UnitedHealthcare's Keough on the rise in NRC standings; Mancebo holds top spot

Jacobe Keough (Sandwich, Mass./UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team p/b Maxxis) continued his rapid ascent up USA Cycling's National Racing Calendar's (NRC) men's standings after winning the omnium at the Wilmington Grand Prix in Wilmington, Del. Keough won Saturday's criterium and placed second in Sunday's road race to secure the omnium.

Jacobe Keough topped the men's omnium podium at the 2011 Wilmington Grand Prix. (Photo by Leslie Kipp)

As a result of his win, Keough has moved from fourth place to second in the USA Cycling Men's NRC Standings, 298 points behind Francisco Mancebo (Realcyclist.com). Trailing Keough is Benjamin Jacques-Maynes (Watsonville, Calif./Bissell Pro Cycling Team) in third, Michael Northey (PureBlack Racing) in fourth and Christopher Baldwin (Boulder, Colo./Bissell Pro Cycling) rounds out the top five.

On the NRC men's team standings, Bissell Pro Cycling has taken the lead, overtaking Realcyclist.com, which sits in second place. UnitedHealthcare has jumped into third place, ahead of Chipotle Development and PureBlack Racing.

The Wilmington Grand Prix men's omnium consisted of a 35-mile criterium race on Saturday in downtown Wilmington before Sunday's 110.9-mile road race.

In the men's criterium on Saturday, the UnitedHealthcare team's strategy essentially guaranteed at least one rider from the team would win. The team gathered at the front of the peloton, forming a five-man train through the last stretch of the race. Keough capitalized on this tactic and crossed the finish line ahead of his teammate, Boy Van Poppel and Andrew Crater (Asheville, N.C./Aerocat Cycling).

During Sunday's road race, the riders maintained a speed over 30 miles per hour as the race snaked along a fairly flat course from Wilmington to Dover. There was a three-rider break in the early stages of the road race, with each rider earning sprint points before eventually being absorbed back into the peloton.

After the turnaround, the riders of the UnitedHealthcare team broke away from the peloton, building a lead of nearly three-and-a-half minutes. Again the peloton worked together to whittle that gap down, creating a bunch sprint to the finish.

Kyle Wamsley (Alburtis, Pa./Bissell Pro Cycling) edged Keough by less than a second at the finish line. Demis Aleman (Jamis-Sutter Home) placed third, less than one-half second behind Keough.

Kristin Sanders won the women's Wilmington Grand Prix. (photo by Leslie Kipp)

Edita Janeliunaite (Colavita-Forno d'Asolo) added a third-place finish at the Wilmington Grand Prix to her win last week at the Tour de Grove. Janeliunaite's teammate, Kristin Sanders (West Palm Beach, Fla./Colavita-Forno d'Asolo), won the Wilmington Grand Prix ahead of Laura van Gilder (Cresco, Pa./Mellow Mushroom).

As a result of her second-place finish in the women's 25-mile criterium (the only women's event in Wilmington), van Gilder has moved into third place in NRC women's standings. Janel Holcomb (San Diego, Calif./Colavita-Forno d'Asolo) remains the leader, 124 points ahead of Clara Hughes (Pactimo Cycling). Amber Neben (Lake Forest, Calif./HTC-Highroad Women) and Mara Abbott (Boulder, Colo./Diadora Pasta Zara) complete the top five.

The women's criterium was fast from the start with 34 of the 50 starters finishing. The Colavita-Forno d'Asolo team seemed to realize that with van Gilder in the race, it would be best not to let the race come down to a sprint.

On her 40th Birthday (the crowd sang happy birthdayat the start of the race), Sanders went off the front, building a 17-second lead, but Team TIBCO-To the Top, working with van Gilder brought Sanders back to the group.

In the end, the peloton came up just short as Sanders squeaked in three seconds ahead of the fast-charging Van Gilder.

By virtue of its performance in Delaware, Colavita-Forno d'Asolo added to its lead in the women's NRC team standings over Team TIBCO-To the Top. HTC-Highroad Women remained in third place ahead of Primal/MapMyRider Women's Racing and Diadora Pasta Zara.

For full results of the Wilmington Grand Prix, click here.

NRC standings

COMING UP:

The next race on USA Cycling's NRC Calendar is the Tour of Somerville in Somerville, N.J. on Memorial Day, May 30.

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