Amaran, Cheatley officially wrap up overall USA Cycling National Racing Calendar titles following Chris Thater; Fly V Australia and Colavita-Baci-Cooking Light take team honors

Binghampton, N.Y. — The 27th Annual Chris Thater Memorial criterium marked the final 2010 event of the USA Cycling National Racing Calendar (NRC). With both overall individual titles nearly in the bag, the focus in downtown Binghampton over the weekend turned to the NRC team titles.

The absence of overall NRC leader Luis Amaran (CUB/Jamis Sutter Home-Colavita) helped open the door for the Fly V Australia duo of Jonathan Cantwell (AUS) and Bernard Sulzberger (St. Paul, Minn.) to finish one-two in the 80.5-kilometer criterium and solidify the overall NRC team title for Aussie squad. Hilton Clarke (AUS) finished third for his UnitedHealthcare p/b Maxxis squad on the 1.2-mile, six corner course.

Despite his absence at the NRC finale, Amaran officially solified the men's individual overall title as expected after holding a commanding lead heading into the final. Amaran took control of the NRC in the early-going and never looked back, locking up the title by nearly 300 points. With his Chris Thater victory, Cantwell jumped from fourth in the individual standings, leapfrogging Rory Sutherland (AUS/UnitedHealthcare p-b Maxxis) and David Veilleux (CAN/Kelly Benefit Strategies), into second.

After holding only a 63-point advantage heading into Chris Thater, Fly V Australia's strong showing in the finale pushed the squad to a comfortable 200+ point victory over UnitedHealthcare p/b Maxxis who edged the Jamis Sutter Home-Colavita squads for second place.

With an NRC team title on her mind, Cath Cheatley (NZL/ Colavita/Baci p-b Cooking Light) did not opt out of Saturday's finale at Chris Thater, despite a more than 200 point lead in the individual standings. Although she was denied the Chris Thater win as phenom Samantha Schneider (West Allis, Wis./TIBCO) outsprinted her from a lead break, Cheatley finished second and accomplished her goal of helping her squad earn the overall 2010 NRC team title.

Cheatley took over the NRC lead from 2009 champion Allison Powers (Pinecliffe, Colo./Team Vera Bradley Foundation) after a solid performance at the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic mid-way through the season and held a steady pace thereafter. Powers finished the 2010 NRC season second overall, ahead of stage race specialist Mara Abbott (Boulder, Colo./Peanut Butter & Co. Twenty12) in third.

As on the men's side, Cheatley's Colavita/Baci p-b Cooking Light squad used a strong final-race performance to secure the overall NRC title ahead of TIBCO to the Top and the Team Vera Bradley Foundation.

View complete results from the Chris Thater Memorial

Final 2010 USA Cycling National Racing Calendar standings: