Dates Set For Speed Week 2012

Swagger LLC is proud to announce that USA CRITS Speed Week will return to the streets of Georgia and South Carolina April 28 through May 6, 2012!

Once again, the Terrapin Twilight Criterium in downtown Athens, GA kicks off the weeklong series of seven races in nine days. Also returning to the series are the annual events in Roswell and Sandy Springs in Georgia, as well as Beaufort, Walterboro, and Spartanburg in South Carolina. A yet-to-be-announced event, which will be new to the series, will take place on Saturday, May 5.

Please check back for more updates in the coming months!

2012 USA CRITS Speed Week Schedule

Keough, Van Gilder Take Individual Honors; UnitedHealthcare, Colavita Capture Team Titles

Jake Keough (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling presented by Maxxis) and Laura Van Gilder (Mellow Mushroom) captured the individual titles for Speed Week 2011, while UnitedHealthCare Pro Cycling presented by Maxxis and Colavita/Forno d’Asolo p/b Cooking Light claimed the men’s and women’s team titles, respectively.

Please click here for a full recap.

2011 Speed Week Top 5 Standings (FINAL)

INDIVIDUAL OVERALL

Men
1. Jake Keough, UnitedHealthcare – 1621 pts
2. Hilton Clarke, UnitedHealthcare – 1601 pts
3. Carlos Alzate, Team Exergy – 1597 pts
4. Luca Damiani, Kenda/5-Hour Energy – 1505 pts
5. Karl Menzies, UnitedHealthcare – 1452 pts

Women
1. Laura Van Gilder, Mellow Mushroom – 1668 pts
2. Christina Gokey-Smith, Rouse Bicycles – 1635 pts
3. Nicky Wangsgard, Primal/MapMyRide Women’s Racing – 1497 pts
4. Samantha Schneider, Team TIBCO/To The Top – 1495 pts
5. Erica Allar, RideClean – 1473 pts

 
TEAM OVERALL

Men
1. UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling presented by Maxxis – 5760 pts
2. Team Exergy – 4013 pts
3. Team Mountain Khakis – 3806 pts
4. ELBOWZ Racing – 3598 pts
5. Chipolte Development Team – 3557 pts

Women
1. Colavita/Forno d’Asolo p/b Cooking Light – 5119 pts
2. Team TIBCO/To The Top – 4715 pts
3. Primal/MapMyRide Women’s Racing – 4151 pts
4. Rouse Bicycles – 3936 pts
5. Team Kenda p/b Geargrinder – 3263 pts

 
U25 OVERALL TOP 3

Men
1. Jake Keough, UnitedHealthcare – 1621 pts
2. Andrew Dahlheim, Bissell – 1438 pts
3. Raymond Kreder, Chipolte Devo Team – 1293 pts

Women
1. Samantha Schneider, Team TIBCO/To The Top – 1495 pts
2. Kendall Ryan, Team TIBCO/To The Top – 1344 pts
3. Edita Janeliunaite, Colavita/Forno D’asolo – 1102 pts

 
Lap Leaders
Women – Robin Farina, Rouse Bicycles
Men – Carlos Alzate, Team Exergy

 
Please click here for full results and standings.

Keough, Wheeler Grab Wins At Speed Week Finale

Sandy Springs, GA – Jake Keough and the rest of the UnitedHealthcare squad put a bow on the finale of the 2011 USA CRITS Speed Week series at the Global Imports Sandy Springs Cycling Challenge today. Not only did teammate Karl Menzies win the final event, but the team swept the final series’ podium as well. Keough maintained his hold on the individual overall title. In the women’s race Team TIBCO/To The Top’s Jennifer Wheeler snapped the team’s Speed Week dry spell with a last minute surge on the tough Sandy Springs course to cap the 2011 series.

Following seven days of intense racing, UnitedHealthcare took up the gauntlet once again as the laps ticked down on the richest week in U.S. bike racing. With three men included in what would become the winning move, UnitedHealthcare made sure that they left nothing to chance.

“When we got everyone onboard,” Keough said after the event. “I said to the guys, ‘We’ve got to go full gas and try and lap this field.’”

