Henry Kramer Gets First National Title in Masters 55-59 at the 2014 National Championships – Report, Gallery, Full Results

Henry Kramer just defended his World Championship title in Goassau just five days ago, and while the two-time World Champ seems like he should have a stack of National Champ jerseys sitting in his closet, the truth of it is that this is his first National title, after a long string of second place finishes.

However, unlike the race at Worlds on Saturday, Kramer didn’t have a lock on the win until he took the sprint over his Cal-Giant teammate Norman Kreiss at the finish. The two had battled with Karl Keister (Great Divide Brewing Company) throughout the race, and going into the last lap, he had the lead on the Cal-Giant racers.

“I flew home for a night, kissed my wife, ran my dog, then flew here. It was a tough race,” he laughed.

The race started with last year’s winner Bob Downs snagging the holeshot, but he didn’t keep the lead for long, and within half a lap, Kiester had moved into the lead with Kreiss close behind. Kramer told Cyclocross Magazine that he suffered a rough start and spent most of the race working his way back up to the lead group, sitting in eighth spot for much of the race. Coming into the last lap though, he had worked his way through the field and was hunting down Kreiss and Keister.

Downs kept up with the leaders for the first half of the race but faded into the third chase group, while John Wilson worked his way up steadily throughout. Russell Thornstrom was also in the mix, riding with Downs and Kramer after Kramer began to pick off racers.

Temmates Kramer and Kreis, once together, worked together to chased down Keister.

By two to go, the top three were determined, and it was Kreiss, Kramer and Kiester fighting for the win, and after a slight misstep on the stairs, Kiester fell behind the CalGiant racers, who would battle until the last second for the win.

“I was able to take control of that last lap. My gears weren’t shifting very well but… It was great. This is my first win. I finished second six times in cyclocross Nationals!” [Read and watch the full interview here.]

Results below gallery.

Henry Kramer Gets First National Title in Masters 55-59 at the 2014 National Championships – Gallery

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2014 USA Cyclocross National Championships Men 55-59.csv

Place	Last	First	Time
1	KRAMER	Henry	38:10
2	KREISS	Norman	38:10
3	KIESTER	Karl	38:20
4	THORSTROM	Russell	38:58
5	WILSON	John	39:05
6	DOWNS	Robert	39:05
7	CAPRON	William	39:59
8	YOUNG	Brad	39:59
9	CALLAHAN	Kevin	40:26
10	THOMPSON	John	40:32
11	BLANCHARD	Alan	40:45
12	MCKELVY	Hal	41:17
13	SCHAUB	Michael	41:29
14	SMITH	George	41:31
15	PREHN	Thomas	41:39
16	GRIGGS	Derek	41:41
17	SAINT CLAIR	Kevin	41:44
18	PAYNE	Jeff	41:47
19	WATTS	Brook	41:49
20	ABELE	Mark	41:53
21	THORNTON	Jay	42:14
22	TAYLOR	Mark	42:41
23	EVERETT	James	42:49
24	GENTES	Jim	42:52
25	BLISS	John	42:57
26	BEAUDIN	Chris	43:11
27	RAYMOND	Kevin	43:18
28	SOETAERT	Martin	43:51
29	SHEA	Timothy	44:02
30	BEAR	Jan	44:09
31	REYNOLDS	Scott	44:17
32	KERR	Randy	44:36
33	LARSON	Glen	44:50
34	SELANDER	Dag	44:52
35	STANLEY	Robert	44:53
36	ITIN	Tim	45:13
37	WILLCOX	Robert	45:32
38	CAMPBELL	Robert	45:51
39	HANSEN	John	45:59
40	SALANDER	Erik	46:24
41	CATALANO	Thomas	46:28
42	SMITH	Dennis	46:28
43	BROWN	Jeffrey	46:28
44	HOUCK	Eric	46:54
45	BRECHEISEN	Ken	46:55
46	MILLIGAN	Robert	47:11
47	LAMONT	Steve	47:16
48	SILVA	Randall	47:42
49	SADOFF	Paul	47:55
50	BOWEN	James	47:55
51	LARSON	Rich	47:58
52	DEWEY	Thomas	48:07
53	SMITH	Ned	48:25
54	SWEENEY	Richard	48:37
55	SQUIRES	doug	49:18
56	NOBLE	Jim
57	MITCHELL	David
DNF	SOLMAN	Brent
DNS	RAMBUSKI	Edwin
DNS	HAYLES	Thomas
DNS	LEININGER	Marshall
DNS	SCHWARTZ	Paul
DNS	SCHUELER	Robert
DNS	BUCKSBAUM	John
DNS	CHANDLER	Geoffrey
DNS	HILLS	Alan

For all the best Cyclocross Nationals 2014 coverage, including bike profiles, race reports, results and video interviews, check out our 2014 Cyclocross National Championship Page here.