NRC: Powers motors to top of women's standings after Exergy Tour

  
  


The USA Cycling National Racing Calendar (NRC) rolled into its fifth stop, the inaugural Exergy Tour, a five-day stage race in Idaho from May 24 to 28. After this women-only contest, the women's standings are under new leadership and now feature several new, fierce competitors threatening to climb higher.

WOMEN

After finishing fifth overall at the Exergy Tour, Alison Powers (Pinecliffe, Colo./NOW and Novartis for MS) is the new leader of the NRC women's standings with 516 points, 63 points more than Amber Neben (Lake Forest, Calif./Specialized-lululemon). Neben finished second overall in Idaho to jump from 10th place in the previous standings into second place.

Carmen Small (Durango, Colo./Optum Pro Cycling p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) remains in third place, 12 points behind Neben and 50 points ahead of Jade Wilcoxson (Talent, Ore./Optum Pro Cycling p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies), who slid from the top spot into fourth place. Moving into fifth place after winning the Exergy Tour is Evelyn Stevens (Dennis, Mass./Specialized-lululemon), six points behind Wilcoxson and six points ahead of Megan Guarnier (Mountain View, Calif./Team TIBCO-To the Top).

Stevens topped the general classification by 50 seconds despite not winning any of the four stages nor the prologue. Stevens finished second in the second and fourth stages after placing fifth in the prologue. She also claimed the Queen of the Mountains recognition.

In the NRC women's team standings, Optum Pro Cycling p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies now owns a 507-point cushion over the new second-place team, Team TIBCO-To the Top, which bumped Exergy Twenty12 down to third place. Exergy Twenty12 trails second place by 32 points, but holds a 44-point edge on NOW and Novartis for MS. Remaining in fifth place is FCS-Rouse p/b Mr. Restore, 398 points out of fourth place and 160 points ahead of sixth-place Primal-MapMyRider Women's Racing.

MEN

The NRC men's standings are unchanged as there was no an event on the calendar for men. The men return to action for the Nature Valley Grand Prix from June 13-17 in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn.

Francisco Mancebo (ESP/Competitive Cyclist Racing Team) remains the leader of the NRC men's standings while Competitive Cyclist Racing Team tops the NRC men's team standings.

Full results from the Exergy Tour.

 

USA Cycling NRC Standings

Men
1. Francisco Mancebo (ESP/Competitive Cyclist Racing Team) — 681
2. Rory Sutherland (AUS/UnitedHealthcare p/b Maxxis) — 445
3. Chad Beyer (Tucson, Ariz./Competitive Cyclist Racing Team) — 404
4. Joe Dombrowski (Marshall, Va./Bontrager Livestrong Team) — 332
5. Philip Gaimon (Ellicot City, Md./Kenda 5 Hour Energy p/b Geargrinder) — 278

Women
1. Alison Powers (Pinecliffe, Colo./NOW and Novartis) — 516
2. Amber Neben (Lake Forest, Calif./Specialized-lululemon) — 453
3. Carmen Small (Durango, Colo./Optum Pro Cycling p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) — 441
4. Jade Wilcoxson (Talent, Ore./Optum Pro Cycling p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) — 391
5. Evelyn Stevens (Dennis, Mass./Specialized-lululemon) — 385

Men's Team
1. Competitive Cyclist Racing Team — 1250
2. Team Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies — 799
3. Bissell Cycling — 772
4. Kenda 5 Hour Energy p/b Geargrinder — 731
5. Bontrager Livestrong Team — 698

Women's Team
1. Optum Pro Cycling p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies — 1,314
2. Team TIBCO-To the Top — 807
3. Exergy Twenty12 — 775
4. NOW and Novartis — 731
5. FCS-Rouse p/b Mr Restore — 333
   

For complete standings, visit the NRC's official webpage at usacycling.org/nrc.

The sixth and next stop on the NRC, the Liberty Classic will pit the best women's riders against each other on Sunday, June 3, in Philadelphia. The men are scheduled to return to the fray at the Nature Valley Grand Prix from June 13-17 in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn.

PHOTOS:

Evelyn Stevens celebrates winning the general classification of the inaugural Exergy Tour in Idaho. (Photo by John Pierce, PhotoSport International)



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This Article Updated May 29, 2012 @ 01:17 PM For more information contact: