Joe Martin and Speed Week results shuffle NRC standings

The face of USA Cycling's National Racing Calendar (NRC) changed over the last week due to two events affecting the rankings in nearly every category. The 34th Annual Joe Martin Stage Race and USA CRITS Speed Week highlight an exciting week.

Frank Pipp (Boulder, Colo./Bissell Pro Cycling) used three top-10 finishes, including a second-place finish in Sunday's 85-kilometer criterium, to win the 34th Annual Joe Martin Stage Race from May 5-8, in Fayetteville, Ark.

In addition to Sunday's result, Pipp placed seventh in Thursday's Devil's Den 2.5-kilometer time trial, fourth in Friday's 110-kilometer road race and 26th in Saturday's 81-kilometer road race.

On the women's side, Janel Holcomb (San Diego, Calif./Colavita Forno D'Asolo) finished atop the general classification of an NRC event for the first time in her career after winning the women's Joe Martin Stage Race.

Holcomb won the time trial and Saturday's road race while placing sixth in Sunday's criterium and 29th in Friday's road race.

For complete results from the Joe Martin Stage Race, click here.

USA CRITS Speed Week ran from April 30-May 8 in various locations throughout the southeast.

Jacobe Keough (Sandwich, Mass./UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team p/b Maxxis) emerged atop a 225-man field as the omnium winner, amassing 1,621 points through the seven events. Keough won three criteriums, placed second in one and did not finish worse than 12th in any of the seven events. Keough won the omnium by 20 points over his teammate Hilton Clarke (Santa Monica, Calif./UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team p/b Maxxis).

On the women's side, Laura Van Gilder (Cresco, Pa./Mellow Mushroom) won the women's omnium award in a 79-woman field. Van Gilder stayed in the top five of each of the seven criterium events and led a total of 11 laps. She compiled pairs of second-place finishes, third-place finishes, fourth-place finishes and a fifth-place finish.

Click here for complete omnium results from USA CRITS Speed Week.

Despite placing seventh in the Joe Martin Stage Race final general classification, Francisco Mancebo (Realcyclist.com) remains the leader of the 2011 Men's NRC Standings. Benjamin Jacques-Maynes (Watsonville, Calif./Bissell Pro Cycling) traded places with Christopher Baldwin (Boulder, Colo./Bissell Pro Cycling) as Jacques-Maynes improved to second place. After his win in Fayetteville, Pipp climbed from 35th to fourth in the standings and Cesar Grajales (Realcyclist.com) is in fifth place. Keough has moved into ninth place in the men's standings following his omnium win capping Speed Week.

Bissell has trimmed Realcyclist.com's lead from 230 points to only 19 in the NRC Men's Team Standings. Chipotle Development moved from fourth to third place, swapping with Trek Livestrong while Team Exergy remained in fifth place.

Holcomb has jumped from fourth place to first place, overtaking Clara Hughes for the lead in the NRC Women's Standings. Amber Neben (Lake Forest, Calif./HTC-Highroad Women) slipped down a peg to third place ahead of Mara Abbott (Boulder, Colo./Diadora Pasta Zara) and Kathryn Donovan (Oxnard, Calif./Southern California Velo). After her performance in Speed Week, Van Gilder has moved into eighth place.

The top three spots on the NRC Women's Team Standings are unchanged after last week's results. Primal/MapMyRider Women's Racing slipped ahead of Diadora Pasta Zara for fourth place.

NRC standings

Coming Up:
The Tour de Grove, a criterium race in in St. Louis on May 14, is next on USA Cycling's 2011 National Racing Calendar.

PHOTOS:

The starts of the men's (top) and women's races from Sunday, May 8, at the Joe Martin Stage Race.

Photos by Tom Ewart.

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