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by Grant Berry

Boulder, CO – Tim Johnson (Cannondale-CyclocrossWorld.com) picked up where teammate Jeremy Powers left off yesterday and took the win, divvying up the weekend as the duo has several times this year. Todd Wells (Specialized) was next, followed by the third in the Cannondale-CyclocrossWorld.com camp, Jamey Driscoll. Powers’ position at the front of the race came to an end thanks to a flat tire, causing him to fade back in the pack. He’d eventually work his way back up to seventh.

In the women’s race, yesterday’s winner Katie Compton crashed out while battling at the front, and Georgia Gould (Team Luna) capitalized on the opportunity to take an impressive victory by over two minutes over her nearest competitor. Meredith Miller (California Giant-Specialized), who has shown a trend of improving as race weekends progress, moved up from yesterday’s fourth to claim second. Nicole Duke (HUDZ-Vista Subaru) had another impressive ride to match yesterday’s third place in front of her teammate Amanda Miller. Teal Stetson-Lee (California Giant-Specialized) was close behind in fifth.

The course for Sunday’s UCI C2 Boulder Cup could not have been more of a contrast to Saturday’s sand fest at the Boulder Reservoir. Loose wheel-sucking sand and wide open terrain was traded for off-camber grass and tight technical sections in a venue that showcased the sport of cyclocross to a potentially untapped audience. Flatirons Mall, specifically Nordstroms and Dick’s Sporting Goods, were the backdrop for the nation’s best ’cross racers as they competed for valuable UCI points. The crowds were thick, and Chris Grealish’s DBC Events crew put on the race in their typical classy fashion.

Elite Women

Georgia Gould (Team Luna) led the race off the line with an impressive holeshot that she would parlay into a small lead midway through the first lap. Her lead was momentarily lengthened as there was a massive pile up going into the first uphill 180-degree turn that took down half-a-dozen riders and stalled a good portion of the rest of the field. Katie Compton (Planet Bike-Stevens) and Nicole Duke (HUDZ-Subaru) were two riders to make it through the crash unscathed, and they joined Gould shortly thereafter when she suffered her own difficulty in a dusty depression. “I just completely ate it in one of the little ditches by the pit. I thought ‘Wow, that’s a really pro move!’ It was a pretty spectacular crash!”

As it would all day, the run-up at the end of the first lap proved a crucial part of the course as Gould and Compton separated themselves from Duke and Amanda Miller (HUDZ-Subaru), and once again the battle was on.

As Gould and Compton battled on the ultra-slippery grass, it was apparent that Gould was content to lead and was showing a high level of confidence in her technical ability on the demanding course. As the two leaders wound their way down the series of extremely steep 180-degree turns towards the pits on lap 3, Compton would suffer what would turn out to be a race-ending crash. As her front tire lost grip on the grass, Compton plummeted to the ground and ended up landing square on the contact patches from her course-tape-related crash the day before. Clearly stunned and in a lot of pain, Compton lay in the grass for some seconds as Gould rode away. After picking herself up off the ground and adjusting her bike so that it would roll again, Compton would finish the lap but pull out at the top of the run-up before the start/finish straight; her day was over. Shortly thereafter, Compton’s husband Mark Legg-Compton was seen running into the Boulder Beer tent not for an icy cold mid-race pit crew refreshment, but for a couple bags of ice to help reduce the aftereffects of the tough crash Compton had suffered.

As Gould checked out off the front of the race, the battle for the remaining spots on the podium were still up for grabs. NACT series leader Meredith Miller (Cal Giant-Specialized) had recovered from another bad first lap as she too had hit the ground, and she’d ridden her way up to Duke in the battle for third place. Duke put her technical skills to work and would gap Miller on many of the off-camber sections until, with two laps to go, Miller seized an opportunity on one of the non-technical climbs on the backside of the course to drop Duke and set off after Amanda Miller and second place.

With half-a-lap to go, the Millers would come together with Meredith taking an advantage as Amanda suffered an untimely crash which derailed her chain. “I crashed, and my chain fell off. It took forever to get it back on.”

Duke would take advantage of her teammate’s misfortune as well, and rode by her and onto the podium for the second time in as many days.

