Huck, Driscoll Reign at Day 1 of the US Open of Cyclocross in Boulder – Report, Results

BOULDER, Colo. (Oct. 14, 2017) – The U.S. Open of Cyclocross featured a full docket of UCI races on Saturday, and points for USA Cycling’s Professional Cyclocross Calendar (ProCX). Strong winds provided as much of a challenge as the new courses at Valmont Bike Park, which began with the second event of the year for the Junior 17-18 Men. It would be the first Under-23 competition of the season for USA Cycling’s Professional Cyclocross Calendar (ProCX).

Gomez-Villafane Wins Juniors, Hecht U23s

Benjamin Gomez-Villafane (Top Club CycloCross) would claim his second Junior victory of the 2017 season, adding to a win and a third place he earned at KMC Cross Fest two weeks ago.

Gage Hecht of Parker, Colo. (Alpha Bicycle Co. – Groove Subaru) was well off the front on the bell lap and won the U23 contest. Among the chasers were a Boulder duo of Grant Ellwood (Boulder Cycle Sport) and Eric Brunner (EVOL Racing), who would finish would finish second and third, respectively.

Men's U23 #USOPENOFCROSS 1 Hecht, 2 Ellwood, 3 Brunner pic.twitter.com/YnTKzqkEqC

— Mary Topping (@butterflywriter) October 14, 2017

“Today was a super fun race. It’s probably the best I have felt this season,” said Hecht about winning the opening U23 race of the ProCX calendar. “I was excited to put some power into it today. It was so windy out there. A couple of sections out there I was actually having to run just because you couldn’t keep the bike underneath you. It definitely made it a huge challenge out there. It was a blast.”

Mountain Bike Star Huck Wins Women’s Race

The UCI Category 2 Elite Women’s race was won by 2017 U.S. National Short Track Cross Country national champion Erin Huck of Boulder. She made her move in the final half lap of the women’s event to outdistance France’s Caroline Mani (Van Dessel) and 17-year-old Katie Clouse (Alpha Bicycle Co.).

“I figured I might as well go for it,” said Huck about her first cyclocross race of the year. “I was using my mountain bike skills to descend pretty well. Definitely noticed that I had a lack of some cyclocross skills, any time it came to a dismount section. So I figured the girls would catch up to me on the back side, but fortunately I was able to keep my distance.”

Driscoll Outsprints Van den Ham in Men’s Race

The UCI C2 Elite Men came down to a wild-west sprint between Jamie Driscoll (Donnelly Sports) of Park City, Utah and Canadian Michael van den Ham (Garneau Easton), with Driscoll scoring his first ProCX win of the year. Twenty-three-year-old Keegan Swenson (Cannondale/3Rox) of Park City would finish third.

“It was just fast and bumpy out there. I had the classic diesel engine, but I thought I’d have a little more pop. I was able to climb my way back after many accelerations, so I knew it wouldn’t be a late move that would give me any success,” said Driscoll about his C2 sprint win, which was won by centimeters rather than inches. “I went full gas the entire (last) lap. Because of the head wind on the sprint, I was expecting people to come around me. It was a short enough sprint that I held them off. Honestly, when I crossed the line, I didn’t know I took it (the win). Michael was there. We both threw the bike and it was inches.”

#USOpenofCross men's podium 1 Driscoll, 2 MVDH, 3 Swenson, 4 Riveros, 5 Krughoff pic.twitter.com/n1YJX5cacg

— Mary Topping (@butterflywriter) October 14, 2017

ProCX racing continues in at Valmont Bike Park in Boulder on Sunday, with additional contests for all UCI events. Sponsors for the event include Clif Bar, Shimano and Giant Bicycles. The Ska Brewing Beer Garden opens to the public at 11 a.m., with proceeds benefiting the Believe Ranch and Rescue Foundation.

Elite Women's Results - 2017 US Open of Cyclocross Day 1

Place	Bib	Rider	Team	Time
1	111	Huck, Erin	3 Rox Racing-Cannondale	43:51
2	101	Mani, Caroline	Van dessel /atom composites	43:56
3	110	Clouse, Katie	Alpha Bicycle Co	43:57
4	104	Gomez Villafane, Sofia	Pivot Cycles pb DNA Cycling	43:59
5	102	Mcfadden, Courtenay	Pivot Cycles p/b DNA Cycling	44:18
6	103	Gilbert, Sunny	Van Dessel Factory Team	45:02
7	117	Bernstein, Caitlin	Vive La Tarte CX	45:17
8	120	Runnels, Samantha	Squid Bikes	45:20
9	119	Kachorek, Emily	Squid Bikes	45:35
10	107	Arman, Danielle	Tenspeed Hero/Firefly Bicycles	45:44
11	105	Gross, Rebecca	Zero-D Racing	45:54
12	108	Rathbun, Laurel	Donnelly Cycling Team	45:55
13	137	Gould, Georgia	Boo Bicycles	45:56
14	114	Ghent, Christa	Amy D Foundation	45:7
15	138	Engelsted, Anna Katrina	Boulder Cycle Sport	46:15
16	135	Schmidtmann, Petra	Van Dessel Factory Cycling	46:17
17	133	Legan, Kristen	EVOL DevoElite Racing	46:18
18	134	Beisel, Amy	Kenda tire	47:00
19	112	Mallory, Shannon	NWCX Project	47:16
20	130	Holland, Jolene	Ultra Violet	47:19
21	115	Franz, Heidi	NWCX Project	47:28
22	127	Livingston, Suzie	TOPO Cycling	48:13
23	116	Morris, Fiona	Speedvagen x MAAP	48:30
24	121	Larkin, Maria	The Meteor p/b Allied	48:38
25	131	Newlin, Meghan	Full cycle/Topo	48:39
26	128	Daniel, Marsa	MD Endurance Coaching	48:42
27	126	Lilley, Ava	Bend Endurance Academy	49:13
28	140	Ethridge, Leslie	Topo Designs Cycling Club	49:32
29	118	Ramsay, Turner	Alpha Bicycle Co.- Groove Subaru	50:06
30	129	Jorgenson, Nicole	Bauerhaus x Tenspeed Hero	50:50
31	113	Zoerner, Ashley	Groove Subaru excel sports	53:03
32	139	Jeddeloh, Laura	MD Endurance Coaching	@1Lap
DNF	109	Miller, Meredith	Rapha
DNF	125	Dorovskikh, Anna	Boulder Cycle Sport
DNF	132	Downey, Jenna	Peachtree Bikes
DNF	136	Kuper, Dana	Team Roaring Mouse

