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Hello one and all and welcome to day one of the Whitmore’s Landscaping Supercross Cup, the second to last round of the North American Cyclocross Trophy Competition

Currently on course are the Elite Masters, and Westwood Velos Roger Aspholm has a commanding lead over RGM Watches – Richard Sachs – Radix rider Matt Kraus

Riding today and tomorrow should settle out who will take hom ethe coveted title belt in the NACT standings, where Natasha Elliot (Garneau – Club Chausseurs – Ogilvy) looks a solid bet in the women’s division, and Tim Johnson (Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com) only needs to finish fourth on both days to take home overall victory!

Also, don’t forget about today’s giveaway competition, where we’ll have a number of Zipp products to give away to our lucky winners

If you want to get a head start on winning said competition, tweet or comment your men’s podium predictions now, and we’ll see who emerges victorious!

For fulll rules, head here:
http://cxmagazine.com/follow-whitmores-landscaping-nact-finale-live-win-zipp-swag

If you’ll excuse me, as we’ve headed under 30 minutes to go, I must go procure start lists!

While Jake’s away, I’ll share the news from Belgium today. In Hasselt this afternoon we saw Zdenek Stybar grab his first win of the season, just edging out teammate Kevin Pauwels in a very tight sprint. Stybar made a good move on the last lap to put himself in front of a group of four that also included Niels Albert and Klaas Vantornout and he never let up.

Sven Nys rolled a tire early in the race and battled back from deep in the field to come across in sixth, about 25 seconds behind the leaders.

We’ll have more soon on cxmagazine.com.

And I have returned! Let’s look at the main protagonists for today’s women’s event shall we?

The big favorite today has to be Luna’s Georgia Gould who won both days here last year. She may not be riding as seriously as she was one year ago, but she’ll have to be the favorite today

Amy Dombroski (Schlamm p/b Clement & Primus Mootry) gave it a good run in New Jersey last weekend, and should once again today. The conditions suit her a bit better here than they did last weekend

Another who wil benefit from improved course conditions is Laura Van Gilder (C3 Athletes Serving Athletes) who will love the dry, fast course

Natasha Elliot, wearing the NACT leader’s jersey, would love a couple of wins to grab the overall victory in style

Lyne Bessette (October Factory Racing) is back again this year, taking a week off from retirement and Ironman training, to take a crack at another win in Southampton

MAC terror Mary McConneloug (Kenda-Seven-NoTubes) would love nothing less than to take home her fourth win of the season so far this yera

Maureen Bruno Roy (MM Racing p/b Seven Cycles) has been riding well of late and will no doubt be near the front again this weekend

Mountain Bike sensation Kelli Emmett (Giant Factory Team) has swapped the fat tires for the skinny tires again this weekend and will be a major player at the front of things today

Minuteman Road Club has brought a strong squad here today, with top ten threats in Anna Barensfeld and Andrea Smith

The weather today is warm, compared to last year, with temperatures hovering in the mid fifties

There was some rain on Friday that has made a couple points on the course slick, and those sections just all happen to be off-camber, so it can get pretty technical out there

Roger Aspholm just finished up slaying the Elite Master’s field, a good way ahead of Matt Kraus, who was second

During the women’s race, we’ll have a Zipp prize on the line, so keep your eyes peeled, you’ll have to do some research!

And away we go!

Internets dropped out on me, but I showed them who was boss!

After half a lap, Mary McConneloug took the holeshot and took off at the front

She’s accompanied by Maureen Bruno Roy as they go up over Methane Hill, a super steep rise about half way through the course, which reduces even the fastest riders to a standstill

There’s a group forming at the front with the afore mentioned duo, Amy Dombroski, Laura Van Gilder, Natasha Elliot and almost Andrea Smith

Gould is next ahead of Bessette and Emmett

The women plunge into the woods, and here they are again, McConneloug still leading the charge, followed by Dombroski, Elliot, Bruno Roy and a few others, as Gould has joined the front

McConneloug and Dombroski have split a bit off the front

Emmett is moving towards the front, Dombroski sees that and takes off!

Dombroski is going going gone, she’s got 3 seconds, and everyone better get there soon!

Gould and Bessette are stuck behind some slower folks, not working to her advantage

Their advantage that is

The gap to the duo of McConneloug and Emmett is four seconds!

The group with Gould is led by Van Gilder and has Bruno Roy as well. Andrea Smith is almost in contact with them, but Bessette is being pried off

Dombroski is on the gas, she’s extending by meters here and there, making it look easy

Elliott is now on the second group, and is sitting on McConneloug who keeps doing all the work, there goes Elliott!, Emmett comes around to respond

Gould moves around Van Gilder and Bruno Roy in an attempt to move into that next group

Emmett is away from the chase group, and looks like she’s closing on Dombroski

McConneloug is trying to get on Emmett’s wheel, as Gould is testing Van Gilder and Bruno Roy

McConneloug is in the pain cave, Gould is closing on her

Emmett doesn’t look to be closing too hard after all. Elliott is hanging tough in third, holding on to that leader’s jersey

Gould has caught McConneloug and is now in fourth on the road

Dombroski is now abut to hit the line, 11 seconds behind is Emmett, then comes Elliott

Laura Van Gilder is closing on McConneloug

Up at the front, Emmett is clsing on the lead!

Emmett is inching close, as now Gouls is on the wheel of Elliott!

McConneloug has had a bit of a resurgence, holding close to Gould as she moves through the field

Emmett is on Dombroski’s wheel!

Meanwhile, just behind, Gould has shed Elliott, and now Van Gilder is on the Canadian’s wheel

Now the race begins in earnest, Dombroski and Emmett will get four to go as they cross the line

McConneloug is with Elliott, not Van Gilder

Across the line, Elliott pins it to Dombroski, but Dombroski responds and goes back to the front

Hang on a minute, that’s not right!

All photos are courtesy of Anthony Skorochod, once they’re rotated

Emmett is working on gapping Dombroski as they hit some of the technical sections. Emmett is probably the better technical rider, due to her mountain bike background, but Dombroski can get her on the flats and attacks straight away!

Dombroski has the gap now, it’s about 2 seconds thanks to that huge charge, but the technical stuff is coming, so they should be back together shortly

Gould is alone in third now, as is McConneloug in fourth, having dropped Elliott

Elliott is hanging off the front of the duo of Laura Van Gilder and Maureen Bruno Roy

Andrea Smith is alone next, a loooooong way back

Dombroski extended her lead enought that it looks like Emmett won’t be able to come back

Dombroski gets two to go, and she’s got 6 seconds on Emmett

Gould is alone, with little chance of getting second, but she’s got to watch out for McConneloug who is being absorbed by Van Gilder who’s towing Elliott and Bruno Roy

Look at that, a correctly rotated photo!

Emmett won’t give out, but there’s not a ton of time left to catch back on!

Contest time folks!

On offer now will be a Zipp Shop Apron!

Can anyone tell me… What is the appropriate spoke length on the drive side of a Zipp 303 Cyclocross rear wheel?

First to tell me wins that apron!

There’s your victor! It is 246 mm

Stick around and I’ll get your information

We now await the return of Dombroski for the bell lap!

Emmett is still in the frame, she’s having a hard time closing things down though. The gap is 3 seconds, but there’s only one more lap to close down the gap!

Gould has no chance at second, but she’s solidly in third

McConneloug is back with Van Gilder, Elliott and Bruno Roy

Bet you cant guess who’s going to win the sprint out of that group!

Emmett has caught Dombroski! Does she have one more attack left?

Dombroski accelerates into the day’s major climb, Emmett can just never hold her there

Dombroski looks to have dropped Emmett for good as she approaches the race’s final meters

Here she comes, only a few more turns to handle

Emmett was dispatched pretty resoundingly, but it’s a good way to bounce back from Mercer

Dombroski takes the win, and shortly thereafter comes Emmett

There should be a great battle for fourth coming

Gould will rollin safely to third as she heads to the pavement

Van Gilder leads things down to the line, Elliot comes around McConneloug and they’re neck and neck to the sprint

Van Gilder gets fourth, McConneloug out sprints Elliott for fifth, then comes Bruno Roy

Andrea Smith hits the pavement and takes home 8th place

Emmett had a great go, but just came up short

saHere comes the race for 9th, as Sara Bresnick-Zocchi out sprints Anna Barensfeld for 9th

Sorry about that folks, I’m back finally

We’re now awaiting the men’s start!

Don’t forget to put in your podium prediction comments for a shot at winning a Zipp bag!

Unfortunately, I’m a bit behind schedule, so I’ll quickly run through the who’s who of who’s here

All three Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com riders are here as is Kona’s Ryan Trebon

Chris Jones is here representing Champion Systems, as is the Giant duo of Adam Craig and Carl Decker

Go to http://cxmagazine.com/follow-whitmores-landscaping-nact-finale-live-win-zipp-swag for full contest rules

We’re now counting down to the men’s start!

Don’t be surprised today if Adam Craig is a big player. He’s got a better starting position than he’s used to this season

And away we go!

Scherz took the holeshot, and immediately upon hitting the grass, Trebon moved to the front

Johnson is there, Jones is there, it’s on now!