Another ride of note was from former Collegiate national champion Teal Stetson-Lee (Cal Giant-Specialized), who was another rider caught behind the first lap pileup. Stetson-Lee would ride her way from the back of the field up to fifth place by the end of the race.

Gould was happy with her win, and the new venue. “This venue is awesome. I feel like this is our chance to take ’cross to the masses and expose it to people who might never see this sport.”

Elite Men

As spectators refilled their beers and adjusted their costumes, the Elite Men were locked, loaded and ready to go. Notably absent from the line was Ryan Trebon, who was still nursing a painful muscle injury from Saturday’s race.

As the whistle blew, Jeremy Powers (Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale) didn’t disappoint and took yet another holeshot at the start of the race. He quickly established a small gap, and was immediately chased by Saturday phenom and cyclocross comeback kid Alex Candelario (World Bicycle Relief) and Davide Frattini (HUDZ-Subaru). By the end of the first lap, it was Powers building a slight lead followed by Danny Summerhill (Garmin-Slipstream) and Todd Wells (Specialized). The second chase group contained Jamey Driscoll (Cyclocrossword.com-Cannondale), local favorite Jake Wells (HUDZ-Subaru) and Chris Jones (Rapha-Focus).

The spectator-friendly venue offered views of most of the course from a couple key spots, but the action was really to be seen on what had been a run-up for most competitors in the earlier races and was now a ride-up for the top Elite Men. Lap after lap as the lead group approached the steep grassy hill, all three leaders hopped over the large and then the smaller barrier that were designed to encourage a dismount, and made quick work of the steep terrain.

As the lead trio headed out for their third lap, Tim Johnson had successfully crossed the gap and was ready to make team tactics a factor in the outcome of the race. That, however, was short lived as Powers would suffer a flat and lose his place in the lead group and go on to finish 7th. Summerhill would also mechanical out of contention after he suffered a flar rear tire, and had to nurse his bike down the off camber turns and into the pits.

Johnson forced Wells to ride on the front as his teammate Driscoll was trying to chase across and make contact to tip the odds back in favor of the Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale team. As Driscoll dangled, Johnson seized the opportunity and attacked Wells on the pavement with four laps to go.

“Wells had us on the ropes at the start. He gets better and better every race throughout the season, and I thought this was going to be the race where he would be unbeatable. But, after a slow start, I ended up attacking him on the road to open a gap. I had no idea how he was feeling as I was riding behind him and couldn’t see his face. I wanted to attack with enough time left to go again if I needed to.”

Johnson would stretch his gap to over 20 seconds to take the win while Wells fought hard to hold off Driscoll. Behind, Geoff Kabush (Rocky Mountain-Maxxis), Adam Craig (Rabobank-Giant) and Jake Wells chased to try and reel in Driscoll for the last step of the podium. With a lap to go, Driscoll would make contact with Wells, but it came down to the run-up/ride-up section of the course with 150 meters to go to force the decision. As Driscoll dismounted to run, Wells easily hopped the barriers to separate himself slightly, and take second.

Johnson was happy with his win, and welcomed the change of scenery that the Flatirons Mall venue offered. “Every single city has a mall; if we could get a ’cross race at every single one we’d have the biggest sport in the world,” said Johnson.

First lap crash in the Elite Women’s race:

Elite Men’s Highlight Video (with LOTS of bunnyhops!):

Full Results

Women:

1 Georgia Gould (USA) Team Luna 0:41:34
2 Meredith Miller (USA) California Giant/Specialized 0:02:16
3 Nicole Duke (USA) HUDZ-Vista Subaru 0:02:37
4 Amanda Miller (USA) Hudz-Subaru Cycling Team 0:02:50
5 Teal Stetson-Lee (USA) California Giant/Specialized 0:02:57
6 Devon Haskell (USA) Bike Station Aptos 0:03:23
7 Wendy Simms (Can) Ridley Bicycles 0:03:32
8 Barbara Howe (USA) Ibis and the Danger Twins 0:03:34
9 Maureen Bruno Roy (USA) Bob’s Red Mill p/b Seven Cycle 0:03:35
10 Alice Pennington (USA) Team S&M 0:04:02
11 Nina Baum (USA) Cannondale 0:04:07
12 Lisa Strong (USA) Hudz- subaru 0:04:18
13 Amanda Carey (USA) Kenda/Felt 0:04:28
14 Kathy Sherwin (USA) Hudz-Vista Subaru 0:04:45
15 Sonya Looney (USA) Hudz Subaru 0:05:02
16 Megan Taylor (USA) COMotion Sports 0:05:06
17 Lisa Hudson (USA) Feedback Sports 0:05:07
18 Lisa Curry (USA) GAS/Intrinsik 0:05:16
19 Catherine Johnson (USA) Rocky Mounts/ Izze 0:06:10
20 Courtney Dimpel (USA) bike station aptos 0:06:18
21 Shannon Gibson (USA) VeloBella- Ellsworth
22 Lathleen Hannon (USA) Freewheel/Hunter Cycles
23 Becca Blay (USA)
24 Kristal Boni (USA) Blue Sky Velo
25 Kate Scheider (USA) Mafia Racing
26 Melanie Long (USA) Tough Girl / SCOTT
27 Janis Sandlin (USA) Tough Girl / SCOTT
DNF Katie Compton (USA) Planet Bike / Stevens
DNF Sarah Maile (USA) Ventana Mountain Bikes
DNF Kerry Barnholt (USA) Scott Ritchey
DNF Lynn Bush (USA) Tough Girl / SCOTT
DNF Jennifer Tilley (USA) Velo Bella/Ellsworth
DNF Margell Abel (USA) Tough Girl / SCOTT

Men:

1 Timothy Johnson (USA) CyclocrossWorld.com Cannondale 1:00:47
2 Todd Wells (USA) Specialized 0:00:24
3 James Driscoll (USA) Cannondale-CyclocrossWorld.com 0:00:28
4 Geoff Kabush (Can) Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 0:01:01
5 Adam Craig (USA) Giant Bicycles 0:01:18
6 Jake Wells (USA) Hudz/Subaru 0:01:35
7 Jeremy Powers (USA) Cannondale-CyclocrossWorld.com 0:02:04
8 Troy Wells (USA) Team CLIF BAR 0:02:21
9 Daniel Summerhill (USA) Garmin Felt Slipstream 0:02:49
10 Nicholas Weighall (USA) California Giant/Specialized 0:03:42
11 Braden Kappius (USA) Team Clif Bar 0:03:45
12 Sean Babcock (USA) Kona 0:03:54
13 Alexander Candelario (USA) 0:04:06
14 Matt Pacocha (USA) Hudz-Subaru 0:04:15
15 Allen Krughoff (USA) BCS 0:04:36
16 Tim Allen (USA) Feedback Sports 0:04:44
17 Colby Pearce (USA) Hudz/ Subaru 0:04:49
18 Brandon Dwight (USA) Boulder Cycle Sport 0:04:50
19 Peter Webber (USA) Boulder Cycle Sport 0:04:51
20 Erik Tonkin (USA) Kona 0:04:59
21 Spencer Paxson (USA) Team S&M Young Guns 0:05:11
22 Mitchell Hoke (USA) Clif Bar Development
23 Eric Emsky (USA) Cyclocrossracing.com pb Blue C 0:05:28
24 Joachim Parbo (Den) Leopard Bicycles 0:05:35
25 Jon Tarkington (USA) Natural Grocers p/b XP Compani 0:05:38
26 Hackworthy (USA) Dave Clement CX 0:06:05
27 Spencer Powlison (USA) Mafia Racing 0:06:21
28 Davide Frattini (Ita) Hudz/ Subaru 0:06:40
29 Mcdonald (USA) Zach Team Rapha-FOCUS 0:08:35
30 -2 laps Eckmann (Ger) Robin Pearl Izumi
31 Jack Hinkens (USA) Team Plan C/pb Stevens
32 Mike Sherer (USA) The Pony Shop
33 Troy Heithecker (USA) Echelon Energy
34 Scott Tietzel (USA) Specialized – Curve Inc.
35 John Curry (USA) GAS/Intrinsik
36 Kevin Bradford-Parish (USA) EmdeSports.com
37 -3 laps Chris Hurst (USA)
38 Bryan Mickiewicz (USA) Hammer Nutrition
39 William Iaia (USA) velonews
40 Mike Friedberg (USA) PowerBar
41 Nicholas Stevens (GBr) Waltworks/Fuentesdesign
42 Shawn Harshman (USA) Konig Racing pb Harshman Wealt
43 -4 laps Brandon Jessop (USA) Boulder Cycle Sport
44 Josh Whitney (USA) rocky mounts/ izze
45 Jason Holbrook (USA) Boulder Cycle Sport
46 David Block (USA) Boulder Cycle Sport
47 -5 laps Aaron Bouplon (USA) Rocky Mounts / Izze
48 Kevin Kane (USA)
49 Tomas Roba (Cze) TJ Lokomotiva Pardubice
50 Grant Holicky (USA) Vic’s/Peerless
51 Casey Hill (USA) Mafia Racing
52 Edwards (USA) Zachary DRT Racing
53 Conor Mullervy (USA) Mesa State College
54 Gregory Carpenter (USA) Biker’s Edge
55 Russell Harding (USA) Natural Grocers p/b XP Compani
56 Graham Aldredge (USA)
57 Brett Pirie (USA) ColoBikeLaw.com
58 -6 laps Geoffrey Nenninger (USA) Colorado Multisport
59 Doug Johnson (USA) bandwagon racing
60 Lane Miller (USA) Louisville Cyclery
61 Chris Brandt (USA) Brandt-Sorenson.com
62 -7 laps Kevin Mullervy (USA) Mesa State College
63 -8 laps Brett Billings (USA) Bandwagon Racing
DNF Christopher Jones (USA) Team Rapha-FOCUS
DNF Jesse Anthony (USA) California Giant/Specialized
DNF Jonathan Baker (USA) Groove Subaru Cycling Team
DNF Brad Cole (USA) KCCX/Verge p/b Challenge Tires
DNF Dylan Stucki (USA) Mafia Racing
DNF Matt Shriver (USA) Rocky Mountain Chocolate Facto
DNF Darian Founds (USA)
DNF Charles Coyle (USA) Hudz-Vista Subaru
DNF Len Zanni (USA) Honey Stinger/ Trek

