U.S. 'cross wrap-up: Mongooses (Mongeese?) tough all weekend
Sunday - Redline Cup-Round 1
It didn’t take long for Todd Wells to dismantle the field at the first round of the Redline Cup in Tacoma, Washington, on Sunday.
The Mongoose rider and 2002 national cyclo-cross champion broke clear of the field on the first lap with Andy Jacques-Maynes (Clif Bar), then dropped Jacques-Maynes a half lap latter and rolled to a 26-second win in the UCI-sanctioned event.
"Todd is way too strong," said Jacques-Maynes, who finished second. "He’s obviously the strongest guy out here. It’s really a race for second. I was feeling great and had a great day yesterday (at the Cannondale/PDX Int'l Cyclo-Cross Classic in Portland, Ore.) but it didn’t matter today."
There was little that seemed to matter to Wells as he rolled to what appeared to be an easy win. Jonny Sundt (K2), the Seattle rider who gave Wells a handful the day before at the Portland event, couldn’t seem to stay atop his bicycle early in the race.
His first crash on lap one was crowd-pleaser, as he clipped the top of a barrier with his foot and, while trying to recover, wrapped his "body into a pretzel" and drilled the ground hard. The second crash resulted in a mechanical. By the time he remedied the situation, he was in last place. He abandoned with three laps to go.
"I thought he (Sundt) would be up there because he was strong yesterday in Portland and these are barriers you can hop," said Wells. "He’s usually one of the guys who are up there when you can hop the barriers."
Wells hopped his way to a lead that swelled to more than 40-seconds at times. Jacques-Maynes was about 20 seconds ahead of a group of four contesting for third place. Ben Jacques-Maynes, twin brother of Andy Jacques-Maynes, was sandwiched between two Clif Bar riders -- David Wyandt and Jackson Stewart -- as well as Kona/Kenwood rider Dale Knapp.
"The Clif Bar guys were just one-twoing us again and again" Ben Jacques-Maynes said. "Dale looked a little tired and was sitting on a little. I knew if I could get over that last barrier/run-up I could beat them to the line."
He did just that, hopping the barriers as he did all day and hanging on for third. Stewart was five bike lengths back in fourth, followed by Knapp and Wyandt, both well off the pace for third.
Of note was the performance of 17-year-old Ryan Iddings from Tacoma. The Rad Racing athlete finished 18th, about four minutes off the winning pace. He was the second-place U-23 rider on the day. The top U-23 rider was Barry Wicks (Kona/Kenwood) who finished 10th.
In the women’s race, Rachel Lloyd (Team Spine) defeated Gina Hall (Clif Bar) on the last lap of the race to win by 11 seconds.
Lloyd, who race on the NORBA downhill circuit last year, won the race on a steep downhill section with about 800 meters to go. The Lloyd/Hall duo formed after two laps. They pulled to a 30-second lead over Christine Vardaros (Sally Spirer), Ann Grande (Kona/Kenwood) and Jossie Beggs (Bolle/Bianchi), who were contesting third place.
Vardaros would eventually win that race followed by Grande less than a second back. Beggs held on for fifth.
Grande, who finished fifth at the 2001 Cyclo-cross World Championships in Zolder, Belgium, made her 2002 race debut. She has been plague with a back injury thus far in the 2002 season.
"I knew this was going to be a reality check," she said. "I wish I was fit. I don’t like to show up to race when I’m not in very good shape, but I needed to do something other than watch. I’m very happy with my performance. I’m not complaining at all." -- Joe Zauner
Saturday -- Wells tops in Portland
U.S. National Champion Todd Wells (Mongoose-Hyundai) and Gina Hall (Clif Bar) stormed to convincing victories at the Cannondale/PDX International Cyclo-Cross Classic in Portland, Oregon on Saturday. The race was a UCI 1.3 affair.
The race was contested on a classic Belgian-style course in the grass fields surrounding the Portland International Raceway track featuring wide-open power sections interspersed with off-camber turns and run-ups. The tough 1.9-mile course required racers to keep the power on for most of the lap, including key features such as 10 180-degree turns, a plateau concrete barrier dubbed the ‘monolith,’ and a tricky ‘tear-drop’ section that dropped down and climbed back up the face of a steep embankment.
In the men’s race it was a battle between Wells, Jonny Sundt (K2), Clif Bar’s Jackson Stewart, Andy Jacques-Maynes and Spokesman Bicycles/Bullion Stil’s Justin Robinson.
In the early laps, the 65-strong field seemed to be fighting a battle of attrition. In the very first corner the combination of congestion and a transition from asphalt to gravel took down several riders, including contender Ben Jacques-Maynes. Then Kona/Kenwood caught a double whammy when Erik Tonkin’s chain snapped and Dale Knapp experienced a lengthy delay from a mechanical that would have him chasing his way into contention all race.
