A sunny day greeted the 31 riders ready to battle for the victory at the inaugural UCI race at River Walk Park in West Sacramento. A fast pace quickly led a 12-rider break at the front of the race on the three-kilometer course a the end of the first of six laps.
One lap later, the front group was down to four riders led by Katerina Nash (Clif Pro Team) with Courtenay McFadden (American Classic/Zones), Amanda Nauman (SDG – Muscle Monster) and Samantha Runnels (Squidbikes).
“The group was strong, it was a really good pace and everybody was motivated to go hard.” commented Nash. “We had a strong pace going. I wasn’t feeling super good today, so I figured I’d pace myself and save it for the end.”
Katerina Nash wins 2017 WSCXGP Day 1. © V. Sama / Cyclocross Magazine
Though Nash set the pace for the majority of the next two laps, McFadden did makes a few passes on the off camber sections.
Katerina Nash wins 2017 WSCXGP Day 1. © V. Sama / Cyclocross Magazine
“Katerina is always the one to watch out for because she’s amazing,” McFadden said. “I was just hoping to stay on her wheel as long as I could, but then with two and half to go, Katerina just laid the power down and just exploded us all.”
Courtenay McFadden attacks Nash. photo: Peloton sports
“I think it’s good for me to not be scared of her,” McFadden said of racing with and against Nash. “She’s amazing and I think it’s just good to attack and know hey you can attack somebody who is really a world class racer and rider. It’s fun and it helps me learn to race aside from just sitting on her wheel. Attack her and see if I can drop anyone else that’s with us and play around with racing.” The WSCXGP is McFadden’s fifth UCI race since her hip surgery earlier this year.
Katerina Nash wins 2017 WSCXGP Day 1. © V. Sama / Cyclocross Magazine
With two laps to go, Nash put the power down and shattered the lead group. “It was getting to the point of the race where everybody is a little bit tired so you just have to try a little attack here, there and see if it sticks, see where it could stick for the next laps,” Nash said. “You have to keep trying. And then I was able to get a little gap and from that point on, I was able to pin it to the very end, Courtenay was close.”
Katerina Nash wins 2017 WSCXGP Day 1. © V. Sama / Cyclocross Magazine
McFadden gave chase solo to take second place, crossing the line 12 seconds behind the winner. Nauman won the battle for third place over Runnels.
“We sprinted off the line and I was able to stay top three with Katerina and Courtenay and it was really hard,” Runnels said. “I was basically just trying to hang on their wheel as long as possible. It was a really hard course really fast and slippy. On the off-camber I slipped at one point and that’s when I got off the gap of three and I kinda bridged it but then I messed up in the sand once too and you really can’t mess up when you’re riding with those girls, you gotta stay on them as much as you can, but it was a really fun race.”
Katerina Nash wins WSCXGP Day 1. © V. Sama / Cyclocross Magazine
West Sacramento Cyclocross Grand Prix continues Sunday, Oct. 1 with amateur cycling races in the morning, followed by Category 2 Elite races for men and women in the afternoon.
Full results below. Peloton Sports and Vicky Sama contributed to this report.
Schedule of Events
Sunday
• Amateur Races (masters, juniors, various categories) 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
• Kid’s Lap (10 and under) 11 a.m. (free)
• Singe Speed Races 2 p.m.
