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Adam Myerson addresses the crowd as champion. © laurakozlowski.com

Adam Myerson addresses the crowd as champion. © laurakozlowski.com

The final round of the 2010 Verge New England Championship Cyclo-Cross Series dawned to seasonably cold temperatures but surprisingly dry conditions. Once again, the series conclusion was held at the NBX GP of ’Cross at Goddard Park in Warwick, Rhode Island. Coming in to the final day of the series, the Elite categories were too close to call with Sally Annis (crossresults.com p/b JRA Cycles) and Justin Lindine (bikereg.com/Joe’s Garage/Scott) holding the slimmest of leads.

The leaders and their competitors knew that there would be no margin for error today, as all the chips were on the table. Today’s course favored racers more adept at bike handling with more of the tight, rooty turns that define the course and fewer open flat sections. Also included in today’s course was a second sand run in addition to the long run from Saturday’s course. Clearly, the winner of today’s final round of the Verge New England Championship Cyclo-Cross Series would have to earn the title.

The race for the Elite women started off in a similar fashion to yesterday with a large group taking off the front. The selection included Ladies First racers Crystal Anthony and Andrea Smith, Sally Annis and Sara Bresnick-Zocchi of crossresults.com p/b JRA Cycles, C3/Athletes Serving Athletes teammates Laura Van Gilder and Arley Kemmerer and the lone Canadian, Natasha Elliott (Garneau Club/Chaussures/Ogilvy). The group whittled itself down over the course of the race with Anthony falling off the pace and Kemmerer succumbing to a mechanical that forced her to abandon.

At the front, Smith was keen to press the pace with Van Gilder stuck to her wheel. Annis, Bresnick-Zocchi and Elliott were often forced to chase back as they let small gaps open through the corners. As the race wore on, those gaps grew to a point that were barely manageable and Annis was turning herself inside out to catch back on but on the final lap, the elastic began to snap. While Smith and Van Gilder were pushing the pace, Annis totally lost contact and was absorbed by Bresnick-Zocchi. The last chance for Annis was to hope for a bobble from the leaders coming out of the sand, but the bobble never came. Smith and Van Gilder hit the pavement at the same time and Van Gilder locked up the victory with a rapid sprint. Smith was able to raise her hands as she crossed the finish line, knowing that her second place would be good enough to take the Verge New England Championship Cyclo-Cross Series title. Bresnick-Zocchi and Annis hit the pavement a short thirteen seconds later with Bresnick-Zocchi taking the sprint for third. Elliott came across the line alone a few seconds later for fifth. The final women’s series podium was topped by Andrea Smith with Sally Annis second and Laura Van Gilder in third.

Elite Men

For the Elite men, the series was down to a duel between Adam Myerson (Cycle-Smart) and Justin Lindine (bikereg.com/Joe’s Garage/Scott). Lindine has been the leader of the series for almost the whole season, since he took it from Tim Johnson’s shoulders in New Gloucester, Maine, and had been a valiant defender of the jersey, defending it through New Gloucester, Northampton and Sterling. The series prizes consistency and that’s been Lindine’s strength this season, rarely finishing off the podium. Behind Lindine, Myerson had been gaining ground all season, following a sub-par performance in Vermont back in September, but had never quite gotten to the point where the jersey was on his shoulders.

In today’s race, the early selection was a group of Myerson, Lindine, Derrick St. John (Garneau Club/Chaussure/Ogilvy), Lindine’s teammate Manny Goguen, Nick Keough (Champion System p/b Keough Cyclocross) and Josh Dillon (Richard Sachs/RGM Watches/Radix). Unlike the women, the race was largely not of attrition as the group stayed together for nearly the entire race. The only changes came when St. John fell victim to a flat tire and slow bike change and Goguen fell off the pace. Both St. John and Goguen were able to fight tooth and nail to get back on board with the lead group. St. John made contact after a lap and was able to sit in. Goguen, on the other hand, regained contact with the group with two to go and immediately got to the front and launched an attack. Quickly reabsorbed, the group was held together until the second pass through the sand on the last lap. A slight bobble by someone between Myerson and Lindine was all Adam needed to launch his attack, with Keough and St John on his wheel. Lindine fought with all his might to come back into the group but was just not able to make contact in the last few hundred meters.

Coming onto the pavement, Nick Keough was able to gain a slight advantage over Myerson and held it across the line for the first-ever UCI victory for the U-23 series champion. Myerson came across second and cemented his comeback, defeating Lindine for the series title. Myerson’s series victory was an emotional one as it was his first-ever series title and came following his first two UCI victories. The podium was completed by Justin Lindine, whose performance this season has been nothing short of inspirational and, on the legs of today’s victory, Nick Keough. Following the series award presentation, Myerson addressed the New England cyclocross faithful and emotionally thanked his fellow racers and the series staff and sponsors for him and the series through the tough past week and through yet another long and successful season.

The Verge New England Championship Cyclo-Cross Series will return next fall with seven competitions to be contested through the whole season over eight weekends and fifteen races. Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.