Up front Sundt and Wells were putting on a bunny-hopping clinic, which allowed them to ride every inch of the course, much to the crowd’s delight. During the first lap, a group of five secured a small gap. The group was led by Sundt, followed by Wells, Stewart, Andy Jacques-Maynes and Robinson. The pace was remarkable with sub-7 minute laps putting the average pace at nearly 17 mph.
Over the next laps, Sundt and Wells put in hard pulls at the front, but on the most challenging set of double barriers set on a steep uphill, Wells’s chain jammed during a bunny-hop. That allowed Sundt to ride away as Wells was stationary for 20 seconds and dropped to fifth. But Wells benefited from the ensuing shot of adrenaline to get back to third only 15 seconds back by the end of the lap. From there Wells used the many opportunities to measure Sundt’s lead at the turnarounds, to take a second here and there. A lap later, he was glued to Sundt’s wheel again.
At the ‘tear-drop’ run-up, Wells made the decisive move. He jumped over the top and immediately got five seconds on Sundt. He stayed on the drops and continued to pull away until he was able to throw his arms in the air at the finish. Sundt followed him chased by Stewart, Andy Jacques-Maynes and Robinson.
In the women’s race a strong field of 50 took the whistle for the 40-minute contest. A frenetic start saw Kona/Kenwood’s Jeannette Nussbaum and Team Spine’s Rachel Lloyd put in strong opening laps to establish a gap from the pack. The pair worked smoothly together and looked to be a serious threat to run away and make it a two-women race. But Clif Bar’s Gina Hall, a member of the 2002 U.S. Cyclocross Worlds team, had a different idea. On the third lap, Hall made contact with the leaders to form the group that would ultimately decide the race’s outcome. Christine Vardaros (SallySpicer.com) was pushing hard in fourth to make contact, followed by Josie Beggs (Bolla/Bianchi) and Kimberly Vandersyde (Bicycle Warehouse).
The battle for the ‘Cross Crusade series was being waged by local riders Rhonda Mazza (Team S&M/Vanilla) in seventh, Suzanne King (Sunnyside Sports), an ever-improving Marjon Marik (River City Bicycles) and Alice Pennington (Trek/VW/Bike Gallery) who rounded out the top 10.
As the lap board counted down from three to two to one and it was clear that it would be a three-woman showdown on the bell lap. Vardaros continued to stalk the leaders that kept the pressure on the front, closing to within 12 seconds at one point on the last lap. The ‘Nussbaum-Lloyd-Hall Express’ stayed nose-to-tail on the wide-open sections of the course, waiting for the decisive pair of run-ups and the final barriers. Nussbaum took the first shot on the first run-up, accelerating into the lead. However, Lloyd and Hall never allowed a gap to open. Into the ‘tear-drop’ run-up, Nussbaum and Lloyd were continuing to be aggressive while Hall tucked in behind. Lloyd ducked inside but ran wide into Nussbaum on the steep section.
Meanwhile, Hall had saved herself for the final act of the play. She went immediately to the front, which gave her the advantage around lapped riders. Into a tight 180-degree corner, Lloyd came back on Hall but it was short lived as Hall accelerated through the last double barrier and big-ringed it all the way toward the line. Lloyd and Nussbaum continued to charge too and in what looked to be a road field sprint, Hall came out on top a half-bike in front of Lloyd with Nussbaum another half-length back.
After the race, Hall explained her strategy: “I just tried to sit on as much as possible and get a good rest. I knew they would go for it on the last run-up and might tangle. It paid off and I attacked to take the lead and just kept suffering right through to the line. I’m shooting for the Worlds team again, so these points are valuable.”
Now in its 10th season, the River City Bicycles ‘Cross Crusade Series is an Oregon-based grassroots effort that has grown into one of the largest cyclocross series in North America. The 2002 ‘Cross Crusade has more than $20,000 in prize money up for grabs during the eight races, including two UCI sanctioned events.
Saturday -- Gully tops at Wooden Wheels
Wells’s Mongoose teammate Marc Gullickson winning the Wooden Wheels Cyclo-cross in Granogue Delaware. Gullickson outlasted Saturn’s Tim Johnson, who finished just three seconds back. Third place went to Jonathan Page (Richard Sachs). Adam Craig (Giant) and Jeremiah Bishop (Trek-VW) rounded out the top five.
Sunday -- Johnson takes Monkey Hill
A day later Johnson got his revenge, taking the win at Monkey Hill in Delaware, finishing 17 seconds ahead of Page, with Gullickson in third, at 2:12. Bishop was fourth, with Craig fifth.
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