Hammer takes women's race at North End Classic

World Track Cycle champion Sarah Hammer was the marquee name in Saturday's North End Classic Criterium bike race.
 
And although Hammer won, an interesting thing happened halfway through the Women's Pro I race. When Hammer made her push on the twisting course through Yuma's old town, Sabrina Savage stayed with her.
 
During the 50-minute race, the two stretched an insurmountable two-minute lead on the other six female professional racers but the two were inseparable until the final turn.
 
Hammer realized Savage was good when she looked back and said, "I just couldn't shake her," Hammer didn't know who Savage was before the race, but she does now.
 
And why would she, since Savage has only been racing for one year? Last year she competed in the North End Classic and won her category, but that was category four.

Event coordinator Doug Flynn tried to put Savage's success into context.   "It usually takes four or five years to move up (like that), that's pretty amazing."
 
Savage, who usually competes at category two, said when she saw Hammer decide to make her move she knew that was the wheel to follow.
 
And follow it Savage did. She was able to stay with the favorite right up to the final turn from Maple Street and up the hill to the finish line on 1st Street.
 
This wasn't Hammer's first win in Yuma, but don't blame anybody for not knowing. Even Flynn wasn't aware. For the 26-year-old who has built her reputation on track cycling, Hammer last raced in Yuma and won her age bracket at the age of 13.
 
Savage, at 25 years old, said she moved up the ranks in the past year because of constantly competing every weekend and the coaching of Brian Forbes.
 
But Forbes isn't just coaching, he also won the Men Pro I, and he did it on the last lap.
 
Flynn called the men's pro race "extraordinary" and then narrated the tactics behind the exciting finish.
 
"You had some strategy, you had a break away group from the pack and one guy going off on his own," Flynn started.
 
As a member of the lead pack, Forbes picked up eight bonus points by winning pre-determined sprint laps during the 60 minute race. But with five laps left Eugene Boronow had already broken away from the pack to win the race on his own. Unlike many of the racers, Boronow was there without any teammates to help him and decided to win it from the front.
 
"The lead group was not committed to doing all the work to chase. They couldn't organize to bring this guy in, (so) they just left him dangling out there enough so they couldn't catch him," Flynn said.
 
Forbes, along with Sean Mazich and others who could have used the advantage of riding in a group to catch Boronow sooner, almost waited too long for fear of doing too much work and giving someone else an advantage. With three laps to go, Boronow had an 8-second lead and looked to win.
 
"The last lap it looks like this guy is going to win and Forbes takes off. An extraordinary effort by Forbes," Flynn said.
 
Boronow still had a lead on the bell lap, but Forbes had jumped ahead of the pack and was chasing the leader down. According to Forbes, he caught Boronow after the first turn when the leader's energy died at the top of the First Street hill. When the crowd next saw the two, Forbes crossed the finish line in first and Boronow second.
 
"The guy who won it took advantage of that situation," Flynn concluded.
 
As for Boronow, he said Forbes used perfect tactics to his advantage and pounced at the right time. Forbes said he had to go when he did because he knew Mazich could beat him in a sprint to the finish.
 
Most racers enjoyed the criterium for its hilly and technical turns through Yuma's streets.
 
Sunday's road race is the opposite, it starts and finishes in Wellton, but travels 28 miles along county roads. The pro men and women start at 7:15 a.m. and bike 112 and 84 miles, respectively, with all categories traveling the appropriate number of miles until the juniors start at 10:20 a.m. for one lap.