ING Direct Capital Crit: Results and Reports 1-4

The Inaugural ING Direct Capital Criterium rolled out under flawless conditions on Sunday. The day's early amateur events kicked off under temps precipitously close to the embrocation zone, but by mid-day temps were almost as hot as the racing itself.

Immediate Mortgage / Artemis Elite went 1/2 in the 35+ event, with Ramon Benitez and Mark Warno sticking a 2-man break to the finish. Nima Ebrahimnejad (Trail's End Cycling Company) cleaned up the field sprint for 3rd.

Battley Harley-Davidson's fast finisher Todd Hipp outkicked the 1/2/3 field for the win, followed by Jake Lifson (Indiana Regional Medical Center) and SuperDave Obsorne (Immediate Mortgage / Artemis Elite).

The field for the main event was rich with class. Christian Vande Velde, Freddy Rodriguez, Rashaan Bahati, Dominique Rollin, Karl Menzies, Hilton Clarke, Danny Pate, Meatball. And it was long on local heroes too: Russ Langley (Battley Harley-Davidson), Bobby Lea (Rite Aid p/b Shebell & Shebell), Tom Soladay (Time Pro Cycling), Ben King (Kelly Benefits Strategies / Medifast). Hilton Clarke (Toyota United) won the event in the field sprint, ahead of Freddy Rodgriguez (Rock Racing) and Dominique Rollin (Toyota United), though to call the event a field sprint minimizes the day's relentless aggressiveness. Tom Soladay made local folks proud on a 10-lap solo flyer, and attacks by Vande Velde, Bahati, Pate, Rollin and others powered off the front throughought the race. By most accounts though, Soladay's break was the coolest.

Full results from the amateur and pro races are up at CyclingNews.com. So yeah, if you finished you can see your name on CyclingNews (and bite your thumbs at all those pros who won't see their names in GamJams).

Additional Coverage:

Counting up to 20 posts on the ING DIRECT Capital Criterium, we begin:

1. Steven Gordon (Haymarket Bicycles) hitched a ride into the pro field from DLP. He's got an insider's view here.

2. I think Pete had as much fun as a fan as he did as a competitor.

3. The Team Type 1 guys have a blog as well. They've got news of their man Emile Abraham's 5th place finish in the pro event.

4. Jared is paying attention. Tear it up in Vegas, Jared.