McConneloug Repeats, Driscoll Escapes at Cycle-Smart International Day 2 – Updated: Full Report, Photos, Results

The 19^th annual Cycle-Smart International wrapped up a weekend of top-level UCI racing in Northampton this weekend. Blue skies and a fast, hard packed course greeted racers for the tenth round of the Verge New England Championship Cyclo-Cross Series. As has become tradition on the course in Northampton, much of the course was reversed today with an off-camber descent turned into a difficult run- or ride-up and the steep ride-up becoming a fast drop-off into a raised track crossing. For many of the racers on course today, the second day of the Cycle-Smart International represents the pinnacle of New England cyclocross.

The Elite Women featured a tough battle between Mary McConneloug (Kenda/Seven/NoTubes), Laura Van Gilder (C3/Athletes Serving Athletes), Natasha Elliott (Garneau/Club Chaussure/Ogilvy) and Andrea Smith (Minuteman Road Club). On the first lap, McConneloug used the mountain biking prowess that brought her to the Olympics to begin to pull away on the ride-up and once she went clear, she never looked back and soloed to another victory in front of an enthusiastic home crowd. Behind her, Van Gilder and Elliott were neck and neck the whole race, each having different strengths with Van Gilder taking the lead on the power sections and Elliott leading through the sinuous roots on the upper level of the course. Elliott’s tactic of keeping the pressure up in hopes of forcing her competition to make a mistake did not work, as Van Gilder was able to hold tight until the last lap. The final pass through the sand pit with a quarter lap left saw Van Gilder launch an attack, pulling clear and crossing the line second. Elliott was close behind in third; Andrea Smith came through alone for fourth.

Series leader Maureen Bruno-Roy (MM Racing) came onto the finishing straight with Rebecca Wellons (Team Plan C) and Sara Bresnick-Zocchi (pedalpowercoaching.com/Landry’s Bicycles) and was not able to match their acceleration, finishing seventh, but holding onto the series lead.

For the second day of the weekend, carnage marked the beginning of the Elite Men’s race. This time, the crash came only twenty-five meters into the race as normal shoulder rubbing ended with an enormous pile-up that took down nearly half the field. Most of the noteworthy racers made it through cleanly with the exception of Adam Craig (Giant MTB Team) who emerged with a flat tire and broken shifter at the back of the field. Forced for the second day to fight back from a mechanical issue, Craig chased valiantly, showing his spirit and ended the day in ninth.

At the front of the race, Jamey Driscoll (Cannondale/cyclocrossworld.com), Dan Timmerman (Richard Sachs/RGM/Radix) and race promoter Adam Myerson (Cycle-Smart) took an early lead. Driscoll led after the first lap and held a gap of only a few seconds on Myerson and Timmerman. Timmerman though, rolled a tire on the second lap, losing many positions, forcing him to claw his way back to defend his series leader’s jersey.  Timmerman rode like a man possessed and crossed the line seventh, in front of U-23 winner and series leader Luke Keough (Team Champion System). Myerson’s hopes were dashed when he flatted far from the pit and had to ride conservatively to stay in the game, eventually rolling through in 14^th place.

At the front of the race, though, it was the Jamey Driscoll show. In a rare race without a teammate, Driscoll rode smoothly and efficiently, stretching his lead over a four-man chase group to over thirty seconds. As it became clear that the chase was not going to succeed, Nicholas Weighall (California Giant Berry Farms/Specialized) attacked, followed only by Derrick St John (Garneau/Club Chassure/Ogilvy). Without the rest of their chase group, Weighall and St John were able to get in sight of Driscoll, despite being five seconds apart themselves. At one point, going into the bell lap, Weighall got within ten seconds of the leader, it was as close as he would get though. Driscoll picked up his fist victory since Cross Vegas to go with seemingly countless podiums. Weighall pulled in second with St. John third.

The 35+ Masters race shook out differently than it had for most of the season with the lead group including more than just the duo from Corner Cycle – Johnny Bold and Kevin Hines – and Roger Aspholm. Joining them on Sunday were Curtis Boivin (Planet Bike), Kurt Perham (bikeman.com/pbmcoaching.com) and, for the second time on the weekend, Richard Sachs/RGM/Radix rider Matt Kraus. These six maintained a solid group for much of the race and it was only on the last lap that it started to shed racers, first Boivin, then Perham. Going into the bell lap, Hines loosed with an attack on the group but Kraus and Aspholm had other ideas and brought it back. Aspholm, desperate to regain his leader’s jersey lost on Saturday, launched an attack of his own on the final pass through the sand, creating a gap of a few bike lengths that he was able to hold to the finish, taking victory. Behind him, Kraus outsprinted Hines for second and his second podium of the weekend. Bold pulled in fourth and surrendered the leader’s jersey to Aspholm.