• UCI C2 Elite Women (ProCX) 3 p.m. Pacific
• UCI C2 Elite Men (ProCX) 4:10 p.m. Pacific
2017 West Sacramento Cyclocross Grand Prix - WSCXGP Day 1 - Elite Women's Results
| Pos | Bib | Name | Age | City | Sponsor | Time | Back |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Katerina Nash | 41 | Emeryville CA | Clif Pro Team | 45:34:00 | |
| 2 | 13 | Courtenay Mcfadden | 31 | Bellingham WA | American Classic/Zones | 45:47:00 | 0:12 |
| 3 | 2 | Amanda Nauman | 29 | Laguna Hills CA | SDG - Muscle Monster | 46:35:00 | 1:01 |
| 4 | 5 | Samantha Runnels | 27 | Austin TX | Squidbikes | 47:11:00 | 1:36 |
| 5 | 3 | Emily Kachorek | 39 | Sacramento CA | Squid | 47:48:00 | 2:13 |
| 6 | 35 | Teal Stetson-Lee | 32 | Reno NV | Scott 3Rox | 48:15:00 | 2:40 |
| 7 | 12 | Beth Ann Orton | 37 | Bend OR | Team S&M CX | 48:33:00 | 2:58 |
| 8 | 4 | Cassandra Maximenko | 35 | Watertown CT | Van Dessel/Atom Composites | 48:46:00 | 3:11 |
| 9 | 7 | Danielle Arman | 28 | Boulder CO | Tenspeed Hero | 49:06:00 | 3:31 |
| 10 | 8 | Clara Honsinger | 21 | Portland OR | Team S&M CX | 49:21:00 | 3:46 |
| 11 | 9 | Shannon Mallory | 20 | Bellingham WA | NWCX Project | 49:55:00 | 4:20 |
| 12 | 26 | Anna Megale | 27 | Boise ID | UpCycle Boise | 50:25:00 | 4:50 |
| 13 | 36 | Leslie Ethridge | 28 | Boulder CO | Topo Designs Cycling Club | 50:28:00 | 4:53 |
| 14 | 34 | Emily Sportsman | 42 | Oakland CA | Team Roaring Mouse | 50:31:00 | 4:56 |
| 15 | 16 | Alexandra Burton | 37 | Portland OR | Point S Racing | 50:37:00 | 5:02 |
| 16 | 11 | Heidi Wood | 33 | Hood River OR | HiFi Sound Cycling Components | 50:39:00 | 5:04 |
| 17 | 29 | Terra Kier | 36 | Santa Monica CA | Square 1 | 50:49:00 | 5:14 |
| 18 | 31 | Karen Brems | 56 | Redwood City CA | SunPower Racing | 50:53:00 | 5:18 |
| 19 | 6 | Laura Winberry | 34 | Bend OR | Speedvagen Family Racing | 51:12:00 | 5:37 |
| 20 | 15 | Meghan Newlin | 40 | Boulder CO | Full Cycle Boulder | 52:17:00 | 6:42 |
| 21 | 27 | Hillary King | 31 | Kent WA | Bicycle Centres | 52:50:00 | 7:15 |
| 22 | 18 | Dana Kuper | 33 | San Francisco CA | Team Roaring Mouse | 52:55:00 | 7:20 |
| 23 | 28 | Sarah Kaufmann | 37 | Salt Lake City UT | Summit Cyclery | 35:09:00 | - |
| 25 | 32 | Kristin Drumm | 49 | Novato CA | CX Nation | 35:35:00 | - |
| 27 | 23 | Campbell Steers | 29 | Santa Cruz CA | Rocklobster | 35:39:00 | - |
| 26 | 17 | Tanya Grossman | 45 | Castro Valley CA | Cx Nation | 35:41:00 | - |
| 24 | 10 | Heidi Franz | 23 | Kirkland WA | NWCX Project | 35:59:00 | - |
| 29 | 21 | Solana Kline | 36 | Reno NV | Equipo Resiste | 39:07:00 | - |
| 28 | 33 | Mary Maroon | 41 | Oakland CA | Rock Lobster | 28:02:00 | - |
| 31 | 37 | Charlotte Hart | 39 | Merced CA | Monster Media Elite Women | 31:09:00 | - |
| 30 | 24 | Lindsay Wetzel Polin | 37 | Marina CA | SK Racing | 20:55 | - |
| dnf | 20 | Chelsea Weidinger | 34 | San Francisco CA | Mash SF | 28:11:00 | - |
| 30 | Caroline Nolan | 29 | Chico CA | Voler/ Clif/ HRS/ Rock Lobster | - | - |
ProCX continues Oct. 7-8 with C1 and C2 events at Charm City Cross in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the 13th year cyclocross races have been held at Druid Hill Park and the eighth year for UCI events for women and men. The UCI events will be part of the SHO-AIR US CUP-CX series.
