News-Sports.net - Jul 31,2012 - After the Herman Miller Grand Cycling Classic was contested by the women on Saturday in Grand Rapids, Mich., the top spot in the women’s standings of the USA Cycling National Criterium Calendar (NCC) has been clinched. Only two contests remain on the calendar, meaning competition for second place remains spirited.
WOMEN
http://www.usacycling.org/gallery3/var/resizes/road/2012-USA-Cycling-National-Criterium-Calendar/Herman-Miller-Grand-Cycling-Classic/12USPROCrit-337.jpgErica Allar (Tucson, Ariz./RideClean-PatentIt.com) clinched the top spot of the NCC women's standings after placing fifth in Grand Rapids and collecting 50 points. She leads second-place Laura van Gilder (Cresco, Pa./Mellow Mushroom Racing), who finished sixth in the race, by 179 points. There are only 160 total points remaining in the two women's races on the calendar. Sarah Fader (Morrisville, N.C./Pepper Palace-Spin-Tech Training p/b ABRC) remains in third place, but her lead over Samantha Schneider (Milwaukee, Wisc./Team TIBCO-To the Top) has been trimmed to 35 points. The winner of the women's race, Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Cedar Springs, Mich./Exergy TWENTY12), moved into fifth place, overtaking Emily Collins (NZL/Vanderkitten-Focus). Cliff-Ryan is 14 points behind Schneider with two contests remaining.
Team TIBCO-To the Top padded its lead atop the NCC women's team standings by 43 points and now holds a 299-point cushion over the new second-place team Optum Pro Cycling p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies. Optum Pro Cycling p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies added 116 points to its previous total to overtake NOW and Novartis for MS and move up one spot into second place. Exergy TWENTY12 also jumped one spot in the standings and now holds third place, 89 points out of second place. NOW and Novartis for MS slipped into fourth place, 33 points out of third and 178 points ahead of the fifth-place team Vanderkitten-Focus.
The men's race in Grand Rapids was for the national championship and did not count in the calendar standings.
As was announced previously, Hilton Clarke (AUS/UnitedHealthcare p/b Maxxis) has clinched the top spot in the NCC men's standings with 638 points. Jacobe Keough (Sandwich, Mass./UnitedHealthcare p/b Maxxis) sits 210 points behind him in second place. Carlos Alzate Escobar (COL/Team Exergy) is in third place, Luke Keough (Sandwich, Mass./UnitedHealthcare p/b Maxxis) sits in fourth while the winner of the 2012 Herman Miller USA Cycling Professional Criterium National Championship, Ken Hanson (Santa Barbara, Calif./Team Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies), rounds out the top five.
UnitedHealthcare p/b Maxxis has secured the top spot of the NCC men's team standings, 648 points ahead of the second-place Team Mountain Khakis p/b SmartStop. Team Exergy sits in third place, only 19 points out of second and 69 points ahead of the fourth-place Jamis-Sutter Home. Team Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies rounds out the top five.
Check out a photo gallery of the men's race.
Full results of the Herman Miller Grand Cycling Classic.
