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Team Mountain Khakis dominates series finale in Las Vegas — Barlevav wins the night, Hekman takes the series.
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Eric Barlevav won the final race of the USA Crits series Thursday night in Las Vegas, with his Mountain Khakis teammate Mark Hekman winning the field sprint behind to claim the series title. To put the cherry on top, Mountain Khakis won the team overall prize for the 2009 USA Crits.
“It’s huge to win here,” said Barlevav. “USA Crits was definitely a big goal for our team. We tried to win all the races, and we tried to win the overall, so this is great for us.”
Jake Keough (Kelly Benefit Strategies) started the race in the series leader’s jersey with a seven-point lead over Hekman. He only had two teammates with him — Dan Bowman and Scott Zwizanski — but the trio defended well until the very end. Bowman spent a lot of time of the front, putting other teams on the defensive, and Zwizanski closed down moves with Mountain Khakis riders in them.
“We only had three guys, but Bowman (and I) have the Tour of Missouri in our legs, so we felt pretty good,” Zwizanski said.
The 60-lap race, in front of the Mandalay Bay Casino and held in conjunction with the Interbike trade show, was rich in cash primes, with $250 thrown out on the first lap and thousands more offered up over the evening.
The Mountain Khakis squad was aggressive throughout, repeatedly sending riders up the road.
“Mark was seven points behind, and I was 25 points behind (on the overall series),” said Mountain Khakis' Adam Myerson. “And I’ve watched Frank and Mark McCormack do the old 'send the guy further down the GC up the road' and win the whole thing. So this is the way we raced in Dallas as well. We know Jake can’t cover everything. So I wasn’t racing like a sprinter. Mark and I just took turns attacking. Once we got Eric in the move. Jake was out of guys, basically, and Mark and I were able to take advantage of that.”
With 12 laps to go, a three-man break, including Bowman, was caught by two riders. Barlevav leaped out of the peloton to try to bridge across. Race announcers commended his effort, but said he would never make it. He did.
“I attacked just to put pressure on the other teams,” Barlevav said.
Soon the six riders were working well together and the lead ballooned up over 30 seconds. Joining Barlevav and Bowman were Ryan Dewald, Jorge Alvarago, Adrian Hegyvary and Gari Epstein. Bowman and Hegyvary attacked with three to go, but were reeled in. Behind, Rahsaan Bahati put his head down and tried to bring things back together at the front of the peloton.
With two laps to go, the group had split in half. At the bell lap, Alvarago threw down a solo attack that proved fruitless. Leading out the sprint into the final fast corner, Bowman came in hot and crashed. Barlevav jumped and sealed the deal.
As the main group came around the final bend, Myerson positioned himself between Keough and Hekman. “Going through the last turn, I let a gap go to Mark, and then just did everything I could to keep Jake from coming around,” Myerson said.
After stepping down from the podium, Hekman said winning the USA Crits overall was a great way to wrap up the season.
“I am flying actually in an hour to the beach in North Carolina for a little bit of vacation,” he said. “I’m done with bikes for a little bit, so I’m excited about that. It’s been a good season, the team has raced so good all year long. I love this team. I love racing at night in the dark, and it’s great racing for good money, too.”
USA Crits Final Overall
1. Mark Hekman (Mountain Khakis)
2. Jake Keough (Kelly Benefit Strategies)
3. Adam Myerson (Mountain Khakis)
4. Yosvany Falcon (Champion Porsche)
5. Frank Travieso (Champion Porsche)
