Courtenay McFadden, Garry Millburn Dust Off Day 2 at US Open of Cyclocross – Report, Results

BOULDER, Colo.—Windy conditions continued for the start of Sunday races at the U.S. Open of Cyclocross across Valmont Bike Park. It would be the second full day of UCI Category 2 with USA Cycling’s Professional Cyclocross Calendar (ProCX) points on the line for Junior 17-18 Men, Under-23 Men, Elite Women and Elite Men.

Gomez-Villafane and Hecht Sweep Junior/U23 Weekend

Benjamin Gomez-Villafane (Top Club CycloCross) of Scotts Valley, Calif. went two-for-two in the Junior 17-18 Men’s contest, out-sprinting Henry Jones (Bend Endurance Academy) of Bend, Ore. for the win. Scott Funston (Rad Racing NW) of Maple Valley, Wash. finished third. Going into the Boulder races, Villafane was second overall in ProCX points for the Junior category.

“Essentially the race played out pretty interesting today. At first there wasn’t any wind, and then throughout the race it really picked up, especially at the end. The wind really kept the race together,” said Gomez-Villafane about winds reaching 20-plus miles an hour or more, for a second consecutive day. “At the front it was me, Tyler Clark, Torin (Bickmore), Scott Funston and Calder Wood. And we were at the front just hammering the whole time. Most of us are from sea level, so it was a level playing field. Towards the end it became more of a tactical race.”

In the U23 battle it was an all-Colorado contest. Boulder’s Eric Brunner (Evol Racing) opened a small gap in the lead group with two laps to go, leaving Saturday’s winner Gage Hecht (Alpha Bicycle Co./Groove Subaru) of Parker, Colo. to chase, along with Boulder riders Grant Ellwood (Boulder Cycle Sport), Denzel Stephenson (Evol Racing) and Maxx Chance (Evol Racing). The chasing paid off with a big kick in the final sprint and Hecht secured his second U23 race in two days at Valmont Bike Park.

“It’s always great to race a UCI-level race here at home. Yesterday was amazing. I was super stoked. It’s my first UCI win of the season, which is fantastic. Today I was able to double up,” said U23 winner Hecht. “It was so much fun racing with those guys. We always have real good competition. I think it makes us all faster.”

Second was secured by Stephenson and third went to Ellwood. Eric Brunner, who finished third on Saturday, would miss the podium and finish fourth on Sunday.

McFadden Sprints to the Win

In the Category 2 Elite Women’s race, Courtenay Mcfadden (Pivot Cycles p/b DNA) pushed across the line as the winner in a three-rider sprint. Rising star Katie Clouse (Alpha Bicycle Co.) of Littleton, Colo. grabbed the silver, with the bronze going to Caroline Mani (Van Dessel) of France. Clouse and Mani switched positions on the podium on Sunday, as Clouse finished behind Mani the day before. It was the first UCI cyclocross win for ProCX points this year for Mcfadden, who came into the weekend 15th overall in the elite women’s ProCX standings.

WC2 podium for US Open of Cyclocross 1- @courtmcfadden 2- @KatieClouse1 3- @carolinemani 4- @Sofithevilla 5- Samantha Runnels #ProCX pic.twitter.com/TlwIpO5Yeh

— USACProCX (@USACProCX) October 15, 2017

Millburn Caps U.S. Trip with a Win

The C2 Elite Men kicked up a dust cloud during their time on the dry course in Boulder, with Cody Kaiser of El Dorado Hills, Calif. taking the hole shot. The field began to break apart midway through the race, with 23-year-old Keegan Swenson (Cannondale/3Rox) of Park City, Utah taking a turn at the front. The lead group also contained Canadian Michael van den Ham (Garneau Easton), Saturday’s silver medalist, Colombian Hector Riveros (Stan’s NoTubes), Australian Garry Millburn (Speedvagen x MAAP), and Americans Allen Krughoff (Krughoff Racing) and Jamie Driscoll (Donnelly Sports), who was Saturday’s champion.

