THIS WEEK IN PRO CYCLING
'Cross Examination: Bessette, Johnson sweep Downeast; Chicago, Cow Town kick off; Syracuse GP to Timmerman
Lyne Bessette (Cyclocrossworld.com) and Tim Johnson (Cannondale-cyclocrossworld.com) doubled up in Maine on Sunday, winning day two of the Downeast Cyclocross in New Gloucester, Maine, the second round of the Verge New England Championship Cyclo-cross Series.
Bessette was well warmed and ready to go for the women's race, having competed in the men's B race just beforehand. After the start and the first tour in the woods, she and Katerina Nash (Luna) reprised Saturday’s battle at the front, leaving the rest of the riders to chase. Unlike Saturday, however, Bessette could not get rid of Nash, and the two battled back and forth throughout the race.
Bessette dared Nash to take the front and dictate the pace. The tactic almost backfired, as Nash took a last-minute gap on the final lap in the woods. But Bessette closed quickly in the pit area and topped the mountain biker in the sprint finish, taking took her second win on the weekend.
Mackenzie Dickey took the sprint for third from Maureen Bruno Roy (Independent Fabrications).
"I learned every lap where I had to be faster," said Bessette. "I had to be first into the last corner in order to win the sprint. Katerina was fast on the technical downhill, but I stayed with her and got ahead to lead out the sprint, it worked out great."
In the men’s race, Johnson set the pace early, ripping the front of the field apart on lap two, leaving a group of three at the front: Johnson, Mark McCormack (Clif Bar), and Jeremy Powers (Jelly Belly). But as the laps wore on, Johnson just rolled away from the group, using his downhill skills to drop first Powers, then McCormack to finish alone once again.
"I noticed I was going faster than Mark on the long descent so that’s where I figured I could get away. Going into two-to-go I dropped the hammer going into the technical downhill," said Johnson.
The U-23 race was a wild affair. Series leader Jesse Anthony (Clif Bar) had a bad start, giving Jamey Driscoll (Fiordifrutta) , fifth overall, in position to take the overall lead.
But Driscoll suffered a series of flats in mid-race, allowing the Northwestern duo of Dan Neyens (Hagens-Berman LLP Cycling) and Morgan Schmitt (Hagens Berman LLP Cycling) to assume control of the race.
Meanwhile, a resurgent Anthony rebounded and blew by Driscoll, Toby Marzot (CL Noonan-Coast to Coast), and Will Dugan (BCA-Tosk) to grab the final podium spot and retain his overall lead by a hair over Schmitt.
The Verge New England Championship Cyclocross Series resumes in three weeks with the eighth annual Chainbiter at the Winding Trails Recreational Area in Farmington, Connecticut.
Downeast Cyclocross No. 2
New Gloucester, ME
Elite men
1. Tim Johnson (Cannondale-cyclocrossworld.com)
2. Mark McCormack (Clif Bar)
3. Jeremy Powers (Jelly Belly)
4. Matt White (FiordiFrutta)
5. Christopher Jones (Target Training)
Elite women
1. Lyne Bessette (Cyclocrossworld.com)
2. Katerina Nash (Team Luna)
3. Mackenzie Dickey (unattached)
4. Mo Bruno Roy (Independent Fabrication)
5. Christine Vardaros (Lotto-Bodisol)
Sachs, Klug take Chicago opener
David Sachs (Vision Quest) and Holly Klug (Killjoy) won the season-opener of the Chicago Cyclo-cross Racing Series on Sunday in Carpentersville, Illinois.
The race attracted 126 finishers, up 19 riders from 2005. Among the competitors was Robbie Ventura, formerly from the U.S. Postal Service team, who won the masters-35 competition.
Partly cloudy skies and temps in the mid-40s greeted competitors at the Carpenter Park course, which was flat and non-technical, with a small hill run-up and a creek crossing; a perfect venue for the beginner to advanced racer.
In the last few weeks, the series added two additional sponsors. Local bike shop Yojimbo’s Garage of Chicago donated three 2007 Fuji cyclo-cross framesets for raffle prizes. Each racer will be given one entry into the raffle for every race entered. Racers have multiple opportunities to win the framesets.
Alpha Q has signed on as series sponsor for the men’s Category 3 and women’s Category 1-3 races. Winners of the overall series in these categories will be awarded an Alpha Q CX20 cyclo-cross fork.
For more, see www.chicrosscup.com.
Chicago Cyclocross Cup Racing Series No. 1
Carpenter Park, Carpentersville, Illinois
Men’s Pro 1-2
1. David Sachs, Vision Quest
2. Gannon Myall, Cal Giant-Specialized
3. Scott McLaughlin, SRAM
4. Chris Strout, Pony Shop
5. Brian Conant, Training Bible
Women’s Cat 1-3
1. Holly Klug, Killjoy
2. Corie Berrigan, ABD
3. Christine Raymo. SRAM
4. Kris Over, Kenda
5. Emily McDonald, xXx Racing AthletiCo
Smith, Hinton claim Cow Town kickoff
Trek-VW-Midwest's Shadd Smith was in fine form as he took round one of the Cow Town Cyclo-cross Series over a hard-charging Mark Studnicki (Cow Town) and Adam Mills.
Columbia Bike Club’s Pamela Hinton scored the women’s title over Free State Racing’s Michelle Jensen and University of Florida’s Elisabeth Heal.
The Chris Cross event was held at Clinton Lake State Park and featured a very technical course with two natural dismounts, one set of boards, several gravel road sections, and "Tige’s Tantrums."
In the men’s 1-3 class; it was Smith leading the first lap with Studnicki, teammate Tige Lamb and David White following.
"I always try to go 100 percent from the start and distance myself from the field. With this course it is very important to get out front early because of all the technical sections," said Smith.
Lamb went down on lap three, allowing his teammate to open a gap. The duo of Adam Mills and Troy Krause slowly closed in on Lamb as he was suffering from his earlier crash. Up front it was Smith opening up a comfortable gap over Studnicki as the pair distanced themselves from the rest of the field.
In the closing laps, Studnicki, who has had an impressive start to his 2006 cross season with six podium finishes in a row, settled into second, but things heated up for the final podium spots. On the final lap it was Lamb, Mills and Krause trading positions as they worked their way to the finish. Lamb positioned himself well coming around the final corner, but couldn’t get around the Trek-VW rider.
Cow Town Cyclo-cross Series No. 1Men's Cat 1-3
1. Shadd Smith
2. Mark Studnicki
3. Adam Mills
4. Tige Lamb
5. Troy Krause
Women's Cat 1-3
1. Pamela Hinton
2. Michelle Jensen
3. Elisabeth Heal
4. Glenda Taylor
5. Teri Stewart
Timmerman Takes Syracuse Grand Prix
Dan Timmerman (Fiordifruitta) scored his second victory in as many races in race two of the Louis Garneau Central New York Cyclocross Series in Syracuse’s Longbranch Park.
Timmerman, just off his victory at race one of the series, as well as two top-10 places in two weekends at big UCI 'cross races, took control of the race early on.
The 2006 edition of the Syracuse Grand Prix started in decent weather, with temperatures in the 50s). Timmerman, Pierre Roussel, and Ted King (Priority Health) took an early lead after a small slip caused Paul Komanecky (Preferred Care) and Matt Dickinson (Placid Planet) to become chasers.
Roussel, unable to keep pace with the flying Timmerman and King, dropped back to no-man's land and would stay there for the remainder of the race, to end up in third place. Ahead, Timmerman punched the gas with a couple laps to go in order to rid himself the persistent King to come in for a convincing solo victory.
Behind, Komanecky and Dickinson rode together for almost the entire race with Komanecky conceding fourth place to Dickinson. Komanecky showed some grit, taking fifth in his first official cyclo-cross race, in a field stacked with solid competitors.
The series continues next week with the Wildcat 'Crossing Fall Festival & Cyclo-cross Races in Camillus. For more information, see http://www.wildcatcrossing.com
Louis Garneau Central New York Cyclo-cross Series No. 2
Syracuse Grand Prix Cyclocross
Open Men
1. Dan Timmerman (Fiordifruitta)
2. Ted King (Priority Health)
3. Pierre Roussel
4. Matt Dickinson (Placid Planet)
5. Paul Komanecky (Preferred Care)
Winfield, Galegher win Iron Cross Lite
Deidre Winfield (Velo Bella-Kona) and Sean Galegher (Hunt Valley Bicycles-Marathon Roofing) won the Volkswagen Iron Cross Lite on Saturday at the YMCA’s Camp Thompson in central Pennsylvania’s Michaux State Forest.
Cool, dry weather made the course fast for round four of the BikeReg.com MABRAcross Series. Despite the complete lack of pavement, and a dizzying section called the "death spiral," the races had the look of criteriums, with sizable groups of riders contesting the front of most races.
In the women’s race, Winfield kept her unbeaten streak alive with another dominant performance. By the standards she has set this year, it was a relatively close race – her margin of victory over runner-up Mandy Lozano (Cheerwine) was "only" 1:31. By comparison, big packs and big attacks were the order of the day in the elite men’s race. Galegher and Trek-VW’s Kyle Hammaker were the most aggressive, and that aggression paid off — though it was almost universally agreed that the course was not conducive to solo breaks, nobody told Galegher, who shot away alone in the final quarter of the race and held on to win.
Asked afterward why he took the chance, Galegher said, "I prefer to ride that way, I have cleaner lines." Then he smiled and added, "I figure if I’m going to be in front, I want to be way in front instead of dragging everyone around."
Volkswagen Iron Cross Lite
Conshohocken, PA
Elite men
1. Sean Galegher, Hunt Valley Bikes-Marathon Roofing
2. Kyle Hammaker, Trek-VW
3. Weston Schempt, Fort Frames
Elite women
1. Deidre Winfield, Velo Bella-Kona
2. Mandy Lozano, Cheerwine
3. Melanie Swartz, Velo Bella-Kona
Santurbane, Winfield prevail at Iron Cross
Utah’s Mark Santurbane (ICE Rocky Mountain Surgery Center) and Diedre Winfield (Velo Bella-Kona) won Sunday’s Volkwagen Iron Cross IV on Sunday.
For Winfield, who on Saturday took the Iron Cross Lite, it was her third win in the 100km race.
Modeled after the legendary Three Peaks race in England, the 100km race starts and finishes at the Carlisle YMCA’s Camp Thompson.
The race attracted 167 riders from throughout the world.
Nebraska series kicks off this weekend
The 2006 Nebraska Cyclo-cross Series begins October 21-22 with the Omaha Cyclo-cross Weekend at Swanson Park in Bellevue, Nebraska.
A cash prize list of $495 will be offered each day, along with merchandise. The Omaha Velo Club, The Bike Way, Scheels, River City Hockey and Cycling, the Trek Store of Omaha, Highgear Bicycle Store of Omaha, and California Taco will bring cyclo-cross racing back to Omaha for the second consecutive year.
The 2006 Nebraska Cyclo-cross Series concludes November 18-19 at Pioneers Park in Lincoln. The Lincoln weekend is part of the 2006 Maxxis Mid-America Cross Cup. The November 19 races will serve as the Nebraska Cyclo-cross State Championship.
For more information about the series, go to www.nebraskacyclingnews.com.
Got 'cross? Teams, technology, or race information/results? Send it to crossexam@insideinc.com. Please include the appropriate credits for writers and/or photographers, and attach your contact information in case we have questions.
Photo Gallery
