Showdown at Warwick: Keough Takes Round One in a Sprint Finish – Updated Report

by Molly Hurford

WARWICK, RHODE ISLAND — For Luke Keough (Keough Cyclocross), Justin Lindine (Joe’s Garage-BikeReg.com), and the third place rider in the Shimano Series’, Dylan McNicholas (Cannondale-CyclocrossWorld), NBX in Warwick, Rhode Island, was to be a clash of the cyclocross titans of New England. On the line? The $5,000 prize money awarded to the series’ leader at the end of the weekend. The point spread? Going into the weekend, Lindine and Keough were separated by a mere three points, with Keough narrowly holding the lead. That lead increased substantially today.

The day before the race, Cyclocross Magazine caught up with both Luke Keough and Justin Lindine in order to hear their thoughts surrounding the weekend. Keough, who had just gotten in from training when we snagged him, told us “travel back from Europe [where he raced at the Koksijde World Cup last weekend] is always hard on the system. We will see how it goes but I definitely still feel the jet lag and that will be a big factor this weekend.”

Lindine told us, “I’m psyched about it. It’s a different position than I was in last year where I came into it and lost it at this race. Now, the pressure’s on Luke. I like the course, so I’m excited but I don’t feel like I have a ton to lose.”

Justin Lindine has been having the season of his life, snatching up UCI wins like they’re going out of business, and even picking up a C1 win at Providence. He’s talked a lot to us in the past about his struggles with his sprint, something Keough excels in, and the two being neck-and-neck pit two very different racing styles against each other. While Lindine started the season incredibly strong, Luke Keough has been having a fantastic second part of the season, taking both days of Cycle-Smart International nearly a month ago. The two have battled before: both of the racers made it onto the podium for Day Two of Providence, though Lindine took the win while Keough sprinted to a second place finish. And of course, no one can eliminate Dylan McNicholas from the equation entirely: he’s in third place in the series, after a double win at Bay State last weekend, and is still a legitimate contender for the series’ title.

Beyond Keough and Lindine, it was a star-studded field with six-time Swiss National Champion Christian Heule and his Cannondale-cyclocrossworld.com teammate Jamey Driscoll joining the pinnacle of New England racing.

However, it was Luke Keough who took the win, not the international talent. In a sprint finish, Keough passed Heule  by a mere wheel length at the line. The two were trailed by surprise rider of the weekend, Jamey Driscoll, followed by Cannondale-CylocrossWorld teammate Dylan McNicholas in fourth. Jerome Townsend (SmartStop-Mock Orange), who led for half of the last lap, took the fifth spot, followed by Lindine.

The racing was furious from the gun, with Dylan McNicholas (cyclocrossworld.com) taking the holeshot and leading the field into the sand. For the first few laps, despite the intense pace, the front group contained twelve racers with leadership switching between McNicholas, Mike Garrigan (Lapierre Canada), Shawn Milne (ECV-Mazda) and the duo from Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com. Notably, Keough, while rarely on the front, was never behind third wheel and was quick to cover all moves.

The clip slowly began to shed racers as Driscoll turned on his big diesel engine. The group was eventually trimmed to seven with Driscoll at the front, followed by Heule, Keough, McNicholas, Lindine and SmartStop-MOB teammates Jerome Townsend and Adam Myerson. While Myerson, McNicholas and Lindine were put into difficulty, each demonstrated his grit and determination by coming back to the lead. A split came with four to go as Heule, Driscoll and Keough went off the front, forcing the group of four to chase.

At two to go, thanks to some chess playing at the front, the gap had come down and it came back together. With seven racers evenly matched, this looked likely to come to a sprint. On the final half of a lap, Heule attacked out of the sandpit and Keough dug incredibly deep to stay with him. McNicholas, slightly gapped, turned himself inside out and made contact with Driscoll behind him.

On the final 180-degree turn onto the pavement, Heule was at the front with Driscoll second and looked ready to pick up his second Shimano Series victory of the season. Keough, dug deep into his reserves and uncorked one of the finest sprints we’ve seen all season and came around Heule for the most prestigious victory of his young career. Heule held on for second ahead of Driscoll. McNicholas came across the line fourth. Townsend picked up fifth ahead of Lindine with Myerson seventh.

With only one day of racing left in the Shimano New England Professional Cyclocross Series, we’re bound to see another race as exciting as today. The series winners will be crowned Sunday.

Luke Keough talks about his finish:

[youtube rbN3dIEPZrQ 580 360]

