan’s win however helped her Colavita-Baci Pro Cycling squad jump into second-place, ahead of Peanut Butter & Co TWENTY 12, in the women’s team standings.

After eight 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. UnitedHealthCare p/b Maxxis – 634
5. Jelly Belly p/b Kenda – 448

Women’s Individual Standings
1. Alison Powers (Pinecliffe, Colo./Team Vera Bradley Foundation) 554
2. Mara Abbott (Boulder, Colo./Peanut Butter & Co Twenty 12) 369
3. Katheryn Mattis (Mountain View, Calif./Webcor) 335
4. Ina-Yoko Teutenberg (GER/HTC-Columbia) 304
5. Robin Farina (Charlotte, N.C./Team Vera Bradley Foundation) 280

Women’s Team Standings
1. Team Vera Bradley Foundation – 1267
2. Colavita/Baci Pro Cycling – 796
3. Peanut Butter & Co. Twenty 12 – 721
4. Webcor Builders – 607
5. TIBCO-To the Top Pro Cycling – 556

A three-stage crit series, the Tulsa Tough will mark the ninth race on the 2010 NRC this weekend. Held Friday through Sunday the event is comprised of three unique criterium races in downtown Tulsa and will crown an overall winner following the final race. Another NRC event, the women’s portion of Philadelphia’s Liberty Classic, will also go off this weekend with the NRC and Pro Tour races set for Sunday.