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Salomon, Cox win Tucson Bicycle Classic

By VeloNews.com
Published: Mar. 31, 2008
David Salomon (P&S-Specialized) on his way to repeating as Tucson Bicycle Classic champ.
David Salomon (P&S-Specialized) on his way to repeating as Tucson Bicycle Classic champ.
Photo: Mason Ibas

David Salomon (P&S-Specialized) and Leda Cox (America's Dairyland) were crowned the champions of the 22nd Tucson Bicycle Classic after the third and final stage on Sunday.

Brian Forbes (RideClean) and Clare Vlahopoulos (America's Dairyland) won their respective races during the finale, the Artisan Prosthetics Circuit race, run on a rolling, 5.6-mile loop with 300 feet of climbing per lap.

Forbes, the 2007 Arizona Rider of the Year, wasn’t the first man across the line in the 50-mile men’s race — that was Carlos Hernandez (P&S-Specialized). But Hernandez was relegated to 12th on the day for repeated yellow-line violations while working on Salomon’s behalf, giving Forbes the win ahead of Ryan Baumann (CRCA-Sakonnet Technology) and Nick Friesen (The Bike Shop).

Leda Cox (America's Dairyland) locking up the women's title at the 2008 Tucson Bicycle Classic.
Leda Cox (America's Dairyland) locking up the women's title at the 2008 Tucson Bicycle Classic.
Photo: Mason Ibas

The 39-mile women’s race was all America’s Dairyland, with Clare Vlahopoulos taking the victory ahead of teammates Cox and Cari Higgins.

When the final times were tallied, Salomon took the overall by 13 seconds over Joshua Liberles (Colavita New Mexico-JNF) with Drew Miller (Landis-Trek) third at 16 seconds back.

The women’s title went to Cox, with teammate Vlahopoulos second at 4:04 and Melissa McWhirter (Colavita Arizona) third at 8:17. —Neil Stewart contributed to this report.

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