Spartanburg, Criterium

01-02-2013 05:23:49

Speed Week’s Friday race kicked off a three-day street festival in “Bike Town”, Spartanburg, SC. The downtown race was part of an Omnium weekend and on the National Criterium Calendar. It was great to see the City of Spartanburg so invested in the race, offering up primes and supplying bike-share bikes for a fun, crashed-filled relay race.

The VIP area at the start/finish was overflowing for the women’s race, which started near sunset. They had a perfect view as the racers crossed the line and transitioned onto about forty feet of old timey cobblestones about once a minute. The fans cheered on the prime winners from the field, a trio off the front, a solo effort and great teamwork. Erica Allar (Rideclean / Patentit.Com), racing without teammates, won the sprint with time to post-up. Sarah Fader (Pepper Palace/Spin-Tech Training) took second and Jennifer Purcell (Team Tibco) was third.

Allar, a former North Carolina resident, told Carolina Cycling News, “Spartanburg is one of my favorite cities to come to every year, the course is great and technical, the spectators are super supportive and enthusiastic. It’s really a great event.”

The men raced later in the evening, under a near-super moon for 70 laps. Early in the race, a crash in the tight last corner caught-out a third of field. The officials did a full restart. Things went smooth until a second crash after the midpoint resulted in yet another restart. Thankfully, upright racing returned and gave the fans the action they came to see. In the final laps, the United Healthcare Professional team took control and led out their own Jake Keough for the win. USA Crits series leader Carlos Alzate (Team Exergy) placed second and Keough’s final lead-out man Robert Forster (United Healthcare Professional) held on for third.

For full photo galleries please visit: http://weldon.smugmug.com/Racing/12-05-Spartanburg

Weldon Weaver