Place	U23	Bib	Time	First Name	Last Name	Team	City	State	Elite	U23
1	1	5	1:01:49	LUKE	KEOUGH	CHAMPION SYSTEM P/B KEOUGH CYCLOCROSS	SANDWICH	MA	40	40
2		44	1:01:50	CHRISTIAN	HEULE	CANNONDALE P/B CYCLOCROSSWORLD	MANCHESTER	MA	30
3		1	1:01:51	JAMEY	DRISCOLL	CANNONDALE CYCLOCROSSWORLD	JERICHO	VT	20
4		3	1:01:52	DYLAN	MCNICHOLAS	CYCLOCROSSWORLD.COM	STRATHAM	NH	15
5		6	1:01:58	JEROME	TOWNSEND	SMARTSTOP / MOCKORANGEBIKES PB RIDLEY	PRINCETON	MA	10
6		2	1:02:00	JUSTIN	LINDINE	BIKEREG.COM / JOE'S GARAGE	NEW SALEM	MA	8
7		7	1:02:07	ADAM	MYERSON	TEAM MOUNTAIN KHAKIS PRESENTED BY SMARTSTOP	BOSTON	MA	6
8		14	1:02:39	SHAWN	MILNE	ESSEX COUNTY VELO - DRIVEN BY MAZDA	BEVERLY`	MA	4
9		4	1:02:44	MIKE	GARRIGAN	LAPIERRE CANADA	HILLSBURGH	ON	2
10	2	19	1:02:45	JEFFREY	BAHNSON	VAN DESSEL FACTORY TEAM	NEWARK	DE	1	30
11		17	1:03:28	DAN	CHABANOV	RGM WATCHES - RICHARD SACHS	BROOKLYN	NY
12		10	1:03:29	ALEC	DONAHUE	J.A.M. FUND / NCC	EASTHAMPTON	MA
13		11	1:03:29	CHRISTIAN	FAVATA	RGM WATCHES - RICHARD SACHS	KERHONKSON	NY
14		13	1:03:29	ANDREW	WULFKUHLE	C3-ATHLETES SERVING ATHLETES	LANCASTER	PA
15	3	31	1:03:31	SYNJEN	MARROCCO	CORNER CYCLE	HANSON	MA		20
16		18	1:03:33	ANTHONY	CLARK	J.A.M. FUND / NCC	EASTHAMPTON	MA
17		9	1:04:47	NICK	KEOUGH	CHAMPION SYSTEM P/B KEOUGH CYCLOCROSS	SANDWICH	MA
18		42	1:04:50	DAVID	WILCOX	CYCLE-SMART	JAMAICA PLAIN	MA
19	4	20	1:04:50	PATRICK	BRADLEY	RUTGERS UNIVERSITY | RALEIGH CYCLING	RICHWOOD	NJ		15
20		37	1:04:51	TOM	SAMPSON	RHINO	PLYMOUTH	NH
21		36	1:05:12	COLIN	REUTER	CROSSRESULTS.COM P/B JRA CYCLES	SOMERVILLE	MA
22		15	1:05:20	BRYAN	FAWLEY	ORBEA USA	DALLAS	TX
23		43	1:05:20	MICHAEL	WISSELL	B2C2/ BOLOCO	ALLSTON	MA
24		40	1:05:25	JOSH	THORNTON	BH BICYCLES/GG EVENTS LLC	DADE CITY	FL
25		27	1:06:00	EVAN	HUFF	BIKEREG.COM / JOE'S GARAGE	RUSSELL	MA
26		35	1:06:01	ALLAN	REGO	FARM TEAM ELITE	TIVERTON	RI
27		34	1:06:10	STEPHEN	PIERCE	EMBROCATION CYCLING JOURNAL	CAMBRIDGE	MA
28		29	1:06:22	THIERRY	LALIBERTE	XPREZO - BORSAO	CANTON DE SHEFFORD	QC
29		30	1:06:27	ANDREW	LYSAGHT	MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY / FXDD	SOMERVILLE	MA
30		25	1:06:39	DONNY	GREEN	CYCLE-SMART	PROVIDENCE	RI
31		21	1:06:47	JOHN	BURNS	BURNS RACING	YARMOUTH	ME
32	5	16	1:07:44	MANNY	GOGUEN	BIKEREG.COM / JOE'S GARAGE	HOPEDALE	MA		10
33		23	1:07:49	ALEX	COX	UVM CYCLING ALUMNI MAFIA (P/B AMERICA)	BURLINGTON	VT
34		39	1:09:11	ADAM	SULLIVAN	EMBROCATION CYCLING JOURNAL	NORTH KINGSTOWN	RI
35		22	1L	BEN	COLEMAN	UVM CYCLING	BURLINGTON	VT
36	6	38	1L	IAN	SCHON	B2C2/BOLOCO/BACKBAYBICYCLES	ALLSTON	MA		8
37		26	2L	PETER	HAGERTY	ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	SO. ST. PAUL	MN
38		41	2L	PIERRE	VANDEN BORRE	EMBROCATION CYCLING JOURNAL	JAMAICA PLAIN	MA
39		32	3L	JEFF	MOOTE	CYCLOCROSSRACING.COM	NIAGARA FALLS	ON
DNF		28		JESSE	KEOUGH	CHAMPION SYSTEM P/B KEOUGH CYCLOCROSS	SANDWICH	MA
DNF		24		CARY	FRIDRICH	EMBROCATION CYCLING JOURNAL	SOMERVILLE	MA
DNF		12		SHAUN	ADAMSON	CYCLE-SMART	AMHERST	MA
DNS		8		JOSH	DILLON	RGM WATCHES - RICHARD SACHS	ESSEX JUNCTION	VT
DNS		33		JOHN	PETERSON	WWW.BIKEBARNRACING.COM	NORTH EASTON	MA