Bob’s Red Mill’s Andrew Dillman also had a strong start and was racing in sixth before also suffering from a dropped and stuck chain.
Josh Johnson (Giant) leading Jared Nieter (Seavs/Haymarket) in their chase of a top ten result. Elite Men, Qiansen Trophy UCI C2 Cyclocross Event. © Cyclocross Magazine
Giant’s Joshua Johnson, the top Cross Vegas racer in attendance (an impressive 13th just two and half days earlier) had a fast start before a dropped chain cost him a lot of time. “It was going all right,” he explained, adding, “The start was pretty gnarly, everyone was throwing ’bows like they were going to win the race. I dropped my chain on the second run up, got passed by a bunch of guys, and just took a little while to start working my way back up. I started to feel my efforts from CrossVegas and the last couple days of travel. But all in all, it was a fun time out there and quite the memorable experience. I’ll never forget this event.”
Jake Wells (Stan’s NoTubes), who also raced at Cross Vegas, said that while his legs felt OK, he was certainly feeling the effects of the travel, but he finished behind Matter in 15th. “It was a lot of fun!” he said. “This course was pretty technical, you’re just out in the woods shredding. And those steep downs were pretty sweet too.”
Jake Wells was the fourth American, racing tubeless to finishin 15th. © Cyclocross Magazine
Also flying directly from Cross Vegas, Jared Nieters and Weston Schempf (both SEAVS/Haymarket) finished mid-pack, 21st and 23rd, respectively. “It was rough, rough, rough,” Nieters laughed. “Rough because everyone was battling and not quite as cordial as MidAtlantic ’cross. It didn’t matter if you were in the top 10 or 30th, it was like a fistfight the entire time. The course was super bumpy. I haven’t had a sore back from cyclocross in two years but this took 20 minutes until it started hurting. It was a blast though.”
Schempf was less pleased with his ride, saying, “It didn’t go as well as I was hoping it would go. It was an average ride, I guess. My legs were a little sore, they weren’t as good as I thought they’d be and I had to back it off after the first lap.”
Mitchell Hoke (Team Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) finished in 26th, and Andrew Reardon (Sophisticated Living p/b Bob’s Red Mill Cyclocross) in 32nd. New England racer Tom Sampson said of his race, “The race didn’t go so great. I don’t know if it’s the being awake when I’m not usually awake but it didn’t really go so well and just kind of slid backwards all race. It was nice to do something different though, the US has a lot of grass crits but this was different. My arms and shoulders from the bumps are hurting!”
There were several racers who came out from Oregon as well, and Molly Cameron (Portland Bicycle Studio) was the top Oregon finisher in 28th, narrowly beating out Alexander Revell, the newly-crowned New Zealand National Champion. “It was a pretty crazy first couple laps,” she said. “I held my position pretty well, got into a chase group, moved up a little bit. The course is really Euro. I think they did a really good job with what they had.”
Revell explained his race, saying, “I had a pretty awesome start, right behind Thijs Al. I started ninth this time. It was pretty cool just to start there. I knew it would be a case of trying to hold what I could, but realistically I knew that would be difficult. It was a really hard race. Just staying on a wheel in front of me was hard, but I thought it was really important to stay in a group.”
The crowd celebrated the podium and asked for autographs. Elite Men, Qiansen Trophy UCI C2 Cyclocross Event. © Cyclocross Magazine
Stay tuned for more photos, interviews and results from this inaugural event.
