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Dominguez, Kroepsch tops at USPRO warm-up

Published: Aug. 20, 2005

Hiding somewhere in Lara Kroepsch’s compact 5 foot 2 inch frame is one of the most ferocious finishing sprints in the North American professional women’s peloton. But the 26-year old from Boulder, Colorado usually keeps the goods under wraps — as a support rider for T-Mobile, Kroepsch usually plays second fiddle to teammates Kim Baldwin, Kristin Armstrong and Ina Yoko Teutenberg.

But at the Pro-Am Challenge criterium, held on the eve of the USPRO criterium championships in Downers Grove, Illinois, Kroepsch let her guns do the talking, and walked away with the biggest victory of her four-year pro career.

“By August you know who is going fast, and we knew that the racing this weekend is going to be against Laura [Van Gilder], Tina [Pic] and Nicole [Freedman],” said Kroepsch. “This race wasn’t a big goal for our team. But are you kidding, it’s my first big win. Of course I’m happy.”

Held on the same winding 1-mile course as the USPRO criterium championships, the Pro-Am Challenge is generally regarded as the warm-up race for the next day’s bigger event. Riders complete 21 laps — exactly half the distance of the USPRO race.

Midway through the 50 km event, Kroepsch’s race was nearly derailed when a bee flew into her jersey and stung her multiple times. But the former national collegiate criterium champion carried on, and was part of a late breakaway that included Quark’s Van Gilder and Candice Blickem. Instead of launching her sprint at the final turn, Kroepsch jumped early.

“This race is usually a race for the last two corners. I made a gamble and went for the second to last and tried to hold it for the last corner,” she said.

Kroepsch came through the final corner in the lead position and held the position to the line after a late crash nearly sent Van Gilder to the pavement.

With T-Mobile’s ace sprinter Teutenberg missing for Sunday’s elite women’s criterium championship, Kroepsch will likely be her team’s go-to girl. She is the obvious underdog, as Van Gilder and Freedman (Ford-Basis) are former winners of the prestigious event. Still, the woman most likely to take home the stars and stripes jersey is Pic (Quark), who has claimed the criterium championships for the past three seasons. A fourth consecutive win for the Georgia native would make Pic the most successful national champion in United States cycling history.

In men’s Pro-Am Challenge, the overpowering Health Net train performed the same final-lap ballet it has perfected in the 2005 criteriums, bringing Cuban sprinter Ivan Dominguez to the line in first position. That win did little to resolve the questions facing the talented squad heading into the national championship race.

Health Net has arguably the four top fast-men in the NRC with Dominguez, Greg Henderson, Gord Fraser and Tyler Farrar. However Farrar is the only American of the four, and Health Net must choose whether it wants to try for the overall race win with Fraser, Henderson or Fraser, or the national championship jersey with Farrar.

“There is no real plan. We’re more concerned with winning the race,” said Health Net director sportif Jeff Corbett. “This race is too difficult to say ‘we’re 100 percent working for this guy.’ There are too many factors. If we can get the jersey, great. If we can win the bike race and not get the jersey, great. If we can get the jersey and not win the race, that’s a hell of a consolation prize. We’d be happy with either scenario.”

Serious challenges to Heath Net’s quest for a race victory could come from Jelly Belly’s Juan Jose Haedo, who grabbed a win in the Bank of America Criterium (August 8), Advantage Endevour’s Karl Menzies, overall victor at Wisconsin’s Superweek (July 8-24) and Navigator Insurance’s Vasili Davidenko, winner of the Athens Twilight criterium (April 29) and the Captech classic (May 26).

Still, neither Haedo, Menzies or Davidenko hold American citizenship, and the race for the jersey is wide open.

Farrar finished second at last year’s race to a streaking Jonas Carney, who ran away with the jersey after rival Robbie Ventura crashed in the final turn. But with both Ventura and Carney hanging up their shoes at the end of last season, a hole was left in American sprinting. Looking to challenge Farrar will be Carney’s former leadout man, Alex Candelario of Jelly Belly, track champion Colby Pearce of TIAA-Cref, former Olympic track gold medalist Mary Nothstein of Navigators Insurance and former USPro road race champion Mark McCormack of Colavita-Sutter Home.International Pro Am Challenge
Downer’s Grove, Illinois August 20, 2005
Men
1. Ivan Dominguez (Cub), Health Net-Maxxis
2. Siro Campanogara (I), Navigators
3. Juan Jose Haedo (Arg), Colavita-Sutter HomeWomen
1. Lara Kroepsch, T-Mobile
2. Laura Van Gilder, Quark
3. Katharine Carroll, Ford-Basis
4. Meredith Miller, Team Lipton
5. Heidgen Shawn, TDS
6. Candice Blickem, Quark
7. Magen Long, The Bicycle Store
8. Tina Pic, Quark
9. Shannon Hutchinson, Aarons
10. Catherine Powers, Colavita-Cooking Light