Hilton Clarke Wins 2012 National Criterium Calendar Title

News & Results

09/23/2012| 0 comments
by Mark Watson
Hilton Clarke is crowned king of this year’s U.S. National Criterium Calendar Series

Hilton Clarke Wins 2012 National Criterium Calendar Title

The UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team closed out the 2012 season as Australian sprinter Hilton Clarke was crowned king of this year’s U.S. National Criterium Calendar (NCC) Series following his 4th place finish at the TD Bank Mayor’s Cup in Boston, Massachusetts.

Team UnitedHealthcare also won the team NCC title.

In a race in which Team SmartStop-Mountain Khakis’ Luke Keough claimed the victory ahead of UnitedHealthcare's Karl Menzies and Shane Kline of Team SmartStop-Mountain Khakis, three members of the Blue Train from UnitedHealthcare finished in the top 5, as Karl Menzies (AUS), Clarke and Jake Keough (USA) took 2nd, 4th and 5th place respectively.

For Clarke and Team UnitedHealthcare, winning the National Criterium Calendar's individual and team titles capped off a successful final two months of the 2012 season in which the team delivered fine results in the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah, the USA Pro Cycling Challenge, the Tour of Portugal, and the Tour of Britain.

The "podium or bust" mantra adopted by the UnitedHealthcare Team in early August led to multiple stage wins, podium results, top five finishes, days in the overall leader jerseys, special classification jerseys, team classification wins and more for the US-based team.

"The TD Bank Mayor’s Cup and the city of Boston provided a great atmosphere for racing. The guys rode an almost perfect race but we had a bit of confusion on the last lap. Nonetheless, this has been a great finish to our season," General Manager and Team UnitedHealthcare director Mike Tamayo explained.

"We’re proud of Hilton (Clarke) winning the overall NCC crown and the team capturing the team title. Karl Menzies did a great job taking 2nd place here along with Hilton in 4th place and Jake Keough in 5th place.  Also, a big congratulations to Jake’s brother Luke Keough and Team Mountain Khakis on getting the win in Boston, which is also the backyard of the Keough brothers."

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