Maria Santiago has the 2014 Iron Horse Bicycle Classic women’s omnium title locked in her sights.
She followed up Saturday’s third-place finish in the road race by winning the women’s open criterium Sunday in downtown Durango.
“It’s really nice, because it’s my hometown race, so I have my local friends and family here,” Santiago said. “It’s nice to be able to give the win to them.”
Shelly Nelson of Denver finished second, while Ivie Crawford, who also races for Fort Lewis College, came in third.
The race started with the men’s category 3-4-5 criterium, and it took a few laps for the fields to start to separate.
Once the road opened up a little, Crawford, Nelson and Santiago worked together to pull away from the rest of the field.
“I believe that it was pretty much how I envisioned it minus the crash at the last corner; that was unfortunate,” Santiago said. “That made it less of a competition and more of a survival.”
Crawford slightly clipped Santiago’s hip on the final turn and hit the turf.
The fall damaged the drive train of her bike, and she had to run it across the finish. She was in second at the time, but Nelson cruised by her at the line to finish runner-up.
“I watched Maria take a slightly wider line every other lap, so I’m thinking I’m going to risk it and go for the center. She just took the center line that time,” Crawford said. “That’s crit racing. It’s what happens.”
Crawford’s arm was in a sling after the race, but she said it wouldn’t ruin her weekend plans or keep her out of upcoming races. She won’t compete in Monday’s individual time trial, however, which is where all of Santiago’s focus is now.
“In the women’s B omnium, I swept the first road race, crit and time trial last year, so I’m hoping to match or beat that,” Santiago said.
The individual time trial will start at 8 a.m. Monday on County Road 250 north of 32nd Street in Durango.
kgrabowski@durangoherald.com
