Santa Cruz’s Tobin Ortenblad finishes runner-up in Nevada City Bicycling Classic

SC’s Kimberly Sperling places fourth in Pacific Service Credit Union Criterium

Santa Cruz’s Tobin Ortenblad took second in the junior 17-18 age division of the Nevada City Bicycling Classic Criterium on Sunday.

Ortenblad [Ritte Elite U23 Development Team] crossed the finish line in 48 minutes, 13 seconds. Mill Valley’s Skyler Taylor won in 46:40.

Santa Cruz’s Devon Gorry [NOW and Novartis for MS] placed fifth [52:48] in the women’s Cat 1/2/3 race behind winner Katarina Nash of Trukee [52:17].

A day earlier, Ortenblad placed 18th in the Pacific Service Credit Union Criterium men’s Cat Pro/1/2 division, which was won by Rand Miller of San Francisco.

Santa Cruz’s Kimberly Sperling [Red Racing] placed fourth in the PacService women’s Cat Pro/1/2 division. She was the only racer from Santa Cruz County to finish in the top five of any division.  El Cerrito’s Marissa Axell [Touchstone Climbing] won.

Results in this report are from USACycling.com.

– Christina Gullickson, on Twitter @CGullTweets

UC Santa Cruz cyclist Christine Weir goes down at Nationals

Nevada City’s Christine Weir, a UC Santa Cruz team cyclist, crashed during the criterium at the 2012 USA Cycling Collegiate Road Nationals in Ogden, Utah, on Saturday. Then, she got back up, and finished her race, placing 44th.

Crash and all, Weir crossed the finish line in 1 hour, 1 minute, 32 seconds — 2:03 off winner Eileen Mazzochette of Stanford.

Hard weekend at #collnats Christine went down in the crit but still pulled off a top half in the road race all bandaged up!

— UCSC Cycling (@UCSCCycling) May 7, 2012

Earlier in the competition, Weir placed 32nd in the road race [3:03:58], which Heather Fischer of the University of Colorado-Boulder won [2:54:47].

Weir’s teammate Nicholas Newcomb was also representing the Slugs at nationals. The Nalisco native placed 38th in the road race [3:08:57], which was won by Josh Yeaton of the University of Colorado-Boulder [3:04:12].

In the criterium, Newcomb finished 83rd [1:14:39]. Yeaton won, finishing in 1:14:14.

– Christina Gullickson, on Twitter @CGullTweets

Santa Cruz’s Devon Gorry wins at Wente Vineyards Classic Road Race

Santa Cruz resident and NOW and Novartis for MS pro cyclist Devon Gorry won the women’s Cat 1/2 division of the Wente Vineyards Classic Road Race in Livermore on Saturday.

Gorry and teammate Elizabeth Newell of Oakland went 1-2, earning 173.80 and 187.49 points, respectively.

Other Santa Cruz County cyclists who finished in the top 10 included Watsonville’s Chris Cerruti, who placed seventh, and Santa Cruz’s Joe Platin, who placed eighth, in the masters men’s Cat 1/2/3 55-99 age division. Also, Scotts Valley’s Scott Martin placed fourth and Aptos’ Bob Montague placed ninth in the men’s masters 55-99 age division.

Results included in this report were from USACycling.com.

– Christina Gullickson, on Twitter @CGullTweets

Jacques-Maynes brothers on different teams, but right on track at Madera Stage Race

Pro cyclists Ben Jacques-Maynes and Andy Jacques-Maynes — identical twins and UC Santa Cruz alums — finished in fourth and sixth, respectively, in the Cat 1/2/Pro division of the  Madera Stage Race over the weekend, according to official results.

Ben Jacques-Maynes, a Watsonville resident, rides with Bissell Pro Cycling, but Andy Jacques-Maynes, who lives in Corralitos, moved over to Kenda/5 Hour Engery after Bissell declined to re-sign him after last season.

Andy Jacques-Maynes’ top finish came when he was runner-up to Ken Hanson [1:02:2] in the Madera Criterium with the same time.

Ben Jacques-Maynes’ top stage finish at Madera was when he took third in the Sharon Time Trial in 21:07. Overall winner Michael Creed of Optum Pro Cycling took the time trial victory in 20:57 and California Giant/Specialized rider Evan Huffman was second [20:57].

For full results, including those for masters and women, visit the official site via the image link below.

– Christina Gullickson, on Twitter at CGullTweets