May 2/11 11:41 am - US Crits Speedweek: Roswell Criterium Men

Posted by Editoress on 05/2/11
 

UnitedHealthcare Dominant in Roswell, GA (May 1st)

Despite a large mid-race crash that forced the pro men's field to restart thier race, UnitedHealthCare Pro Cycling's Jake Keough avenged his team's loss at the Terrapin Twilight the previous day with a decisive victory at the Historic Roswell Criterium. Conversly, Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Colavita) continued her winning streak by taking the women's race at Roswell.

After having narrowly missed out on victory while riding in the high energy atmosphere of the Terrapin Twilight, Keough's squad made sure that all went according to plan when the USA CRITS Speedweek peloton met in the conversely bucolic town of Roswell less than 24 hours later.

"The big thing was the team rode awesome." Keough said while savoring his win on the Rosewell podium. "We had eight guys on the front and anytime there were any kind of moves or anything we had guys there. Last night we were a little disappointed...but tonight I think we really proved a point and (stamped) our authority on the race."

Several crashes throughout the day's racing made it difficult for any one team to assert too much authority over the field, particularly at the point in the race where the field was forced to a complete stop after a large wreck on the backside of the 1 mile, 5 turn course.

Until that point the field had largely taken turns soaking up lap primes since most efforts at a breakaway had proven futile. The race-restart prompted even more urgency amongst the riders but due to Unitedhealthcare's vigilance, no one was allowed to take advantage of the situation until they could setup a leadout train to launch Keough to a win.
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UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team's Jake Keough and Hilton Clarke Take 1st and 2nd in 2011 Historic Roswell Criterium
Following up on Teammate Boy Van Poppel's second place finish in last night's Athens Twilight Criterium, the UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team's Jake Keough (USA) and Hilton Clarke (AUS) blasted through the finish line this evening in Roswell, Georgia, at the Historic Roswell Criterium, securing the first and second place spots on the podium tonight. The win was Keough's first of the year and the Team's third overall on the season, and the Keough-Clarke one-two punch in Roswell pushed the squad's total podium count to 12 this year.

With less than 30 minutes left in the race, officials had to stop and restart the race due to a huge crash and pile-up involving more than 40 riders. Once the race resumed, however, the Blue Train from Team UnitedHealthcare took control and never looked back, with all eight riders controlling a lightning fast lead out that delivered Keough and Clarke to the podium.

"This Team was unbelievable tonight," said Keough on his win. "Getting on the podium in this sport is not easy and it requires a full team effort. When our Team takes the front, it's a beautiful ride, and when you have guys working as hard as this group does, you don't want to let them down. Everyone did their part and I put the responsibility on myself to deliver the victory and make sure everyone's hard work paid off."

Keough also commented on the atmosphere surrounding the race. "The Southeastern Criteriums are great races to compete in. The fans, the weather, the races, and the overall environment here in Roswell and last night in Athens were awesome! Winning the Historic Roswell Criterium feels great and I'm glad Hilton (Clarke) and I were able to land on the podium tonight, along with Boy (Van Poppel) getting there last night."

General Manager and Team Director, Mike Tamayo added, "This was textbook racing by the boys tonight. Their strength as a Team showed when they took control of the race with 10 laps to go and never looked back. It's great to see the miles the guys put in while racing in Europe the past three months starting to pay off. We're excited about where we are right now. Our climbing squad and our sprinters are on track and ready to go, and we are ready for a great month of racing leading into and through the Amgen Tour of California."
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling report