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Clarke takes win, Huff collects jersey at USPRO crit

Published: Aug. 20, 2006
Clarke and Huff celebrate their respective victories
Clarke and Huff celebrate their respective victories
Photo: Casey B. Gibson

Pure insanity.

That’s how the new national criterium champion Brad Huff (TIAA-CREF) described the final lap of the 100km USPRO championships on Sunday in Downers Grove, Illinois. Only the Navigators could muster any semblance of a lead-out, and their efforts were not in vain as Aussie Hilton Clarke blew past Toyota-United’s Tony Cruz and Huff after the decisive final corner to take the win.

Huff charged to the front with 300 meters and held it until near the final corner at 150 meters when Cruz pulled even with him. The pair swung wide out of the corner, and Clarke took the inside line and stormed to the line.

"I just sat behind them, took a better line out of the corner and kicked out," Clarke said.

At the end, Clarke punched the air and Huff, just behind, threw up his hands.

"Every team is fighting for position, wanting to take the last three, four corners first. It’s kind of a crapshoot," said Huff, who was sitting about 15 back going into the final lap. "I did a little hail-Mary on the hill at the top [midway through the course] and got up to about sixth. Going into the second-to-last corner I just jumped hard as I could. I accidentally chopped Dan Schmatz. It’s so crazy up there. Luckily no one went down."

Of his battle with former USPRO crit winner Cruz, Huff added: "It was a drag race. I was just lucky I came around him."

For TIAA-CREF team director Jonathan Vaughters, there was more at play than dumb luck for the man who won the elite race last year as an amateur.

"Coming into it, considering what Brad has done this year, he wasn’t necessarily the race favorite for the win, but he was the favorite for the jersey," Vaughters said. "So I told the guys, ‘Listen, we’re not going into this as this young, cute little team that’s the underdog. Realistically, we’re going into it as the favorites. So let’s treat it that way.’ And they did."

Cliff-Ryan, Leogrande take elite crits
In the elite women’s race, run earlier in the day, Colavita’s Tina Pic looked to be the odds-on favorite. Having won the last four editions of the race, Pic showed that at 40, she isn’t slowing down at all, handily taking the $500 mid-race sprint and riding near the front for most of the race in Downers Grove, Illinois. Team Lipton had no intention of rolling over, however, with former national crit champ Laura Van Gilder in good form, and with a few laps to go the team got its yellow train going.

Cliff-Ryan shows she knows how to win on the big wheels, too
Cliff-Ryan shows she knows how to win on the big wheels, too
Photo: Casey B. Gibson

Coming into the final corner, Pic and Van Gilder were sprinting full gas, shoulder to shoulder, when they collided. Van Gilder’s right foot went into Pic’s wheel, and Pic went sliding across the pavement, taking down Jenn McCrae (ConexTrain). Van Gilder recovered, clipped her foot back in, and came out of the crucial final last corner in the lead, with an uphill 150 meters to go. On Van Gilder’s wheel, however, was inline skating phenom Theresa Cliff-Ryan, who showed the legs that won her national and world championships — on skates — and came flying around Van Gilder for the win.

Although in just her first year of competitive cycling, Cliff-Ryan came into the race as no stranger to the Downers Grove course. "I’ve got many seconds and many thirds here, but this is my first win at Downers Grove so I’m really excited," said Cliff-Ryan, who said her tactical knowledge from inline racing transitioned well to bike racing.

In the men’s amateur race, 2005 Jelly Belly rider Kayle Leogrande muscled his way in front of 46-year-old Steve Tilford before the final corner, and stormed up the hill for the line. Leogrande, who owns two tattoo shops in Southern California and is covered in tattoos himself, was choked up after the finish.

"I started cramping halfway through the race, but I just kept thinking what my little boy Dryden told me on the phone this morning. ‘You can do it, dad,’ he said. I just kept replaying his words in my mind," Leogrande said.

After a single-year stint with Jelly Belly last year, Leogrande returned to amateur status to focus on his business and his family. But he trained all year with coach and teammate Dan Vinson with Downers Grove in mind. In fact, when a waitress asked Vinson and Leogrande what they were hungry for at breakfast Sunday morning, Vinson didn’t hesitate. "A stars-and-stripes jersey," Vinson replied.

Still, Leogrande wasn’t the only man in the nearly 200-deep field with that goal, and he couldn’t have been happier with the outcome.

"I still can’t believe I did it," he said.

Results

USPRO
1. Hilton Clake (Aus) Navigators Insurance
2. Brad Huff (USA) TIAA-CREF
3. Tony Cruz (USA) Toyota-United
4. Dan Schmatz (USA) Kodakgallery.com-Sierra Nevada
5. Emile Abraham (Tri) AEG-Toshiba-Jetnetwork
6. Jeffery Hopkins (Aus) Jittery Joe's
7. Alex Candelario (USA) Jelly Belly
8. Davide Frattini (Ita) Colavita
9. Frank Pipp (USA) Targetraining
10. Mark McCormack (USA) Colavita

Women
1. Theresa Cliff-Ryan (USA) Verducci Breakaway
2. Laura Van Gilder (USA) Team Lipton
3. Mackenzie Dickey (USA) Aaron's
4. Shontell Gauthier (USA) Team Joy Rides/Austin
5. Brenda Lyons (USA) Victory Brewing
6. Anna Webb (USA) Karl Strauss/SDBC
7. Candice Blickem (USA) Aaron's
8. Rebecca Larson (USA) Aaron's
9. Kelly Benjamin (USA) Cheerwine
10. Kacey Manderfield (USA) Wolverine/Redken

Men
1. Kayle Leogrande (USA) Kahala La Grange
2. Steve Tilford (USA) Trek/Shimano
3. Jamiel Danesh (USA) RhVilla.com/Montano
4. Eric Marcott (USA) Bianchi-Grand Performance
5. Chad Cagle (USA) Mercy
6. Erik Tomlinson (USA) Dent Wizard
7. Philip Wikoff (USA) Team Hotel San Jose
8. Jason Snow (USA) cycle science
9. Shawn Willard (USA) Wheel & Sprocket
10. Mark Hekman (USA) Abercrombie & Fitch

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