The Miami Nights secured the overall team title for the inaugural National Cycling League (NCL) Cup racing series of US races on Sunday in Atlanta, Georgia. After second-placed Denver Disruptors, which trailed Miami by 16 points after round two in Denver, gained a few points in the women’s race, the Nights sealed the championship with a powerful last-lap surge by Clever Martinez.
Denver Disruptors finished second and Goldman Sachs ETFS Racing (women)/ Texas Roadhouse Cycling Team (men) were third place, confirming the placings that were set in Denver, Colorado headed to the third and final race.
Using points earned in the women’s races, CCB-Levine Law Group Cycling (women) & Foundation Cycling (men) leaped one spot into fourth place while a re-energised Fount Cycling Guild, which came into Atlanta in next-to-last place with just 10 points, vaulted to fifth place overall.
“Denver were definitely a stronger team legs-wise. So in a way we had to just follow, and follow and follow. At one point we got two in the breakaway to their one, so then it was a matter of not letting any others across. As you see, it went right down to the line and Clever Martinez pulled it off,” said Jonny Clarke, team captain for Miami Nights, after the decisive sprint in the men’s race sealed the team win.
“Denver is so strong. Going man to man, if you mess up once you are done. So today, we didn’t really mess up.”
The Miami Nights set the tone on the final weekend by taking the most points at the Team Qualifier p/b Wahoo Fitness on Saturday and extending their lead. Street sprints of 150 metres were held at Bearing Bike Works in Atlanta to form Saturday’s start grid of teams and hand out early points.
Sunday presented a hot day for hot laps on the Porsche Experience Center in Atlanta, temperatures rising to 91°F and the heat index soaring to triple digits on the tarmac. The seven-turn course on the one-mile handling circuit included three tight turns and four long straightaways with varying curves and undulations, quite different from a traditional city criterium.
In the women’s race on the winding test track, Fount Cycling dominated the laps, scoring 99 points while CCB-Levine Law took 88, as riders from both teams got away in a breakaway for 22 laps. The two squads kept the breakaway fresh with substitutions, which are allowed in the NCL Cup events prior to five laps to go, and scooped up the scores. CCB had a 65 to 62 point advantage over Fount with two laps to go, then Alia Shafi of Fount Cycling out-sprinted Natalie Quinn for the 30 points on the final lap.
The battle between the Miami Nights and the Denver Disruptors in the women’s race saw Denver take 4 more points than their rivals, but since Denver did not produce a score from qualifying, so Miami carried a stronger advantage into the final event with the men.
The men’s contest saw gaps develop among the 10 teams from the start of the 32 laps. A breakaway of seven riders developed, with single riders from Denver Disruptors, Team Mike's Bikes powered by Equator Coffee & Teas, Kelly Benefits and two riders each for Miami Nights and Texas Roadhouse. Denver’s Reinardt Janse van Rensburg attacked for a solo lead with 12 laps to go, with Riley Sheehan continuing the momentum in a substitution, which gave them top points for a trio of laps.
By the time the race headed to the final four laps, a foursome held an advantage to all chasers. While Denver left Van Rensburg out, the Miami Nights had just substituted for fresh legs with Martinez. They matched efforts with Gavin Hlady of Mike’s Bikes and Texas Roadhouse’s Matt Winstead.
Martinez came off Van Rensburg’s back wheel in the dash to the finish line and the Denver rider’s foot came out of the pedal causing him to lose all momentum, and any chance for double-digit points at the line. Martinez was the first rider over the line which iced top points - for the lap, the race and the overall title.
With a 30-point haul on the final lap the Nights finished with the win in the men’s race. The Denver men came away with 57 points while Mikes’ Bikes, which partnered with Monarch Racing as a co-ed combination, was third best at 52 points.
"I mean we're from Miami, this is nothing for us. This is our playground," Martinez said about the extreme heat at the finish.
In addition to a share of the $30,000 prize purse, offered at each of the three series races, the Miami Nights earned $45,000 as the NCL Cup champions. A total of $130,000 was distributed to teams for the NCL Cup Bonus, with fully participating teams earning a share based on final standings, $45,000 for the first-placed team to $5,000 each to teams seventh to 10th places.
The NCL had created a Quadruple Crown at the start of the season to pay out $1million to one team that swept all four of the original race - Miami Beach, Atlanta, Denver and Washington, D.C. That offer came off the table when Washington, D.C. was cancelled and three events remained to close out the first season.