yesterday in the Colorado Cross Classic.

The course for Sunday’s UCI C2 Boulder Cup could not have been more of a contrast to Saturday’s sand fest at the Boulder Reservoir. Loose wheel sucking sand and wide open terrain was traded for off camber grass and tight technical sections in a venue that showcased the sport of cyclocross to a potentially untapped audience. Flatirons Mall, specifically Nordstroms and Dick’s Sporting Goods, were the backdrop for the nation’s best cross racers to race for valuable UCI points. The crowds were thick, and Chris Grealish’s DBC Events crew put on the race in their typical classy fashion.

Elite Women

Georgia Gould (Team Luna) lead the race off the line with an impressive holeshot that she would parlay into a small lead mid way through the first lap. Her lead was momentarily lengthened as there was a massive pile up going into the first uphill 180 degree turn that took down half a dozen riders and stalled a good portion of the rest of the field. Katie Compton (Planet Bike-Stevens) and Nicole Duke (HUDZ-Subaru) were two riders to make it through the crash unscathed, and they joined Gould midway through the first lap after she suffered her own difficulty in a dusty depression. “I just completely ate it in one of the little ditches by the pit. I thought ‘Wow, that’s a really pro move!’. It was a pretty spectacular crash!”.

As it would all day, the run up at the end of the first lap proved a crucial part of the course as Gould and Compton separated themselves from Duke and Amanda Miller (HUDZ-Subaru), and once again the battle was on.

As Gould and Compton battled on the ultra-slippery grass, it was apparent that Georgia was content to lead and was showing a high level of confidence in her technical ability on the demanding course. As the two leaders wound their way down the series of extremely steep 180 degree turns towards the pits on lap 3, Compton would suffer what would turn out to be a race ending crash. As her front tire lost grip on the grass, Compton plummeted to the ground and ended up landing square on the contact patches from her course tape related crash the day before. Clearly stunned and in a lot of pain, Compton lay in the grass for some seconds as Gould rode away. After picking herself up off the ground and adjusting her bike so that it would roll again, Compton would finish the lap but pull out at the top of the run up before the start/finish straight; her day was over. Shortly thereafter, Compton’s husband Mark Legg was seen running into the Boulder Beer tent not for an icy cold mid-race pit crew refreshment, but for a couple bags of ice to help reduce the aftereffects of the tough crash Compton had suffered.