Elite Men's Results - 2017 US Open of Cyclocross Day 1

Place	Bib	Rider	Team	Time
1	1	Driscoll, James	Donnelly Cycling Cyclocross Team	1:00:48
2	2	Van Den Ham, Michael	Garneau - Easton P/B Transitions Life C	s.t.
3	40	Swenson, Keegan	Cannondale/3Rox Racing	s.t.
4	9	Riveros Paez, Hector Fernando	Stan'S Notubes P/B Maxx / Construction	1:00:58
5	3	Krughoff, Allen	Krughoff Racing	1:01:15
6	6	Kaiser, Cody	Lange Twins / Specialized	1:01:16
7	4	Millburn, Garry	Speedvagen X Maap	1:02:02
8	38	Baddick, Chris	Boulder Cycle Sport	1:02:05
9	5	Eckmann, Yannick	Cuore Racing Team	1:03:10
10	11	Mcpherson, Ian	Evol Racing	s.t.
11	12	Cupp, Cody	Gillespie Eye Care/Set Coaching/Arlberg	1:03:13
12	7	Bradford-Parish, Kevin	Gillespie Eye Care/Setcoaching	1:03:34
13	24	Flis, Mark	X-Men/ Trek/ Storm Cycles	1:03:38
14	28	Whitney, Josh	Evol Racing	s.t.
15	14	Wild, Alex	Trail Head Racing / Specialized	1:04:05
16	39	Dolzani, Samuel	Honey Stinger / Bontrager	1:04:05
17	41	Schroeder, Allan	Project Aka	1:04:35
18	30	Pursell, Terol	Redspoke Racing P/B Remax Pros.	1:04:54
19	34	Johnson, Kyle	Team Yacht Club	1:04:59
20	35	Day, Kevin	Rollout App	1:05:02
21	8	Mackey, Skyler	Kccx Elite Cyclocross Team	1:05:36
22	54	Jacobs, Jayson	Breismeister Factory	1:06:22
23	43	Huizenga, Jacob	Chicago Cuttin Crew	1:06:23
24	26	Fossell, Eric	Cos Racing	1:06:25
25	25	Ganter, Chris	Rolf Prima P/B Niner Maxxis Champsys	1:06:26
26	42	Allen, William	Feedback Sports	1:06:29
27	36	Rinn, Ryan	Vive La Tarte Cx	1:06:30
28	32	Ostrowski, Jeremy	Reynolds Roofing	1:07:44
29	27	Vaughn, Aaron	Rallysport	1:08:14
30	31	Dolzani, Zachary	Honey Stinger	1:08:27
31	22	Thomas, Nick	Trek Cyclocross Collective	1:09:11
32	21	Weiss, Timber	Lit Af	@ 1 Lap
33	23	Coats, James	Spokesman Cyclocross	@ 3 Lap
34	33	Kappius, Braden	Team Clif Bar	@ 5 Lap
35	37	Hindman, Steve	Pen Velo Racing / Summit Bikes	@ 5 Lap
DNF	13	Direen, Josh	Groove Subaru-Excel Sports
DNF	10	Downing, Spencer	Panache Houndstooth Racing

U23 Men's Results - US Open of Cyclocross Day 1

Place	Bib	Rider	Team	Time
1	46	Hecht, Gage	Alpha Bicycle Co./Groove Subaru	54:00
2	48	Ellwood, Grant	Boulder Cycle Sport	54:23
3	51	Brunner, Eric	Evol Racing	54:54
4	47	Chance, Maxx	EVOL Racing	55:14
5	45	Haidet, Lance	Donnelly Cycling	55:24
6	52	Stephenson, Denzel	Evol Racing	56:26
7	66	Ellwod, Ross	Boulder Cycle Sport	56:28
8	50	Gerchar, Garrett	Clif Bar Cyclocross Team	56:29
9	53	Tanner, Jack	Clif Bar Development Cross Team	57:35
10	49	Fix, Brannan	Alpha Bicycle Co.-Groove Subaru	57:55
11	63	Sotebeer, Drew	Alpha Bicycle Co.- Groove Subaru	1:00:04
12	62	Buckley, Harrison	Procycling Race Team	1:00:25
13	65	Anderson, Jonathan	Fort Lewis College	1:02:04
14	67	Melton, Wiley	Melton Design Build PB GS Forza	@2Lap
15	64	Franze, Brent	giant co factory buena park bikes	@2Lap
16	61	Whittemore, Nevin	Clif Bar Development Cross Team	@3Lap

Junior Men's Results - US Open of Cyclocross Day 1

Place	Bib	Rider	Team	Time
1	71	Gomez Villafane, Benjamin	TopClub CycloCross	40:00
2	89	Bickmore, Torin	Boulder Junior Cycling	40:01
3	85	Clark, Tyler	KMS cycling Killington Mountain School	40:02
4	73	Funston, Scott	Rad Racing NW	40:03
5	72	Wood, Calder	Rad Racing NW	40:04
6	84	Jones, Henry	Bend Endurance Academy	40:06
7	91	Martin, Conor	GARNEAU-EASTON p/b TRANSITIONS LIFECARE	41:05
8	86	Brown, Sam	Kona Super Grassroots	41:51
9	90	Johnson, Benjamin	Unattached	42:19
10	82	Watson, Campbell	Boulder Junior Cycling	42:32
11	83	Reynolds, Tyler	Trek Cyclocross Collective	42:40
12	87	Ritzow, Max	PDX Ti	42:41
13	88	Pawlak, Nathan	Prestige Imports	44:03
14	81	Limpach, Cole	Harvest Racing	@3Laps