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Home » Top Stories » Cyclocross » Carousel Volkswagen Jingle Cross Rock

Troy Wells, Devon Haskell win Jingle Cross opener

By Marc Hollander
Published: Nov. 29, 2008
2008 Jingle Cross, Day 1: Josie Jacques-Maynes
2008 Jingle Cross, Day 1: Josie Jacques-Maynes
Photo: Steve Fry

Troy Wells (Clif Bar) and Todd Wells (GT) kicked off the 2008 UCI Carousel Volkswagen Jingle Cross
Rock in Iowa City, Iowa, in fine style. The brothers finished 1-2 in the first day of racing, with Andy Jacques-Maynes (California Giant Strawberries) finishing third.

In the women's event, Devon Haskell, Lisa Strong, and Josie Jacques-Maynes fought for position in a very tight event. In the final laps, Haskell pulled away from the other two, with Strong placing second and Jacques-Maynes claiming third.

2008 Jingle Cross, Day 1: The men's podium.
2008 Jingle Cross, Day 1: The men's podium.
Photo: Steve Fry

Brothers in arms

Todd Wells hit the holeshot. Brother Tro was close on his wheel when a pile-up early in the race displaced a number of followers on a slippery off-camber uphill, shortly after the first climb. The first run-up on Mt. Krumpit saw the Wells brothers followed by Mark Lalonde (Planet Bike), Jacques-Maynes and Brian Matter (Team Geargrinder) chasing hard up the grueling run-up.

The brothers widened their gap quickly and had built a 20-second lead by the third lap. Brian Eppen (ICCC-Specialized), Steve Tilford (Trek-HBBC Masters), Brian Jensen (Successful Living) and Nate Rice (Big-Shark) followed in a second chase group, but made up no ground on the leaders or the first set of chasers.

In the end, Troy outdueled brother Todd over the logs leading into the finish to claim the win. Jacques-Maynes scored the final place on the podium.

The Jingle Cross is celebrating its fifth year of growth. Rock 2 is set for Sunday, and snow was starting to fall Saturday evening.

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