Three riders would make a move on the twisty course with two laps to go, and the move would stick for the final podium. It would be the Australian Millburn crossing the line for his first ProCX win this year in five events. Riveros would finish one-tenth of a second behind for second place, and van den Ham would roll across the line in third. Swenson finished fourth, and Driscoll managed fifth.

“Today certainly had enough of a challenge. It broke up a little bit and we had a few gaps. I was just trying to stay at the front,” Millburn said about how the C2 men’s race played out.  “I knew the kind of group I was with. I was confident that I could get the sprint if I just positioned myself right. So I kind of went early on this back straight and into that final corner first. I pulled a pedal. Hector was coming, and I got my foot back in (the pedal), found a few more gears and got there in the end. A great way to cap off the U.S. season for us.”

Millburn was proud to be the first Australian to win a UCI race at US Open of Cyclocross. “Today was pretty good. My wife and I love Boulder,” he continued. “I’m from Sydney, Australia, so this is kind of small town, but enough of what we need. Sydney is just hustle and bustle. This is finishing off our U.S. block now. We did the two World Cups and went to KMC (Cross Fest) and Interlaken (Bloomfield, Colo.) last weekend. Tomorrow morning back to Sydney.”

ProCX racing continues Oct. 21-22 at DCCX in metro Washington, D.C. Races are part of the BikeReg Cyclocross Super Series, and Elite Women and Elite Men competitions are part of USA Cycling’s Professional Cyclocross Calendar (ProCX). DCCX was named the “best local bike race” of 2017 by Washington City Paper, noting that the venue used for the two-day event, The Armed Forces Retirement Home, is normally closed to the public.

The 2017 ProCX schedule provides a total of 43 race days across 18 states and the District of Columbia. The calendar spans September to December and is comprised of UCI-inscripted Category 1 and Category 2 races. Follow ProCX updates and standings this season on Twitter (#ProCX and @USACProCX), Facebook (usacycling) and at www.usacycling.org/procx.

Women's Results - 2017 US Open of Cyclocross Day 2

Rank	BIB	Last Name	First Name	Age	Time
1	2	MCFADDEN	Courtenay	32	45:15
2	11	CLOUSE	Katie	16	45:16
3	1	MANI	Caroline	30	45:16
4	4	GOMEZ VILLAFANE	Sofia	23	45:45
5	6	RUNNELS	Samantha	26	45:46
6	10	RATHBUN	Laurel	21	45:47
7	7	GROSS	Rebecca	37	46:10
8	3	GILBERT	Sunny	38	46:10
9	17	KACHOREK	Emily	37	46:38
10	5	GHENT	Christa	27	46:39
11	14	ARMAN	Dani	27	47:00
12	9	ENGELSTED	Anna "Katrina"	30	47:40
13	23	BEISEL	Amy	33	47:43
14	35	GOULD	Georgia	37	47:51
15	36	LEGAN	Kristen	32	48:04
16	26	SCHMIDTMANN	Petra	16	48:14
17	28	LILLEY	Ava	16	48:21
18	34	LARKIN	Maria	30	48:22
19	8	LEPIKHINA	Ksenia	20	48:59
20	30	MALLORY	Shannon	19	49:03
21	12	HOLLAND	Jolene	27	49:08
22	22	MORRIS	Fiona	32	49:13
23	16	NEWLIN	Meghan	39	49:30
24	24	KUPER	Dana	32	49:36
25	18	FRANZ	Heidi	22	50:03
26	29	DANIEL	Marsa	39	50:18
27	15	DOROVSKIKH	Anna	26	50:37
28	21	ZOERNER	Ashley	18	50:42
29	31	JORGENSON	Nicole	25	50:47
30	13	DOWNEY	Jenna	32	50:57
31	33	JEDDELOH	Laura	26	50:58
32	25	LIVINGSTON	Suzie	32	52:08
33	37	ETHRIDGE	Leslie	27	@1Lap
	38	CARRINGTON	Megan	42

