Skyhawks Soar in Reno: Nadell Takes Collegiate Varsity Crown, Aided By Davoust – Report

Reno might not be Durango, Colorado, but on Wednesday in the Collegiate Varsity race, it felt like home for Fort Lewis’ Henry Nadell and Stephan Davoust. The two Skyhawks got off the front midway through the race and then used textbook teamwork to cut into the blustery headwind and expand their gap on a duo of Marian chasers.

“It was just like any Durango race we do,” said Davoust about his time off the front with Nadell. “We’re always riding together and having a good teammate there to ride with makes it that much more fun. You just race better when you’re having fun.”

Early in the race, Fort Lewis’ teamwork-makes-the dream-work afternoon looked unlikely. Nadell started hot and was joined by Cade Bickmore (Marian) and defending champion Brannan Fix (Colorado Mesa) off the front. It was not until the back half of the third lap, on the technical climb and descent, that Nadell dropped his companions and Davoust joined him at the front.

Caleb Swartz (Marian) joined Bickmore for a chase of the two Fort Lewis leaders, but Nadell and Davoust had too much horsepower for the Knights and expanded their lead. Nadell led the way through the technical section in the last lap and got a leg up on Davoust in the finishing sprint to take the win.

Based on their respective celebrations, both Skyhawks were pleased with their Wednesday morning ride.

Leaders and Chasers

After the Collegiate Club race evolved into a splintered, solo affair at the front, the Varsity race took more of a group vibe early on.

A lead trio of Nadell, Bickmore and Fix was fixing to get off the front, and a chase of four headed up by Swartz formed behind them. Midway through the second lap, the chase dwindled to Nadell’s teammate Davoust and Swartz, while the lead trio worked to keep them away. If it were a crit, Swartz and Davoust would likely have been content having teammates in the break. However, this is cyclocross, and there was plenty of racing left to go.

The biggest shakeup in the race occurred in the third lap. The approximately eight-minute circuit started with Fix falling off the pace of the lead three. The course at Rancho San Rafael Park features a loooong false flat grind up toward the Podium Pavilion that took riders straight into a strong headwind on Wednesday. Falling off the pace could be deadly for a rider in a group.

Fix learned this the hard way and started to fall back. At the same time, Swartz and Davoust started to close the gap to the leaders. Things were on the move.

The next big shakeup, and the ultimate selection, occurred in the back half of the third lap that featured the technical climb and descent. Nadell escaped from Bickmore and Davoust used his spinning skills on the climb and mountain bike prowess on the descents to leapfrog into second. At the end of the third lap, Nadell and Davoust were reunited with a ten-second lead on the other riders.

“I was just trying to get the two guys away,” said Nadell. “And I knew Stephan was strong enough to come up. I was like, I gotta get rid of everyone with me, Stephan’s coming up and we’re bringing it home.”

Davoust said Nadell’s faith in him paid off. “I used my mountain bike skills on the climb and the descent on the back to move up. I could probably make up 5-10 seconds on those descents.”

Teamwork, Dream Work, Etc.

With half the race left to go, Nadell and Davoust were right where they wanted to be. After passing over the Little Loenhout ditch, through the sand and up the Belgian steps, the two Skyhawks doubled their lead back to third. Behind them, two Marian riders in Swartz and Cade Bickmore gave chase.

Did knowing it was Fort Lewis vs. Marian motivate Nadell and Davoust? “Oh yeah,” said Nadell. “Coming out and knowing you’re racing not just for yourself but also for the team [was a motivation],” Davoust added.

The motivation worked and the two extended their gap in the fifth lap. Nadell was a little stronger on the power sections and then Davoust excelled on the technical features. With one to go, the two were together.

The same script played out for the the Fort Lewis duo in the sixth and final lap. Nadell opened up a gap at pit two, but Davout closed on the long climb in the back half of the lap. Nadell held first wheel and was the first to emerge from Jurassic Park onto the finishing straight. He had the kick to take the win, but the two were obviously excited. Nadell pointed back in homage to his teammate and Davoust returned the compliment. It was quite a way to start the week for the Fort Lewis team.

Swartz eventually gapped Bickmore and brought home a solo third.

Full results are below the video interviews.

Men Collegiate Varsity Results: 2018 Reno Cyclocross Nationals

Place	Bib	Name	Time	Team
1	234	Henry NADELL	48:58	Fort Lewis College
2	262	Stephan DAVOUST	49:02	Fort Lewis College
3	263	Caleb SWARTZ	49:40	Marian University
4	261	Brannan FIX	49:46	Colorado Mesa University
5	244	Cade BICKMORE	49:50	Marian University
6	254	Ben SCHMUTTE	50:01	Marian University
7	238	Liam EARL	50:12	Colorado Mesa University
8	235	Sean FINCHAM	51:00	Savannah College of Art and Design - Atlanta
9	242	Harrison BUCKLEY	51:05	Fort Lewis College
10	237	Skyler MACKEY	51:29	Fort Lewis College
11	269	Carson BECKETT	51:31	Brevard College
12	231	Anders NYSTROM	51:39	Marian University
13	259	Thomas GAUTHIER	51:51	Fort Lewis College
14	268	Ian MCPHERSON	52:07	Fort Lewis College
15	230	Scott MCGILL	53:17	Brevard College
16	258	Tyler ORSCHEL	53:19	Brevard College
17	272	Herman LARSSON	53:34	Colorado Mesa University
18	275	Evan HARTIG	53:38	Lindenwood University
19	276	Jonah MEADVANCORT	54:12	Lindenwood University
20	271	Nicholas BEIRNE	54:18	Marian University
21	255	Andrew SPARKS	54:31	Lees-McRae College
22	241	Jonathan ANDERSON	54:52	Fort Lewis College
23	233	Walker SHAW	54:55	Brevard College
24	264	Dalton WALTERS	55:24	Colorado Mesa University
25	245	Nolan VANDERZWAAG	55:49	Lees-McRae College
26	251	Artur SAGAT	56:01	Savannah College of Art and Design - Atlanta
27	267	Keith MULLALY	56:06	Belmont Abbey College
28	265	Andrew SCARANO	56:34	Savannah College of Art and Design - Atlanta
29	232	Eli HOUSE	56:58	Marian University
30	236	Jack PERRY	57:00	Lees-McRae College
31	229	Sam WINTERS	57:01	Marian University
32	266	Ruben BACON	57:03	Milligan College
33	252	Caleb SMITH	58:11	Lees-McRae College
34	253	Zachary LOWDEN	LAP	Brevard College
35	243	Zachery CARMEL	LAP	Mars Hill University
36	256	Joe WHALLEY	LAP	Milligan College
37	274	Austin GOMES	LAP	Lindenwood University
38	257	Andrew BALDWIN	LAP	Milligan College
39	273	Jason COLESTOCK	LAP	Lindenwood University
40	227	Matthew OWEN	LAP	King University
41	277	Nathaniel SCHOONOVER	LAP	Lindenwood University
42	246	Zachary ROSS	LAP	Lees-McRae College
43	249	William HARDIN	LAP	Lees-McRae College
44	239	Kyle MINDICK	LAP	Marian University
45	228	Blake WILSON	LAP	Milligan College
46	260	Garrett SMITH	LAP	Milligan College
47	278	Samuel MORKAL WILLIAMS	LAP	Warren Wilson College
48	270	Tristin COOPER	LAP	Union College-KY
49	250	Ben EDWARDS	LAP	Union College-KY
DNF	240	Eric HUBBS		King University