Elite Men Results - Qiansen Trophy UCI C2 Cyclocross Event
| Rank | Name | Nat. | Age* | Result | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thijs AL | NED | 33 | 1:00:09 | 40 |
| 2 | Arnaud JOUFFROY | FRA | 23 | 1:01:15 | 30 |
| 3 | Justin LINDINE | USA | 29 | 1:01:41 | 20 |
| 4 | Elia SILVESTRI | ITA | 23 | 1:01:55 | 15 |
| 5 | Yorben VAN TICHELT | BEL | 19 | 1:01:55 | 10 |
| 6 | Steve FISHER | USA | 23 | 1:01:57 | 8 |
| 7 | Fredrik ERICSSON | SWE | 35 | 1:02:06 | 6 |
| 8 | Andrew WATSON | CAN | 30 | 1:02:11 | 4 |
| 9 | Ben BOETS | BEL | 18 | 1:02:22 | 2 |
| 10 | Michael WILDHABER | SUI | 23 | 1:02:30 | 1 |
| 11 | Jeremy MARTIN | CAN | 21 | 1:02:54 | |
| 12 | Nicolas CLEPPE | BEL | 18 | 1:03:01 | |
| 13 | Severin SAEGESSER | SUI | 21 | 1:03:04 | |
| 14 | Brian MATTER | USA | 35 | 1:03:17 | |
| 15 | Jake WELLS | USA | 35 | 1:03:30 | |
| 16 | Braam MERLIER | BEL | 19 | 1:03:42 | |
| 17 | Martin ERIKSSON | SWE | 21 | 1:03:48 | |
| 18 | Evan MCNEELY | CAN | 21 | 1:03:54 | |
| 19 | Sigvard KUKK | EST | 41 | 1:03:55 | |
| 20 | Jonas DEGROOTE | BEL | 18 | 1:03:55 | |
| 21 | Jared NIETERS | USA | 36 | 1:04:04 | |
| 22 | James SPRAGG | GBR | 26 | 1:04:10 | |
| 23 | Weston SCHEMPF | USA | 36 | 1:04:10 | |
| 24 | Magnus SKJOTH | DEN | 18 | 1:04:34 | |
| 25 | Jens WESTERGREN | SWE | 34 | 1:04:45 | |
| 26 | Mitchell HOKE | USA | 25 | 1:04:48 | |
| 27 | Nico BRÜNGGER | SUI | 25 | 1:04:53 | |
| 28 | Molly CAMERON | USA | 37 | 1:04:54 | |
| 29 | Alexander REVELL | NZL | 28 | 1:04:59 | |
| 30 | Conor O'BRIEN | CAN | 21 | 1:05:12 | |
| 31 | Arne POELVOORDE | BEL | 18 | 1:05:17 | |
| 32 | Andrew REARDON | USA | 31 | 1:05:19 | |
| 33 | Peter GLASSFORD | CAN | 29 | 1:05:58 | |
| 34 | Ludwig SÖDERQUIST | SWE | 20 | 1:06:08 | |
| 35 | Mark MCCONNELL | CAN | 25 | 1:06:34 | |
| 36 | Joshua JOHNSON | USA | 21 | 1:06:54 | |
| 37 | Jean-Philippe THIBAULT-ROBERGE | CAN | 24 | 1:07:17 | |
| 38 | Bryan FALASCHI | ITA | 22 | 1:07:26 | |
| 39 | Damian SCHMITT | USA | 35 | 1:07:36 | |
| 40 | Thomas SAMPSON | USA | 24 | 1:07:54 | |
| 41 | Hikaru KOSAKA | JPN | 25 | 1:08:08 | |
| 42 | Lewis RATTRAY | AUS | 24 | ||
| 43 | Zhen WANG | CHN | 24 | ||
| 44 | Ian MCPHERSON | USA | 18 | ||
| 45 | Andrew DILLMAN | USA | 19 | ||
| 46 | John GROVES | AUS | 27 | ||
| 47 | Matthew FOX | USA | 35 | ||
| 48 | Kolben PREBLE | USA | 20 | ||
| 49 | Alex WENTZ | USA | 24 | ||
| 50 | Zane GODBY | USA | 19 | ||
| 51 | Spencer DOWNING | USA | 18 | ||
| 52 | Colin CARES | USA | 26 | ||
| 53 | Ruidong QI | CHN | 20 | ||
| 54 | Bruce DALTON | GBR | 21 | ||
| 55 | Phillip GROVE | USA | 30 |
