McCarthy victorious at Copper Criterium

COPPER MOUNTAIN - Sunday's Pro 1 and 2 Men's race at the Copper Criterium came down to a five-person game of cat and mouse that Vitamin Cottage's Christian McCarthy ultimately won in narrow fashion.

McCarthy, who finished breaths ahead of Scott Moninger, Keith Harper, Colby Pearce and Dirk Friel (in that order) put himself in elite company early on in the race.

"Our group pulled away about 20 minutes in and we just rolled it," McCarthy said following his victory at the first Copper Criterium in nearly 15 years. "It became a chess match with about 15 minutes to go."

Moninger, who holds the record for the most wins of any active pro rider in North America (275), knows sprinting isn't his specialty, so he attempted to power ahead before things came down to the wire.

"I tried a number of times the last 10-15 minutes to get clear on my own or with one other guy," said Moninger, who has been a pro for 17 years. "I just didn't really have any assistance - everyone seemed content to make it come down to a sprint."

Moninger, who races for BMC, offered his perspective on the important role McCarthy's teammate, Friel, played in the tactical battle.

"When you have two guys like that, you can save one," Moninger said. "Christian is known for sprinting, so he wasn't doing quite as much work (earlier on) whereas Dirk was. He was kind of welding things back together and keeping (McCarthy) fresh for the finish."

Harper rounded out Sunday's pro men's podium one day after winning the popular Men's 35+ category at the Dillon Criterium.

The Boulder rider said he opted for the tougher field on Sunday because the race took place on a more challenging course.

"The uphill and the (cobblestone-like) pavers made it a little harder," said Harper, who started racing at Copper as a child. "It was also longer than Dillon's."

Copper's course, which was about 1.5K, culminated in Ten Mile circle.

Beth Fisk was the Senior Open Women's champion followed by Terrie Clouse and Jenner Yaeso. Alisabeth Thurston-Hicks was the Women's 35+ winner (local Sue Stokes was third) and Jon Hiedemann won the men's 35+ category.

Mid-day rains didn't prevent Sunday's full docket of 10 races, although the Men's Pro Race was shortened from 75 to 60 minutes due to general delays.

In all, nearly 350 racers took part in the event, which was promoted by the Copper/High Country Racing Team.



Adam Boffey can be contacted at aboffey@summitdaily.com.