Snow Rocks Jingle Cross Day 2: Wells and Jacques-Maynes Roll to Wins

by John Meehan, photos by Steve Fry

Elite Men

Overnight snow on day two of the 2008 UCI Carousel Volkswagen Jingle Cross Rock turned the previous day’s fast descent down the steep slopes of Mt. Krumpit into a muddy bog that resembled a bobsled run.

Andy Jacques-Maynes took the lead on the treacherous off camber Mt. Krumpit hillside and pulled away from the field. After a strong start, Troy Wells (Clif Bar) quickly fell back through the field after suffering a mechanical. Wells found that running the difficult off camber was no easy task losing his footing several times. Todd Wells (GT) hit out in hot pursuit of Jacques-Maynes, followed by Steve Tilford.

Catching Jacques-Maynes at the base of Mt. Krumpit, Todd Wells put his Olympic mountain biking skills to use ascending the long muddy climb rapidly, creating a small lead that he increased with a strong descent down Mt. Krumpit’s steep southern face. Jacques-Maynes hung close for several laps but could not close the gap.

Todd Wells took the win coming in solo. With a strong second place performance on the previous day, Wells was declared the overall champion for the 2008 Jingle Cross Rock.

Jacques-Maynes slid in for second place, while Tilford continued to show his exceptional bike handling skills staying in a comfortable third place position throughout the race where he would eventually finish. Troy Wells suffered more technical issues in the early laps but had an impressive charge late in the race and finished 4th.

Elite Women

On the women’s side, Amanda Miller (Mesa Cycles) took the early lead and plowed her way down the steep ice and snow covered Mt. Krumpit mud bog. Her blistering pace through the many tricky, technical areas quickly separated her from the rest of the field. Miller took the win by a comfortable margin.

Josie Jacques-Maynes took a tumble down Mt. Krumpit once or twice throughout the days racing. Jacques-Maynes was able to stay upright when it mattered to claim second place over Sydney Brown (Midwest Cycling Community) who finished a strong 3rd.

Full Results: