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Gerlach, Rais wrap up omnium titles at Tour de Nez
Chad Gerlach (Amore & Vita) and Amber Rais (Team TIBCO) wrapped up their respective omnium titles on Saturday in the finale to the Tour de Nez.
Jesse Moore (California Giant Berry Farms) won the men’s race, launching a solo break just 10 minutes into the 90-minute criterium, run on a tough 2-mile circuit through the Village at the Northstar-at-Tahoe resort.
Graham Howard (Bissell) bridged up and the two kept a 25-second lead on the bunch until Moore’s teammate Justin England jumped the gap, giving Cal Giant the advantage with five laps to go.
England turned himself inside out for his teammate in the final stretch and Moore pulled away for the victory. Howard held on for second with England rounding out the podium in third.
Gerlach finished safely in the bunch, and when the points were tallied, the Amore & Vita rider had clinched the omnium over Steve Reaney (Cal Giant) with Howard third.
The women’s race was equally exciting. Rais won the finale, but not in the usual way — her TIBCO teammate Alison Starnes crossed the line first, ahead of Rais and Olivia Dillon (Touchstone), but the first-year pro was relegated for miatakenly taking a free lap after a mechanical, normal practice in a crit run on a shorter course.
So runner-up Rais won both the stage and the omnium, with Katerina Nash (Luna) second and Stacy Marple (Cheerwine) third.
In the hand-cycle event, Alejandro Albor rolled away victorious again, winning for the third time in as many days. He blazed the four-lap course alone and even added a fifth lap for good measure, showing that he is on form and ready for the upcoming cycling world championships in Italy.
