The Denver Disruptors dominated the Miami Beach Invitational on Saturday in Florida to take the first lead in the National Cycling League’s four-race criterium series, scoring 138 total points. The Miami Nights posted 93 points, good for second place in the standings.
Texas Roadhouse Cycling made noise in the men’s race with 23 points and boosted their overall position with co-ed partners Goldman Sachs ETFs to finish in third place, 13 points ahead of the Foundation Cycling (men) and CCB-Alpine Carbon p/b LLG (women) pairing.
The Denver Disruptors are now the only team among the 10 invited squads in the NCL Cup which could bank the $700,000 cash prize for the Quadruple Crown, a sweep of all four national events. All teams remain eligible for the Triple Crown, a $100,000 prize for one team winning three events.
Miami Beach women’s race
The field of 10 women’s team opened the full-on 25-lap sprint contest, with points earned on each lap for the top three riders, riding in a clockwise direction on a one-mile, four-corner course in the heart of Miami Beach under bright, blue skies late Saturday afternoon.
Team Roxo Racing earned a front-row placement from winning a qualifier virtual event on Friday, but straight away, any advantage at the start line melted away in hot 90-degree Fahrenheit temperatures and the pulverising power put out by the Denver Disruptors and Miami Nights.
Tactics to maximise an advantage with fresh riders on pit stops and substitutions came into play for the huge lead generated by the Disruptor women, led by former WorldTour veteran Leah Kirchmann. She completed all 25 circuits and amassed the majority of points for her team, almost a third of 69 scored, but said they made the most of the new rules.
“Our strategy was to use our collective strength as a team to score consistent points throughout the race. We were strategic with substitutions that allowed us to put fresh riders into the race at key moments to score points for the team. We also wanted to set up the men’s team to start with a points advantage. We actually scored an equal number in the end in our races which is a fun statistic and shows our team strength,” she said about each squad posting 69 points for the balanced attack.
“We were always in the front and in control of what was happening in the race. Our coach, Svein [Tuft], also offered useful coaching tactically. It was a fun venue to be racing right along South Beach in Miami, with lots of people out to cheer! The…
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