Ken was sponsored by Williams in 2008. He won Elite Crit nats on our wheels. Ken now races for the pro team Team Type 1. He pulled off a major win Saturday night in Boise!
Race winner Ken Hanson (Team Type 1) in action during the Boise Twilight Criterium.
It was an electrifying final five laps at the Boise Twilight Criterium as Team Type 1 executed a full team lead-out that delivered Ken Hanson into victory and his teammate Aldo Ino Ilesic to second place after the bunch kick to the line. Sebastian Haedo (Colavita-Sutter Home) placed third.
"The team was great," Hanson said. "It was awesome. It couldn't have been more perfect from a team standpoint."
Team Type 1's lead-out also served to shut down a lengthy breakaway that included Tyler Wren (Colavita-Sutter Home) and Peter Latham (Bissell). The pair were reeled in rounding the final corner to the finish line - just in time for the field sprint to start.
"With five laps to go, the gap was 15 seconds and with one lap to go, it was five seconds," said Vassili Davidenko, Team Type 1 Directeur Sportif . "On the backstretch, with half a lap to go, it was still four seconds. But our guys were going full gas and Aldo and Ken came out of the last corner with a 20-meter gap."
The Boise Twilight Criterium fielded a strong group of sprinters looking to gain points toward the National Racing Calendar (NRC) ranking, a job made more lucrative after an increased prize purse of $18,000. The Downtown Boise Association (DBA) has partnered with the Wells Fargo and George's Cycles, the two companies that started the Wells Fargo Twilight Criterium 21 years ago.
The course consisted of a one-kilometre rectangular loop, with four left-hand turns. The sun set nearing the start of the men's 90-minute race where an estimated 15,000 spectators lined the downtown streets. Michael Creed (Team Type 1) kicked off the race with a solo breakaway. Upon Creed's return, Luis Amaran (Colavita-Sutter Home) countered his way into the second solo effort of the night.
The solo attempts were laid to rest when the duo of Wren and Latham gained a substantial time margin on the peloton mid-race. The pair's hard-fought effort to hold off the field came to an end on the final corner where they were passed by the barreling field sprint.
Brief results
1Ken Hanson (Team Type 1)
2 Aldo Ino Ilesic (Team Type 1)
3 Sebastian Haedo (Colavita-Sutter Home)