Miller, Huff toughest in Tulsa

Brad Huff won the Blue Dome Criterium, round one of the Tulsa Tough, for a second consecutive year on Friday night. The twilight criterium came down to a bunch sprint where Huff out-paced Chris DeMarchi (Amgen/Giant Masters) and his own teammates Sean Mazich.

"It's so hot here," Huff said. "I'm very excited and ecstatic to be able to pull this off for the team. I've had a slow start and happy that I'm able to get a win for the team at such a great race."

"I'm so impressed with my team because we only have four guys here and we took the front with 15 laps to go to control it all the way to the end," he added. "We had help from Hotel San Jose and coming out of the last corner we were over taken by Amgen/Giant Masters, and the guy who got second. But, we all pulled through and Jeremy Powers was so strong, the three of us were trying to keep up to his pace."

Some 100 Pro men lined up to take on the lively Blue Dome Criterium held in the entertainment district on a crowded Friday night. The course was highly technical in the shape of a figure-8 and caused the crowds to roar as the men zipped their way around each corner. The finish line was located at the historical Blue Dome building where many of the spectators gathered to catch a glimpse of the action.

This year's Tulsa Tough is held on the same weekend as the TD Bank Philadelphia International Cycling Championships. For the first time in the history of the Jelly Belly team, Directeur Sportif Danny van Haute split the squad to compete in two events.

"Realistically, back in the beginning, I wasn't going to send a team to Philly because I wanted to do something a little different and last year Tulsa was on a different weekend," Van Haute said. "Philly is a great race with great crowds but I wanted to bring a full team to Tulsa because it is a great race too. It is held in a great town and the fans are awesome, 25,000 people with live television and jumbotrons, it's a great race. Our team has to support all the races in America that are good to cycling."

Hotel San Jose-Mellow Johnny's took the reins at the start of the men's 80-minute criterium. Several small attacks caused the speeds of the race to increase but no riders manage to stay off the front for longer than a few laps.

Jelly Belly took control of the race with twenty minutes remaining to likely protect its sprinter Brad Huff. It may have been a little early to start a full lead-out but it served to ward off further attacks during the closing laps of the race.

There was a strong battle between the two top teams Jelly Belly and Hotel San Jose in the last five laps. Jelly Belly proved to have the strongest lead-out bringing its sprinter Brad Huff to the line with a victory.

Miller wins Tulsa opener

Amanda Miller (Tibco) launched a cagey attack with three laps to go and held on for a solo victory at the Blue Dome Criterium, round one of the Tulsa Tough on Friday, June 4. Jennifer Purcell won the bunch sprint for second place ahead of Laura van Gilder (Mellow Mushroom) in third.

"There was a lull in the field after she attacked, there had previously been a lot of attacks so I think everyone thought she would just dangle," Van Gilder said. "I thought there were other teams that were keen to have a field sprint and that their sprinters would finish it off, but that didn't happen. That's the risk you take as a solo rider without a team. You anticipate what the other teams are going to do and hope that they do the work for you but that didn't really happen."

The three-day Tulsa Tough is a valuable member of the National Racing Calendar (NRC) for the women's field. This year the race overlaps with the UCI-registered Liberty Classic held in Philadelphia on Sunday.

"It is great to have the opportunity to race here in Tulsa," said Van Gilder who has over 300 career victories. "I really enjoyed the race last year, it finally came onto my radar. This year, I wasn't certain how my form would be prior to Philly because I began my season later than usual and I don't have a lot of financial support this year so it is important for me to be trying to make as much money as I can so I can race and entire season.

"I love Philly and am very sad not to be a part of that because it has always been a part of my history to start that race but it is what I had to do," she added. "I don't regret my decision because Tulsa is a great race and they do a great job. They offer great courses, there are a lot of spectators and a good prize list so it is important to support a race like that."

The Tulsa Tough weekend includes three fast-paced criteriums that began with the Blue Dome Criterium, a 50-minute race held on a technical figure-8 circuit.

Some 50 riders registered to compete in the opening event and Team Type 1 and Vera Bradley Foundation wound up the fist half with a series of attacks.

Lasasso (Tibco) made the first move that resulted in a brief breakaway with three riders. Tibco continued to race aggressively by sending one rider off the front after another. Amanda Miller (Tibco) was the next to go but was countered by Kori Seehafer (Team Type 1). The two riders were quickly pulled back into the peloton.

Seehafer's teammate, Jacquelyn Crowell initiated the next attack with Purcell, Laura van Gilder (Mellow Mushroom) and the junior phenom Coryn Rivera (Peanut Butter & Co TWENTY12). Jen Reither (Vanderkitten) got off the front and Kenda took responsibility to bring that back.

After an animated event, the field came back together with 10 laps to go and conceded to a field sprint, or so they thought. Miller caught everyone off guard when she launched her winning attack with three laps to go.

"The lead-out started a little bit with Peanut Butter & Co who kept the momentum going but we just came up a little bit too short at the end," Van Gilder said.

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