Darek Leyde Memorial Downtown State Criterium

Utah's fastest racers gathered Saturday for 90 minutes of hard four corner racing around Pioneer Park in downtown Salt Lake City. The course is dead flat, four corners, four straight-aways around a tree lined city park. Races for all USA Cycling categories and a young riders field made it a full day of racing in the spring sun.

 The men's race lined up with deep field. FFKR Architects, Ski Utah/Marketstar, and Canyon Bicycles were well represented. Bissell Professional Cycling's Chase Pinkham put in a early attack to set the tempo of the race. Pinkham was allowed to dangle for a pair of laps, before the field reeled him back.  Pinkham would be an animator throughout the race. A few breaks went free but were shut down quickly by the peloton. At 35 minutes into the 90 minute race Mike Booth (Ski Utah/Marketstar) decided to try his hand. Booth went solo for a lap before a determined Pinkham bridged across to join Booth. The pair enjoyed a lap of freedom, when Mike Wilcox (FFKR) came across with Eric Pardyak (Canyons). Contender Bicycle's Ryan Littlefield was the final addition to the break and in the words of Booth “We were rolling”.

 The break held a small gap for a number of laps, as the field worked to organize a chase. With team members in the break, FFKR, Canyons, and Contender, the strongest teams represented were not going to chase and it fell to other smaller teams to do the work. Meanwhile the gap grew. The breakaway caught the tail of the field after an hour and ten minutes of racing.

 The race leaders threaded their way back through the pack to regrouped near the front. Pinkham and Wilcox had position as the field took the bell for one to go. Pinkham launched a move going up the front straight. Booth got a leadout from teammate Ryan “Turbo” Barrett to recapture Pinkham. A crash separated the field in turn one. The pair went free in corner three in front of yet another crash. Booth took an outside line around Pinkham in turn four to lead out for the line, which was half way down the front straight. With a strong sprint, Booth held on for the win over Pinkham in second. Booth had been targeting this race since becoming a part of the Utah peloton in 2005. His previous best at Pioneer Park was a second place in 2009.

The Women's Pro /1/2/3:

The Men Pro/1/2: