by Elisabeth Reinkordt

IOWA CITY, IOWA – The wind picked up on Sunday, but temperatures rose into the 50s – there would be no snow from Santa at this year’s Jingle Cross.

Elite Women

Defending British national champion Helen Wyman (Kona) took the first spot at the line once again on Sunday, and next to her were French riders Caroline Mani (Raleigh Clement) and Julie Krasniak (Rapha-Focus). Krasniak, who crashed out on the first lap of Saturday’s race and visited the emergency room with an injured knee, looked fresh and ready despite the bandage. At the whistle, it was Wyman who jumped to the front of the race for the holeshot, and though she was briefly overtaken by Jade Wilcoxson (Team Optum), she quickly commandeered the front end of the race.

Wilcoxson and Mani held second and third position as Wyman rode away, but they were soon joined by Krasniak. Krasniak was not content to stay with this group, and she wasted no time making her attack and chasing after Wyman. Two technical features separated the ranks on Sunday’s course – one muddy off-camber berm with a U-shaped dip down the hill and a much steeper climb up Mt. Krumpet. As Krasniak and Wyman increased their leads, Wilcoxson was joined by teammates Amanda Miller and Carmen Small (Team Optum). Mani was overtaken by the three Optum riders, as some rode and some ran up the steep hill. She stayed in the mix as the teammates shifted position, with Wilcoxson fading and Miller moving to the front of the group. Miller jumped ahead of the group, but was followed closely by Mani, Small, and Wilcoxson.

On her last climb up Mt. Krumpet, Wyman was greeted by a full-crowd rendition of “God Save the Queen,” followed by chants of “USA, USA,” for French rider Krasniak and local heroine Amanda Miller.

Reflecting on the weekend of racing after her third win in as many days, Wyman thanked race director John Meehan for “a great race on a great course with great spectators.” Laughing, she added that it was “totally amazing to come up that hill to the whole crowd singing.” With her two biggest goals – Koppenberg and the European championships – done, she’s headed back to Europe for the second half of her season before coming back to Louisville in February.

Men’s Elite

The three bright green Cannondale jerseys commanding the front row of the men’s race on Sunday included Friday’s winner Jamey Driscoll, Saturday’s winner Tim Johnson, and Saturday’s second place finisher Ryan Trebon. Would Trebon claim the top step on Day Three, or would someone be able to break their team’s dominance of the front pack?

Off the start, it was a surprise holeshot by Bryan Fawley (Dallas Bike Works) and Matt Shriver (Trek Cyclocross Collective) that wowed the crowd. Fawley and Shriver commanded the front of the pack through the Yule Log Jam and off-camber mud, up over the flyover and to the base of Mt. Krumpet before being jumped by Johnson, Trebon, Driscoll, and Chris Jones (Rapha-Focus). Also in the mix were Ben Berden (Raleigh Clement) and Brian Matter (Geargrinder).

While Fawley and Shriver dropped off the pace, the remainder of this rather large group stayed together, with small attacks proving unfruitful in changing the dynamics of the race. The third, fourth and fifth laps saw Johnson, Jones and Trebon all taking the lead spot descending Mt. Krumpet. As the animated crowd on the hill awaited the leaders on the next lap, Driscoll led the charge, with Johnson, Berden and Jones right behind him. But Trebon was nowhere to be seen, having decided to drop out of the race at the start/finish. Observers noted terse body language between Trebon and teammate Johnson, but no official word on a reason for dropping out.

With just three laps remaining, Johnson finally made an attack that stuck, exploding off the front of the group and leaving teammate Driscoll in second. Berden was not far behind him, and he was being chased steadily by Jones. With one to go, it looked like Jones might be able to catch Berden and claim the third step on the podium, but the Belgian rider held him off, adding another third place finish to his Jingle Cross weekend.

Elite Women’s Results:

Pos	Name	Team	Nat	Time
1	WYMAN Helen	Kona	GBR	43:24
2	KRASNIAK Julie	Raffa Focus	FRA	43:59
3	MILLER Amanda	Team Optum p/b Kelly Benefit St	USA	44:07
4	MCNELLIS SMALL Carmen	Team Optum p/b Kelly Benefit St	USA	44:13
5	MANI Caroline	Raleigh Clement	FRA	44:22
6	WILCOXSON Jade	Team Optum p/b Kelly Benefit St	USA	44:40
7	McFADDEN Courtenay	Cliff Bar Bicycle Center Red Li	USA	44:58
8	ANTHONY Crystal	Cannondale Cyclocrossworld	USA	45:29
9	CAREY Amanda	Volkswagon Boise	USA	45:40
10	BRUNO ROY Maureen	Bob Redmill Cyclocross Team	USA	45:51
11	STRIGEL Abby	Trek Cyclocross Collective	USA	46:32
12	BLATT Rebecca	Van Dessel Sports	USA	46:53
13	SMILEY Marne	Bob Redmill Cyclocross Team	USA	47:06
14	CUTLER Jessica	Cyclocrossracing.com	USA	47:25
15	GROSS Rebecca	Cyclocrossracing.com	USA	48:05
16	COOGAN-CISEK Corey	Cyclocrossracing.com	USA	48:41
17	MARKEY Amber	My Wife Inc	USA	48:47
18	BROCKET Karen	Ethos Racing	USA	49:06
19	SIEBENLIST Sierra	Matthews Bicycle	USA	49:53
20	SO Elizabeth	Les Petites Victoires	USA	50:10
21	WILLIAMS Robin	Iowa City Cycling Club / Mercy	USA	- 2 LAPS
DNF	OSBORNE Corrie	Team Extreme	USA

Elite Men’s Results:

Pos	Name	Team	Nat	Time
1	JOHNSON Timothy	Cannondale Cyclocrossworld	USA	1:01:07
2	DRISCOLL James	Cannondale Cyclocrossworld	USA	1:01:29
3	BERDEN Ben	Raleigh Clement	BEL	1:01:49
4	JONES Christopher	Raffa Focus	USA	1:01:56
5	MATTER Brian	RACC Geargrinder	USA	1:02:31
6	KRUGHOFF Allen	Raleigh Clement	USA	1:02:54
7	SCHOUTEN Tristan	Optum	USA	1:03:12
8	SHRIVER Matt	Trek Cyclocross Collective	USA	1:03:47
9	LASLEY Jacob	Team Soundpony	USA	1:04:00
10	NEFF Isaac	Trek Cyclocross Collective	USA	1:04:02
11	DICKENS Chase *	American Classic Professional C	USA	1:04:16
12	CANDELARIO Alexander	Optum	USA	1:04:41
13	MALONEY Joseph	KS Energy Services / Team Wisco	USA	1:04:52
14	KAISER Cody *	California Giant Cycling	USA	1:05:02
15	BRADFORD-PARISH Kevin	Cyclocrossracing.com	USA	1:05:08
16	KLUCK Jeff	Powerade - Independent Fabricat	USA	1:05:40
17	SHERER Mike	The Pony Shop	USA	1:05:52
18	SAVERY Mark	Midwest Cycling Group	USA	1:05:54
19	STELLJES Corey	Cyclocrossracing.com	USA	1:05:58
20	ETHERIDGE Craig	Raleigh Clement	USA	1:05:59
21	McCONNELL Kevin	Iowa City Cycling Club	USA	1:06:14
22	KOSS Trevor	Magnus	USA	1:06:15
23	BURKE Tom	Midwest Cycling Group	USA	1:06:31
24	MARION Robert	American Classic Professional C	USA	1:06:43
25	FAULKNER Craig	Crossniacs	USA	1:07:09
26	THOMPSON Eric	Plan C p/b Challenge Tires	USA	1:07:17
27	FAWLEY Bryan	Dallas Bike Works	USA	-1 LAP
28	COE Andrew	Ethos Racing	USA	-1 LAP
29	FOWLER Dallas	KUHL	USA	-1 LAP
30	ALLEN Matthew	Behind Bars / LGR	USA	-2 LAPS
31	LEMIEUX Pat	St. Paul Bicycle Racing Club	USA	-2 LAPS
32	BRAUN Travis	Magnus	USA	-2 LAPS
33	GANTZER Jeremiah	Double I Cycling Experience	USA	-2 LAPS
34	STREET Bill	KUHL	USA	-2 LAPS
35	THOMPSON John	St. Paul Bicycle Racing Club /	USA	-5 LAPS
DNF	TREBON Ryan	Cannondale Cyclocrossworld	USA

See Day 1’s results, reports and photos here.

See Day 2’s results, reports and photos here.