Click here to read the full recap

Travieso, Hall Take Dilworth Wins

Dilworth, NC – Frank Travieso (RealCyclist) took a decisive win in the 38th annual Dilworth Criterium, the penultimate event in the 2011 USA CRITS Speed Week series. The sprinter out-gunned four other breakaway companions on a tough uphill drag to the finish after 75 minutes of hard fought racing. In the women’s race Colavita’s Lauren Hall avenged her team’s disappointing loss at the Spartanburg Regional Classic less than 24 hours before with her first victory of the 2011 season.

After being just one lap away from victory earlier in the week at the Downtown Walterboro criterium, Frank Travieso was able to turn the tables on the dominant UnitedHealthcare squad in Dilworth. The Cuban-born speedster made a decisive move during the final half of the race that turned out to be crucial. Travieso bridged across to the trio of Emerson Oronte (Jelly Belly), Christian Helmig (ELBOWZ Racing), and Raymond Kreder (Chipolte Development Team) who were in desperate pursuit of UnitedHealthcare’s Boy Van Poppel.

“When I saw the other three guys, I knew I had to go, so I jumped hard.”

Click here to read the full recap

Keough and Purcell Taste Victory in Spartanburg

Spartanburg, SC – Jake Keough continued to help the UnitedHealthcare team maintain its death grip on the 2011 Speed Week competition with yet another win Friday night at the Spartanburg Regional Classic. Jennifer Purcell (Crumpton Cycles), however, was able to locate the chink in the Colavita squad’s armor and score a big victory for herself in the women’s race.

With the departure of overall leader Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Colavita), the women’s Speed Week peloton naturally sensed that this was their opportunity to assert themselves in Spartanburg. Early protagonists included Tiffany Pezzulo (Primal/MapMyRide), and Anne Samplonius (Rouse Bicycles). Samplonius was able to capitalize on her team’s continual aggressiveness to achieve some separation from the rest of the field for several laps and collect a fair amount of race primes.

Click here to read the full recap

UnitedHealthcare, Colavita Continue Speed Week Domination in Walterboro

Walterboro, SC – UnitedHealthcare’s Jake Keough scored his second USA CRITS Speed Week win Wednesday night at the Downtown Walterboro Criterium in Walterboro, South Carolina. It was the third win in four events of the series. The Colavita women’s squad continued their complete domination of Speed Week with overall leader Theresa Cliff-Ryan taking her third win of the competition.

If there were any signs of flagging energy inside the Speed Week peloton after several days of full-on racing, UnitedHealthcare demonstrated to the crowds at Walterboro that they still had all the firepower necessary to achieve victory.

Click here to read the full recap

UnitedHealthare, Colavita Take Wins in Beaufort

Beaufort, SC – Hilton Clarke took the second consecutive victory in a row for UnitedHealthcare at the 2011 USA CRITS Speed Week event in Beaufort, South Carolina. The Colavita women’s squad also continued their Speed Week domination by nabbing their third straight win of the series courtesy of New Zealand’s Rushlee Buchanan.

The outcome of the men’s race was decided almost in the first 15 minutes of the event as a group of key riders quickly laid down a blistering pace of 1:15 per lap. Once the field was all strung out behind them, a group of 11 men were able to force a clear separation from the rest of the riders, and that move would ultimately seal the fate of the race. By lap 26 of the 75 scheduled turns around the 1 km course, the escapees had lapped the field. Within the selection was Hilton Clarke and no less than two of his UnitedHealthcare teammates.

Click here to read the full recap

UnitedHealthcare, Colavita Dominant In Roswell

Roswell, GA – 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 Speed Week 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.”

Click here to read the full recap

Damiani, Cliff-Ryan Capture 2011 Terrapin Twilight

Athens, GA – In front of huge crowds of enthusiastic fans, Luca Damiani (Kenda/5-Hour Energy Pro Cycling presented by Geargrinder) and Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Colavita/Forno D’Asolo presented by Cooking Light) took the first victories in the 2011 USA CRITS Championship Series by winning the Terrapin Twilight Criterium in downtown Athens, Georgia.

“It’s just unbelievable.” Damiani said after taking a victory lap around the city’s main street. “All last year we were chasing the big wins, and this year we’ve started great and (already) we’ve got a big one. This is the one people will remember for years.”

Click here to read the full recap