Trebon is on teh front, with Valentin Scherz hanging on for dear life, Johnson has moved on to his wheel and it looks like Powers is there too

Scherz, you’ll remember is the 19 year old Swiss sensation who came over to the States to race this year of cross before joining the Swiss Military

Riders are about to finish up their small parade lap, and we’ll see what the top ten looks like

Trebon is on the gas, then its Scherz, Powers, Johnson, Jones, Josh Dillon, Decker, Driscoll, and there’s Adam Craig almost there

In the next group is Gvin Mannion, Ryan Dewald of Battly Harley Davidson and Tyler Trace

Trebon looks to be the fastest one here after the first lap, let’s see if he can hold this pace (I’m thinking he can)

Powers has now moved to the front, and here comes Driscoll to the front, they’ve dropped Scherz who’s about 10th wheel

Craig is on that second group too

There goes Trebon to thef ront, and now it’s Trebon, Powers and Johnson up ahead

Driscoll is almost up to the front, looks like we might be seeing some tactics now

Jones is hanging tough too, he’s a gamer

Trebon continues to lead, as Jones is back on, and there’s Driscoll too!

Mike Garrigan is now leading Adam Craig, Josh Dillon and Carl Decker in the first chase group

Valentin Scherz is on his own, after a super hot start, and then there’s Derrick St. John among a bunch others

Make sure you stick around after things are settled for some great photos!

There’s a lead group of five, Trebon is standing on it, but sits it up on the pavement and there goes Johnson marked by Jones!

Craig is now on his own trying to close down the front five

Driscoll almost made it on, but didn’t quite, but he’s still in the mix

Johnson made that attack, while Powers sat on his wheel, playing the team game

Johnson is holding a small gap, as Trebon dashes across the gap over the barriers. Long legs will do that for you

Powers is clinging to Trebon’s wheel, as he’s still second wheel. Jones and Driscoll are still dangling

Driscoll goes past Jones in pursuit of his teammates

Everyone’s all together up the hill, who will make the next move

Craig is back in the group, realizing he wasn’t going to catch the front, Dillon is there as is Decker

Powers move was next, and he’s ahead of Johnson, Trebon and Driscoll. No sign of Jones!

Jones must have had an issue, because he’s about 8 seconds back

Powers’ attack has only shed Driscoll!

The pace lets up and Driscoll is back on

Behind Craig, Dillon and Decker is St. John and Scherz

Trebon is now on the front, and Driscoll pops off ever so slightly again

Trebon sits up and Powers comes around again

Johnson is just sitting there, biding his time

Driscoll is turning himself inside out to get up to the front

Craig has again dropped his chase group and is alone in sixth almost to Chris Jones

Driscoll makes contact again, it’s three vs. one again

Trebon continues to tap away at the front, he’s going to have to drop everyone of those Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com riders, or else he’ll be swarmed and overwhelmed

Trebon’s riding is stringing things out, but he hasn’t dropped anyone yet

Craig is closing on Jones, he’ll be in the top five soon

Huge issues for Trebon, Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com are away!

Trebon had a big bobble heading up the hill and he’s about 10 seconds back now!

Powers is applying the pressure at the front, no doubt they’ll take turns attacking to distance the tall Kona man

Argh!

Let’s try that again!

Craig is right on Jones’ tail pipes!

Dillon, Decker and Garrigan are losing ground on St. John and Scherz now

Powers and Johnson are together, with Driscoll dangling behind, looks like Trebon is reeling them in a bit

Catching them will have used up some speed on Trebon’s part, though

Craig is sitting on Jones, hanging out for a bit, while just behind, St. John and Scherz made contact with Decker, Garrigan and Dillon

Johnson is now the one on the gas, and Driscoll looks to be distanced for good, but they’ve opened up on Trebon for sure!

The gap has maybe tripled since Trebon’s bobble. He may well be out of this race

Craig is on the gas on Jones, and he’s away!

I give up, if you save as you can rotate and see them!

Johnson has now dropped Powers and he’s away on his own!

Even Driscoll has upped his gap over Trebon, he’s down and out it would seem

Jones is still clinging to Craig, but Craig looks like he should drop him any time soon

Now St. John has taken off and only brought Garrigan and Scherz

Johnson has 4 seconds on Powers, 15 on Driscoll and 25 on Trebon!

Jones closed back in on Craig, using that straight line power on the back side of the course

For those of you too lazy to save and rotate.

St John keeps pressing his advantage in the next group, popping Scherz but still bringing Garrigan

Dillon and Decker are hanging on in the next group

Johnson is opening up the gap over Powers, this is a masterclass

Driscoll will now have to focus on holding off Trebon, no easy task

Trebon is closing on Driscoll, but not on anyone else

Johnson continues to open up over Powers, looking the smoothest and strongest out there

Craig and Jones are now still together, duking it out

Gavin Mannion looks like he’s been running a long time, he’s got a mechanical and has dropped way back. He’s a top ten in a field like this, so that’s got to be dissapointing

There’s acres of space between Trebon and Craig, fourth and fifth respectively

Johnson is flying, as he hits the line, having opened 15 seconds to Powers, 25 to Driscoll and 32 to Trebon

Jones is now leading Craig, maybe finding a second wind

Johnson has started to fly through lapped traffic

Driscoll is still on the gas, and he’s put more distance between himself and Trebon

Crossresults.com’s Colin Reuter just got lapped by Johnson, Johnson is really moving

Driscoll looks like he’s almost on Powers’ wheel!

Powers was sick last weekend, so it woudln’t be surprising if he fades a little towards the closing stages of this race

Johnson is about to lap through Mannion, bummer for the young man

The top four are now over methane hill, and Johnson is hitting the pavement!

Johnson just gets three to go as he crossed the line

Powers took that turn way wide, and looked like he almost clipped the fence

Trebon now hits the line. All that seems to be left is to stay upright

Jones has dropped Craig for fifth!

Craig doesn’t look too happy back there, under the pressure of Jones

Johnson is still out of the saddle, attacking every corner! Impressive!

Behind Craig, it’s a group of three with Scherz, St. John and Garrigan, shortly there after is Decker

Dillon looks to have cracked pretty hard, he’s alone as the next one to come through

There’s a battle looming between Driscoll and Powers, as Driscoll is coming on strong, still closing on Powers

Trebon is 12 seconds off of Driscoll’s wheel

Everyone is now moving through tons of lapped traffic, as Johnson continues to pour it on

Johnson is now on the pavement, and he’s got two to go!

Powers is now through, resplendent in his neon green kicks

There’s Driscoll, closing ever so slightly

Trebon has lost more ground, he’s got little to worry about for fourth, so he can hang out, wait for tomorrow

The crowd now starts to make its way to the line

Jones and Craig look to be almost settled too for fifth and sixth

Johnson is through the barriers, and he’s only got one more time left to negotiate them

St. John is on the attack, distancing Scherz and Garrigan

Garrigan attacks to track down his compatriot

Decker is holding his own behind

Johnson, Powers and Driscoll are all either on or up the climb, and Trebon is nowhere to be found

Trebon hits the climb, only one more time left at the front

Johnson is down from the high side before Trebon is even half way up

Trebon biffs it, not having a good time over there!

Trebon was clean off his bike, not a good day for the West Coast

The sun is setting, and the vistas around here are picturesque. Johnson could even have some time to admire at this point

Johnson heads back on to the pavement, about to lap Ryan Dewald of Battly Harley Davidson

Johnson gets the bell!

Powers is now on the pavement, getting the bell, and here comes Driscoll. He’s out of real estate unless he can rip off something huge

Now Trebon hits the pavement, getting the bell in fourth

Jones is now on the pavement for the bell. That’s a solid ride to drop Craig, who is about 10 seconds back. Craig went to a little thing called the olympics a few months back

Johnson is up the hill for the last time

Scherz cracked big time, he’s been passed now by Carl Decker!

Trebon really let it slide in the last couple laps, the gap to Driscoll has gone out by more than double

Powers and Driscoll are up over the climb, as Johnson is back down

Only Methane Hill to negotiate and it will be another victory for Johnson, by my calculations, his 8th of the year

He’s over Methane Hill and it’s easy from here

Johnson now hits the pavement, safe and sound! That wraps up the NACT for him as well!

Powers now enters the arena, a strong second place for him

Driscoll makes it another podium sweep, closing out third

There’s Trebon, almost on the pavement

A couple mistimed bobbles sunk his ship today, but he’ll be back in force tomorrow

Just behind, Jones managed to hold off Craig, who made a late charge to close up some ground, but fell short for sixth

Here comes a sprint for seventh, Garrigan slams the door on St. John

Carl Decker is next to come home, good for ninth place

Valentin Scherz rounds out the top ten

Josh Dillon heads home for 11th now

Tyler Trace grabs 12th

Well hey thanks for tuning in!

Stick around folks, we’ll hammer out some pictures quick!

Hang tight folks, the photos are coming!

Well folks, the internets are not agreeing with me once again, but check back later tonight to see some great photos from today’s action!

That does it for me, see you tomorrow, but be here a bit earlier!