As Gould checked out off the front of the race, the battle for the remaining spots on the podium were still up for grabs. NACT series leader Meredith Miller (Cal Giant-Specialized) had recovered from another bad first lap as she too had hit the ground, and had ridden her way up to Duke in the battle for 3rd place. Duke put her technical skills to work and would gap Miller on the many of the off camber sections until, with 2 laps to go, Miller seized an opportunity on one of the non-technical climbs on the backside of the course to drop Duke and set off after Amanda Miller and 2nd place.

With half a lap to go, the Millers would come together with Meredith taking an advantage as Amanda suffered an untimely crash which derailed her chain. “I crashed, and my chain fell off. It took forever to get it back on.”

Duke would take advantage of her teammate’s misfortune as well, and rode by her and onto the podium for the 2nd time in as many days.

Another ride of note was from former Collegiate National Champion Teal Stetson-Lee (Cal Giant-Specialized) who was another rider caught behind the 1st lap pileup. Stetson-Lee would ride her way from the back of the field up to 5th place by the end of the race.

Gould was happy with her win, and the new venue. “This venue is awesome. I feel like this is our chance to take cross to the masses and expose it to people who might never see this sport.”

Pro Men

As spectators refilled their beers and adjusted their costumes, the Elite Men were locked and loaded, and ready to go. Notably absent from the line was Ryan Trebon, who was still nursing a painful muscle injury from Saturday’s race.

As the whistle blew, Jeremy Powers (Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale) did not disappoint and took yet another holeshot at the start of the race. He quickly established a small gap, and was immediately chased by Saturday phenom and cyclocross comeback kid Alex Candelario (World Bicycle Relief) and Davide Frattini (HUDZ-Subaru). By the end of the first lap, it was Powers building a slight lead followed by Danny Summerhill (Garmin/Slipstream) and Todd Wells (Specialized). The 2nd chase group contained Jamey Driscoll (Cyclocrossword.com-Cannondale), local favorite Jake Wells (HUDZ-Subaru) and Chris Jones (Rapha-Focus).

The spectator friendly venue offered views of most of the course from a couple key spots, but the action was really to be seen on what had been a run up for most competitors in the earlier races and was now a ride up for the top Elite Men. Lap after lap as the lead group approached the steep grassy hill, all three leaders hopped over the large and then the smaller barrier that were designed to force a dismount, and made quick work of the steep terrain.

As the lead trio headed out for their 3rd lap, Tim Johnson had successfully crossed the gap and was ready to make team tactics a factor in the outcome of the race. That, however, was short lived as Powers would suffer a flat and lose his place in the lead group and go on to finish 7th. Summerhill would also flat himself out of contention after he suffered a flar rear tire, and had to nurse his bike down the off camber turns and into the pits.

Johnson forced Wells to ride on the front as his teammate Driscoll was trying to chase across and make contact to tip the odds back in favor of the Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale team. As Driscoll dangled, Johnson seized the opportunity and attacked Wells on the pavement with 4 laps to go.

“Wells had us on the ropes at the start. He gets better and better every race throughout the season, and I thought this was going to be the race where he would be unbeatable. But, after a slow start, I ended up attacking him on the road to open a gap. I had no idea how he was feeling as I was riding behind him and couldn’t see his face. I wanted to attack with enough time left to go again if I needed to.”

Johnson would stretch his gap to over 20 seconds to take the win while Wells fought hard to hold off Driscoll. Behind, Geoff Kabush (Rocky Mountain-Maxxis), Adam Craig (Rabobank-Giant), and Jake Wells chased to try and reel in Driscoll for the last step of the podium. With a lap to go, Driscoll would make contact with Wells, but it came down to the run up/ride up section of the course with 150 meters to go to force the decision. As Driscoll dismounted to run, Wells easily hopped the barriers to separate himself slightly, and take 2nd.

Johnson was happy with his win, and welcomed the change of scenery that the Flatirons Mall venue offered. “Every single city has a mall; if we could get a cross race at every single one we’d have the biggest sport in the world.”