The Canadian trio from EMD Serono/Specialized of Evan McNeely, Conor O’Brien and Karl Hoppner and the Clif Bar Development Cyclocross Team pair of Nate Morse and Curtis White dominated the U-19 juniors race. McNeely demonstrated his dominance with his fifth win in six Verge races ahead of his teammate O’Brien. Third and fourth spots were taken by Morse and White with Hoppner rounding out the top five.

Once again, U-15 phenom Austin Vincent from CL Noonan/KAM/Coast to Coast’s strong development squad took a solo ride to victory ahead of Minuteman Road Club’s Peter Goguen. The battle of the day, as it often is, was for third and My Way racer Nicholas Catlin led Cooper Willsey from White’s Bikes/GMBC/Catamount over the line in a reversal of Saturday’s fortunes.

Today’s racing capped a great 19^th anniversary for the oldest UCI race in America. Near record turnout, perfect weather and great competition left racers and spectators satisfied and energized. The Verge NECCS will resume in two weeks with the return of the Bay State Cyclocross Weekend in Sterling, Massachusetts on November 28 and 29.

The Verge New England Championship Cyclo-Cross Series will be contested over 7 weekends in 2009, starting with the New England Cross-toberfest of Cycling:  3 straights weekends of UCI calendar racing to be held in Williston VT, Gloucester MA, and Providence RI.  After a weekend of much needed rest, the series will continue with stops in New Gloucester ME on Oct 24, Northampton MA on Nov 7, Sterling MA on Nov 28, and the series finale in Warwick RI on Dec 5.  This year series is generously supported by Verge Sport, makers of fine cycling clothing and products since 1993; by Cycle-Smart, purveyors of personalized cycling coaching and solutions for riders across the country; by BikeReg.com, the official online registration service of the NECCS; by Paul Weiss Photo/Video, the official photographer of the NECCS, by October Handmade Bicycles, and by Ryders Eyewear.  You can visit these sponsors and get more information on the series by going to the web at http://www.cycle-smart.com/neccs.

Photo Gallery:

Full Results:

UCI Elite/U23 Men		52 Starters
Place	First Name	Last Name	Team	Bib	U23	Time
1	Jamey	Driscoll	Cannondale/CycloCrossWorld.com	2		1:01:15
2	Nicholas	Weighall	California Giant Berry Farms/Specialized	13		1:01:27
3	DERRICK	ST JOHN	Garneau Club Chaussure Ogilvy	4		1:01:32
4	Josh	Dillon	RICHARD SACHS – RGM WATCHES – RADIX	7		1:01:42
5	Justin	Lindine	BikeReg.com / Joe’s Garage / IF	12		1:01:53
6	William	Dugan	RICHARD SACHS – RGM WATCHES – RADIX	10		1:02:34
7	Dan	Timmerman	RICHARD SACHS – RGM WATCHES – RADIX	3		1:02:55
8	Luke	Keough	Team Champion System	8	1	1:02:55
9	Adam	Craig	Giant MTB Team	48		1:03:25
10	Jerome	Townsend	BikeReg.com / Joe’s Garage / IF	9	2	1:03:42
11	Dylan	McNicholas	CCB Racing	14		1:03:51
12	Manny	Goguen	BikeReg.com / Joe’s Garage / IF	22	3	1:03:52
13	Nathaniel	Ward	BikeReg.com / Joe’s Garage / IF	20		1:04:43
14	Adam	Myerson	Cycle-Smart	6		1:05:01
15	Ethan	Gilmour	Belllapcoaching.com	27	4	1:05:04
16	Peter	Bradshaw	Embrocation Cycling Journal	45		1:05:06
17	Colin	Reuter	International Bicycle/crossresults.com	34		1:06:00
18	david	wilcox	Geekhouse Bikes / Boston Rock Gym	29		1:06:03
19	John	Burns	Bikeman.com	23		1:06:04
20	Todd	Wheelden	KONA/OA/CycleMania	21		1:06:08
21	Wayne	Bray	Syracuse Bicycle / Spokepost.com	24		1:06:34
22	Greg	Whitney	Back Bay Bicycles / Espresso Royale Caffe	37		1:07:05
23	mitchell	Hoke	Cliff Bar Development Cyclo Cross Team	49	5	1:07:08
24	Tyler	Wren	Boo Bicycles	11		1:07:09
25	andrew	crooks	NYC Velo	39		1:07:24
26	Peter	Rubijono	Embrocation/IGLEHEART/MadAlchemy	54		1:07:53
27	Christopher	Hamlin	UVM Cycling	41		1:08:06
28	Rickey	Visinski	Echappe Equipment Elite Team	16		1:08:20
29	Michael	Rea	NorEast Cycling	53		1:08:30
30	PETE	SMITH	Embrocation Cycling Journal / Mad Alchemy	26		1:09:13
31	matthew	green	Spooky bikes	38	6
32	John	Hanson	IF/Lionette’s	31
33	Jake	Keough	Team Champion System	15
34	Adam	Sullivan	Cycle-Smart / NCC	33
35	Kevin	Sweeney	International Bicycle Center	32
36	Soren	Klingsporn	Signature Cycles / Rockstar Games	51		at 1 to go
37	Tom	Gosselin	Peak Performance Multisport	47		at 1 to go
38	Michael	Jenks	Highland Park Hermes p/b Kim’s Bike Shop	30		at 1 to go
39	Pierre	Vanden Borre	Embrocation Cycling Journal / Mad Alchemy	43		at 1 to go
40	Macky	Franklin	Pioneer Racing	52		at 2 to go
41	Alistair	Sponsel	Van Dessel Factory Team	46		at 2 to go
42	Joshua	Friedman	NYC Velo	44		at 2 to go
43	Michael	Norton	Verge Sport / Test Pilot	40		at 3 to go
DNF	Chris	Gagnon	MTBMind.com/Duratec	50		at 3 to go
DNF	Patrick	Bradley	Rutgers University Cycling Team	25		DNF
DNF	Nick	Keough	Team Champion System	35		DNF
DNF	Matt	Mainer	UVM Cycling	42		DNF
DNF	Gavin	Mannion	Hot Tubes Junior Development Team	17	10	DNF
DNF	Kirt	Fitzpatrick	Sexual Camel	18		DNF
DNF	Michael	Broderick	KENDA-Seven-NoTubes	19		DNF
DNF	christian	favata	Favata’s Tablerock Tours and Bikes	28		DNF
DNF	John	Peterson	bikebarnracing.com	55		DNF
UCI Elite Women	25 starters
Place	First Name	Last Name	Team	Bib		Time
1	Mary	McConneloug	KENDA-Seven-NoTubes	6		0:38:43
2	LAURA	VAN GILDER	C3 Athletes Serving Athletes	3		0:38:52
3	NATASHA	ELLIOTT	Garneau Club Chaussure Ogilvy	1		0:39:02
4	Andrea	Smith	Minuteman Road Club	5		0:39:27
5	Rebecca	Wellons	Team Plan C	4		0:40:17
6	Sara	Bresnick-Zocchi	Pedalpowercoaching.com/ Landrys Bicycles	7		0:40:18
7	Maureen	Bruno Roy	MM Racing	2		0:40:19
8	Ann	D’Ambruoso	Minuteman Road Club	15		0:40:28
9	sally	annis	Hub Racing	10		0:40:53
10	Anna	Barensfeld	Minuteman Road Club	9		0:41:10
11	Anna	Milkowski	BikeReg.com / Joe’s Garage / IF	24		0:41:13
12	Linnea	Koons	October Factory Racing	8		0:41:17
13	Christina	Tamilio	Minuteman Road Club	17		0:41:32
14	Arielle	Filiberti	Dartmouth College	23		0:41:55
15	Rebecca	Blatt	US Army/ Central Wheel	22		0:41:56
16	Karin	Holmes	Sunapee S&W	20		0:41:57
17	Sarah	Krzysiak	Syracuse Bicycle/Spokepost.com	21		0:42:33
18	BETH	MASON	Verge Test Pilot	14		0:42:56
19	Bryna	Nestor	Anthem Sports	18		0:42:57
20	Michelle	Kersbergen	Joe’s Garage	11		0:43:32
21	Callie	Gordon	Cyclocrossworld.com	26		0:43:34
22	Allison	Snooks	Minuteman Road Club	16		0:44:00
23	Natalia	Gardiol	Cambridge Bicycle / Igleheart Frames	12		0:44:15
24	Marilyn	Ruseckas	Seven Cycles	19		0:44:56