Men's Results - 2017 US Open of Cyclocross

Rank	BIB	Last Name	First Name	Age	Time
1	54	MILLBURN	Garry	30	56:41
2	60	RIVEROS PAEZ	Hector Fernando	30	56:41
3	52	VAN DEN HAM	Michael	25	56:43
4	90	SWENSON	Keegan	23	56:47
5	51	DRISCOLL	James	31	56:48
6	57	KAISER	Cody	25	56:52
7	53	KRUGHOFF	Allen	33	57:13
8	59	MACKEY	Skyler	22	58:18
9	82	BADDICK	Chris	29	58:29
10	66	WELLS	Jake	39	58:33
11	56	ECKMANN	Yannick	24	59:11
12	63	CUPP	Cody	23	59:25
13	71	WHITNEY	Josh	36	59:35
14	79	DAY	Kevin	38	59:49
15	87	FLIS	Mark	34	59:49
16	89	DOLZANI	Samuel	28	59:50
17	58	BRADFORD-PARISH	Kevin	35	1:00:09
18	64	DIREEN	Josh	25	1:00:15
19	65	WILD	Alex	25	1:01:18
20	73	SCHROEDER	Allan	25	1:01:19
21	74	FOSSELL	Eric	35	1:01:44
22	75	ALLEN	William	37	1:01:46
23	72	RINN	Ryan	35	1:01:52
24	88	HUIZENGA	Jacob	31	1:02:11
25	81	VAUGHN	Aaron	33	1:02:17
26	84	JACOBS	Jayson	33	1:02:17
27	21	WEISS	Timber	28	1:02:41
28	78	DOLZANI	Zachary	31	1:02:47
29	77	GANTER	Christopher	39	1:04:12
30	86	THOMAS	Nick	23	1:04:36
31	80	OSTROWSKI	Jeremy	38	1:05:14
DNF	91	MCPHERSON	Ian	22
DNF	62	JOHNSON	Kyle	28
DNF	76	KAPPIUS	Braden	30
DNF	85	PURSELL	Terol	29

U23 Men's Results - 2017 US Open of Cyclocross

Rank	BIB	Last Name	First Name	Age	Time
1	102	HECHT	Gage	19	48:58
2	108	STEPHENSON	Denzel	18	48:59
3	104	ELLWOOD	Grant	21	48:59
4	107	BRUNNER	Eric	19	49:01
5	103	CHANCE	Maxx	21	49:10
6	101	HAIDET	Lance	20	49:27
7	106	GERCHAR	Garrett	21	49:33
8	105	FIX	Brannan	20	49:34
9	118	ELLWOOD	Ross	18	50:07
10	109	TANNER	Jack	19	50:55
11	120	SOTEBEER	Drew	18	52:09
12	117	ANDERSON	Jonathan	21	52:14
13	115	BUCKLEY	Harrison	19	52:15
14	119	WHITTEMORE	Nevin	21	53:23
15	121	FRANZE	Brent	18	54:27
16	116	MELTON	Wiley	18	55:22
17	122	LYNN	Simon	20	55:51

Junior Men's Results - 2017 US Open of Cyclocross

Rank	BIB	Last Name	First Name	Age	Time
1	131	GOMEZVILLAFANE	Benjamin	17	41:35
2	142	JONES	Henry	17	41:40
3	133	CLARK	Tyler	17	41:48
4	148	BICKMORE	Torin	16	42:25
5	144	WOOD	Calder	17	42:48
6	132	BROWN	Sam	17	43:03
7	146	MARTIN	Conor	16	43:13
8	147	JOHNSON	Benjamin	17	43:16
9	149	WATSON	Campbell	17	44:11
10	145	RITZOW	Max	16	44:33
11	151	LIMPACH	Cole	16	44:43
12	150	SPRINGER	Charles	16	46:31
13	143	REYNOLDS	Tyler	16	46:48