Instant Classic

Fantastic finish to Beaufort Memorial Cycling Classic

One went right, the other slung left.

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Fifty meters and many hurried pedals later, it was the latter decision by Hilton Clarke that made all the difference -- one-hundreth-of-a-second difference, to be exact.

With none of his Toyota United teammates in sight, Clarke depended on his legs and instinct Tuesday to take the inside position and capture the second annual Beaufort Memorial Cycling Classic in 1 hour, 32 minutes, 54.9 seconds. A blink of an eye later, Colavita/Sutter Home's Kyle Wamsley zoomed forward to take second with a time of 1:32:55.0 in the men's 80-lap event.

"I was on about the fifth wheel on that last corner (entering Bay Street)," Clarke said. "I just picked it up and went to the left and made my move to get up to the front."

A similar, last-moment surge decided the women's 50-lap race, as Tina Pic of Colovita/Sutter Home's broke loose in the final 200 meters to win with a time of 1:11:41.6, just ahead of Cheerwine Cycling's Laura Van Gilder (1:11:42.2).

The narrow lanes and sharp turns of the 0.6-mile downtown course made for four spills among riders, but plenty of excitement among fans who lined Bay, Scott, Craven and Newcastle streets to catch a gust of criterium racing.

Within the first five laps, the men's field had been whittled down to a breakaway group of seven riders pedaling 25 seconds ahead of the pack.

But that eventually changed by the race's final 20 laps, as the peloton somehow caught up and created a congestion of 31 riders trailing the pace car.

"I thought we were going pretty fast," said Wamsley, who was in that initial leading group. "So I was a little shocked when they caught up with us and that made me float around some until the end."

With five laps to go, Wamsley broke to the front with another teammate shadowing him, while Clarke and Keven Lacombe of Kelly Benefit Strategies/Medifast Pro Cycling loomed nearby.

On the final turn, Wamsley swerved right to the outside while Clarke zoomed left toward the treacherous inside -- a risky move since the Australian had no teammates around to offer help.

Yet as the sideline cheers rose to a crescendo, Clarke used his ultimately favorable position to duck just ahead for victory.

"Being by myself allowed me to see what I was going up against," Clarke said. "So I kept telling myself 'Be calm, be calm,' and I just zoned everything out and gave everything on that last stretch."

Despite the loss, Wamsley remains first overall in the USA Crits Speed Week standings with two legs down and five more to go.

Pic sits atop the women's standings after Tuesday's stellar performance, in which she joined Van Gilder and Aaron Women's Pro Cycling's Rebecca Larson to maintain a sizable lead for most of the race.

What began as a seven-second lead with 25 laps had more than doubled just five laps later. Still, Larson kept peeking over her shoulder as the race neared its final stages.

"It can be pretty frustrating when you break out so early like we did and then get caught," said Larson, who won Saturday's Athens (Ga.) Twilight. "So I wanted to make sure we didn't get caught in the end."

And while the gap did shorten to 12 seconds by the 48th lap, it was clear that either Larson, Van Gilder or Pic would take first.

Larson made the first move on Newcastle street, about 400 meters outside the finish line, but the early surge caused her to lose steam too soon, allowing Pic to pedal from third to first.

"Around the last corner, I sat back in third place so I could go when I wanted to," Pic said. "Rebecca launched, but I wasn't sure I should work it until I saw her fall back some and I was able to get into first."

Pic and Wamsley will look to further their leads today when the series continues in Walterboro.