A year ago, when Kevin Monahan crossed the line at the USPRO Criterium Championship in Downers Grove, everything was up in the air. After a late-race crash took out half the field, Henk Vogels took the race win, with Monahan and Robbie Ventura (U.S. Postal Service) in a photo finish for second place. What a difference a year makes.

After winning the race outright, Monahan began the celebration almost immediately, riding up and down Main St. Downers Grove and high fiving the crowd. It capped a day that saw another repeat victory – Tina Mayolo Pic (Diet Rite) taking the women’s crown – and 18-year-old Keith Norris (Aerospace Engineering) becoming just the third junior racer to win the elite men’s amateur national championship.

Monahan’s win capped a surprise finish that saw the race come down to a sprint between him and Saturn’s Chris Horner, after a day when the big boys were content to wait out field-sprint finish.

As the 62-lap race began, it quickly became apparent that Prime Alliance was banking it all on a field sprint for Jonas Carney, with Matt Decanio patrolling the front and the boys in white and blue pulling back anything that was even the slightest threat.

“When one of the big teams wants a field sprint and is controlling it from the get go, it’s impossible for anything to get away,” said Horner.

As a result, every short-lived breakaway seemed to feature the likes of Ofoto-Lombardi, Schroeder Iron or Health Net, but no Navigators, Saturn or 7UP, and the longest escape of the day — Mike Sayers (Health Net), Tim Larkin (Ofoto-Lombardi) and Paul Martin (West Virginia) – stayed away less than five laps.

With five laps to go in the race the Navigators, winners the night before, began to set up their train in hopes of delivering Marty Nothstein to the national title. Nothstein, though, was still recovering from a flat, and a confusing free lap exchange, and would end up only eighth.

Meanwhile, 7UP organized its train right beside the Navigators for a few laps, but in the end, it came down to a few savvy individuals making the race.

On the final time up the Downers Grove hill, the Navigators train broke down, as Prime Alliance’s Danny Pate and Alex Candelario surged up the hill hoping to set up Carney. Horner was one of those up front trying to grab a wheel, but he found himself swarmed as well.

“I came out of the descent in 10th place,” he said. “With three corners to go, I knew I had to go from there.”

Along the way, Horner picked up teammate Mark McCormack, who quickly grabbed his wheel, and the two approached the final turn one-two. There was only one problem: Monahan right behind them.

McCormack tried to open up a gap for Horner, but Monahan was able to jump past and came out of the final turn right on Horner’s wheel. From there, the defending champion’s sprint kicked in with 150 meters to go and he took it to the line, with Horner second, McCormack third, Antonio Cruz fourth and Carney fifth.

“Crossing the line first, and knowing you took it outright, you go over the line and that’s it, that’s everything,” said an elated Monahan. “To repeat, it’s just an incredible feeling.”

Monahan’s rival gave him plenty of credit afterwards. “He rode a great race,” said Carney. “It’s the best I’ve ever seen him ride. Last year, a lot of people thought he was lucky with the crash taking out half the field. This year, he straight up beat everybody.”

Mayolo-Pic repeats
Like Monahan, Mayolo-Pic came into the weekend as defending champion, and also like Monahan, she was plenty nervous on Sunday morning. The previous evening’s tune-up event hadn’t helped.

Photo: Casey B. Gibson

“Yesterday was kind of a blow,” she said. “I just couldn’t get myself in the right spot.”

So, to work out the nerves, Mayolo-Pic was active early on, riding at the front and snagging a few early primes. After she took the $500 mid-race sprint, her team took over, with a late-race attack by teammate Charm Breon forcing the other teams to chase, and letting Mayolo-Pic sit back and set up for the sprint.

Breon was reeled back with eight to go, and from there, she and Kori Kelly did their job of keeping Mayolo-Pic in position.

“With five to go, my only concern was that we were at the front,” said Breon. “That was just our strategy: get to the front and string it out.”

However, there were still plenty of contenders to for Mayolo-Pic to fend off: Saturn’s Laura Van Gilder and Sarah Uhl; Team Basis’s Nicole Freedman; Velo Bella’s Lynn Gaggioli.

Just as she did last year, Mayolo-Pic went long, hitting the second to last corner in front and leading things out for more than 400 meters. Once she hit the final turn, with 150 meters to go, she was able to carry her speed and hold off Van Gilder and Freedman for her second straight national title.

Norris waits out the Snow
In the men’s elite championship, team Snow Valley was intent on adding to Mike Voight’s national road race championship, and it became obvious right away what the tactic would be: attack.

From the get go, Snow Valley riders were in just about every breakaway, and when one was caught, another would launch a counterattack. The team kept the race under constant pressure for the 50-lap race, but its last gasp came when Scott Zwisanski was gobbled up by the pack with three laps to go. Despite the team’s best efforts, the race came down to a field sprint.

Photo: Casey B. Gibson

Like Mayolo-Pic, Norris had taken the $500 mid-race prime and took some confidence from that, but for an instant, he found himself questioning himself with the race winding down.

“I had a little fatigue with four laps to go and was a little iffy, but I just put it out of my mind and told myself I had to race,” said Norris.

The sprint was almost an instant replay of the women’s race, with Norris jumping hard just before the second to last corner, holding it on the short straightaway to turn No. 8, and then holding off Brad Huff (Mercy) and Snow Valley’s Jonathan Wirsing for the win.

The win by the 18-year-old put him in the company of Steve Scuron (1985) and Rahsaan Bahati (2000) as the only juniors to win the elite men’s criterium championship.