Boise Twilight Criterium
Kristin Armstrong Wins Final USA Pro Race in Popular Home Town Ken Event. Ken Hanson and Team Type 1 dominates Men's Speedfest.

Photos & Report by Ben Goebel

Kristin Armstrong takes a comfortable victory in her final US Pro race in her hometown of Boise, Idaho. Photo © 2009 Ben Goebel

Kristin Armstrong pulled out a last lap victory in front of the hometown crowd at the Boise Wells Fargo Twilight Criterium in what will be her last professional race ever in the United States. Despite lapping the field last year, Armstrong stayed safely in the main pack for the majority of the race.

2007 champion Jen Hallady of Bobs Bicycles stayed at the front of the pack for the first few laps until primes began to split up the small field of just 16 riders.

Local pro Liza Rachetto on the attack.
Photo © 2009 Ben Goebel

The only break that stuck was that of Liza Rachetto of Sugarcrm. Rachetto stayed off the front for much of the race, but was eventually reeled in by the group of women. The race remained calm until two laps to go, when Armstrong and Tiffany Pezzulo surged off the front and managed to break away from the pack. On the final lap Armstrong attacked and managed to stay away to claim the victory.

The peloton flies through the four corner course with fans lining the streets of 'cycling crazy' Boise.  Photo © 2009 Ben Goebel

On the men’s side, it was Team Type 1 dominating for the majority of the 80 minute race. Midway through the race with no groups having managed to stay away in a break, Mike Creed of Tyupe1 went off the front in a gutsy solo break and quickly opened up a huge lead.

Mike Creed puts it into hyperdrive   Photo © 2009 Ben Goebel

Creed managed to hold his position for quite some time while picking up several primes, but was eventually sucked back into the pack. The rest that his attack afforded the rest of team TT1 would prove to be valuable during the late stages of the race though.

Cody O'Reilly attacks as the streets start to darken with coming twilight.
Photo © 2009 Ben Goebel

After more attacks and more failures, the peloton split into three groups with just under 20 minutes to go. Eventually they rejoined, and several more break attempts were made. Cody O’Reilly of Kodak Gallery/Sierra was momentarily alone out front, but it did not last. Team Type 1 amassed itself at the front of the pack, Hanson then proved to have the fastest legs of  all other contenders to take the win, with Aldo Ilesic, his lead out man, managing to hold on for second. Sebastian Haedo of Colavito Olive Oil came in on their wheels for third.

Team Type 1 Report
Ken Hanson won for the second straight week and Aldo Ino Ilesic finished second as Team Type 1 went 1-2 Saturday night at the 23rd annual Wells Fargo Twilight Criterium in Boise, Idaho.

Racing in 95-degree heat on a day when the mercury reached a record 106 degrees earlier, Hanson scored his third victory and eighth podium finish of the year. It was the 21st win on the road for Team Type 1 and the second in a National Racing Calendar (NRC) event. Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Colavita-Sutter Home p/by Cooking Light) finished third.

Last week, Hanson raced without any teammates and won the San Rafael (Calif.) Twilight Criterium ahead of U.S. national criterium champion Rahsaan Bahati (Rock Racing). Hanson is the reigning U.S. elite criterium champion.

“The team was great," Hanson said. "It was awesome. It couldn't have been more perfect from a team standpoint."

Team Type 1 chasing the attacks.  Photo © 2009 Ben Goebel

A feverish chase by all five of Team Type 1’s riders closed what looked to be an insurmountable gap to a pair of breakaway riders with one lap remaining in the one hour-plus-five-laps race on the 0.6-mile (1 km), four-corner course through Downtown Boise.

“With five laps to go, the gap was 15 seconds and with one lap to go, it was five seconds,” Team Type 1 Director Sportif Vassili Davidenko said. “On the backstretch with half a lap to go, it was still four seconds. But our guys were going full gas and Aldo and Ken came out of the last corner with a 20-meter gap.”

Team Type 1 co-founder Joe Eldridge, the only rider in the race with Type 1 diabetes, was instrumental in driving the pursuit, along with teammates Michael Creed and Dan Holt. Eldridge was active throughout the race, earning two primes as fellow Team Type 1 co-founder and second-year professional Phil Southerland watched from the announcer’s stand.

Davidenko said the electrifying finish was easily the highlight of the season to date, particularly considering it came against the top two teams in the NRC standings, Colavita-Sutter Home and Bissell Pro Cycling, which each fielded full eight-rider rosters.

“All of our guys were just flying at the end,” Davidenko said. “It was unbelievable how they were drilling it. This race is a reflection of the huge progress Team Type 1 has made since January when it comes to sprinting and criteriums. It was a total team effort tonight.”

Saturday’s race was the second straight year the Boise Twilight Criterium has featured a 1-2 finish by riders from the same team. Last year, Hilton Clarke and Dominique Rollin of the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team were the first two riders across the line.

Boise Twilight Criterium website
Full results will be available on the race site in the near future.

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