Photo Galleries

Elite Men


Elite Women

Podium Shots

Full Results

Elite Men

Place U23 Time First Name Last Name Team
1 1 1:03:50 NICHOLAS KEOUGH CHAMPION SYSTEM P/B KEOUGH CYCLOCROSS
2 1:03:51 Adam Myerson Cycle-Smart
3 1:03:52 DERRICK ST JOHN GARNEAU CLUB CHAUSSURES – OGILVY
4 1:03:52 JUSTIN LINDINE BIKEREG.COM / JOE’S GARAGE / SCOTT
5 1:03:55 JOSH DILLON RICHARD SACHS – RGM WATCHES – RADIX
6 2 1:04:06 MANNY GOGUEN BIKEREG.COM / JOE’S GARAGE / SCOTT
7 1:04:45 ERIK BOX THE HUB RACE TEAM
8 1:04:45 CHRISTIAN FAVATA FAVATA’S TABLEROCK TOURS AND BIKES
9 1:05:20 ANDREW WULFKUHLE C3-ATHLETES SERVING ATHLETES
10 1:05:51 ANTHONY CLARK NCC/WHEELHOUSE
11 1:06:09 NATHAN CHOWN HANDLEBARS CC
12 1:06:09 Amos Brumble IV CCB Wheelworks
13 1:06:17 DANIEL CHABANOV NYCROSS.COM / CBRC
14 1:06:21 KEVIN SWEENEY CROSSRESULTS.COM P/B JRA CYCLES
15 1:06:45 ALEC DONAHUE WHEELHOUSE/NCC
16 1:06:46 DEREK HARDINGE LAPDOGS CYCLING CLUB
17 1:06:53 CARY FRIDRICH EMBROCATION P/B WINGMAN.COM
18 3 1:06:58 JESSE KEOUGH CHAMPION SYSTEM P/B KEOUGH CYCLOCROSS
19 1:06:59 David Wilcox Pedro’s Grassroots Cycling Club
20 1:07:27 JOHN BURNS BIKEMAN.COM
21 1:07:36 Austin Pferd bikebarnracing.com
22 1:08:08 EVAN HUFF BIKEREG.COM
23 1:08:30 MICHAEL WISSELL B2C2
24 1:08:43 PETER HURST AXA EQUITABLE CYCLING TEAM/CRCA
25 4 1:09:06 PATRICK BRADLEY RUTGERS UNIVERSITY | RALEIGH | KIM’S BIKE SHOP
26 1:09:27 JOHN HANSON SILVER BULL/CENTRAL WHEEL
27 1:09:40 ADAM SULLIVAN EMBROCATION CYCLING JOURNAL
28 1:09:40 STEPHEN PIERCE CAMBRIDGE BICYCLE / IGLEHEART FRAMES
29 1:09:51 CHRISTOPHER HAMLIN UVM CYCLING
30 5 1:09:52 JOSHUA LEHMANN PEDROS
31 1:12:03 GREG WHITNEY B2C2 P/B BOLOCO
32 1 lap JOSHUA FRIEDMAN NYC VELO
33 1 lap RODRIGO MORAES EDGARTOWN BICYCLES
34 1 lap RYAN O’HARA
35 3 laps PIERRE VANDEN BORRE EMBROCATION CYCLING JOURNAL / MAD ALCHEMY
36 3 laps Alistair Sponsel VAN DESSEL FACTORY TEAM P/B STERKE MEIDEN
37 6 4 laps PETER HAGERTY ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
DNF WAYNE BRAY MVP HEALTH CARE
DNF John Peterson bikebarnracing.com

Elite Women

Place Bib Time First Name Last Name Team
1 100 37:25 LAURA VAN GILDER C3 ATHLETES SERVING ATHLETES
2 103 37:25 ANDREA SMITH LADIESFIRST RACING
3 119 37:38 Sara Bresnick-Zocchi CROSSRESULTS.COM P/B JRA CYCLES
4 101 37:38 SALLY ANNIS CROSSRESULTS.COM P/B JRA CYCLES
5 102 37:40 NATASHA ELLIOTT GARNEAU CLUB CHAUSSURES – OGILVY
6 108 38:37 CRYSTAL ANTHONY LADIESFIRST RACING
7 114 38:50 CATHERINE STERLING BIKEMAN.COM
8 111 38:50 REBECCA WELLONS PEDRO’S
9 109 38:52 CHRISTINA TAMILIO LADIESFIRST RACING
10 106 39:31 ANN D’AMBRUOSO LADIESFIRST RACING
11 118 39:41 CASSANDRA MAXIMENKO SILVERBULL CENTRALWHEEL
12 116 39:57 LAURA RALSTON MIT CYCLING/FXDD
13 113 40:25 ALLISON SNOOKS LADIESFIRST RACING
14 115 41:33 JENA GREASER COLAVITA RACING
15 117 42:24 JESSICA HAYES CONROY NORTH AMERICAN VELO
DNF 104 ARLEY KEMMERER C3 – ATHLETES SERVING ATHLETES