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Van Gilder, McConnelough and Annis on the podium.

Van Gilder, McConneloug and Annis on the podium.

by Keith Hower

Mary McConneloug took Laura Van Gilder in a sprint for the line, after the duo jockeyed with Sally Annis for the better part of the race. McConneloug and Van Gilder were able to distance Annis towards the end, leading to a two-up battle on the uphill road section to the finish.

Benefiting from the wind, Annis drove the pace at the start of the race and tore apart the field. However, even with Annis adding firepower, there were roughly ten racers in the front through the early laps. The group grew sparser as racers tired in the hot conditions. Van Gilder and McConneloug (Kenda-Seven-NoTubes) then took over pace-setting, while racers including Annis (crossresults.com-JRA Cycles), Andrea Smith (LadiesFirst Racing), Arley Kemmerer (C3-Athletes Serving Athletes) and Crystal Anthony (Ladies First Racing) stayed on the powerhouse paceline.

In the final, heated laps of the race, Annis, McConneloug, Van Gilder and Smith were all that remained of the lead group. In the pavement section, Van Gilder made her moved and McConneloug clung to her wheel.

Van Gilder went into the lead before the downhill.

McConneloug soon countered the move. “Mary attacked me coming into the side of the pit,” Van Gilder said. “I overtook her on the backside and got to the barriers first, but I had a bit of a shifting issue over the barrier and that created just enough of a gap for Mary.”

After suffering from shifting issues on the barrier, Van Gilder put in a strong move to try and close the gap.

“Mary got to the pavement first after the barrier,” Van Gilder said. However, she nearly managed to catch McConneloug by the finish. To spectators, it looked like a sprint finale.”We bumped a little at the end, but it’s just the nature of the road. It was just racing. It wasn’t anything aggressive,” Van Gilder said.

The win was McConneloug’s first of the year. Annis was able to claim third, with fourth going to Smith. Arley Kemmerer, who pushed the pace for much of the race, finished in fifth, followed by Crystal Anthony. Throughout the race, Anthony was pointed out as New England cyclocross royalty, thanks to brother Jesse Anthony’s successes in cyclocross and subsequent recent retirement from cyclocross to pursue a career on the road this year. Seventh was other hometown favorite, Mo Bruno Roy, who suffered a crash on Saturday that knocked her out of the lead group.

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Results

UCI Elite Women   40 minutes 41 starters  
PlaceU23BibTimeFirst NameLast NameTeamCityState
111130:37:48MaryMcConnelougKENDA-Seven-NoTubesChilmarkMA
211010:37:48LAURAVAN GILDERC3 p/b Mellow Mushroom
311020:37:57sallyanniscrossresults.com p/b JRA cyclesNashuaNH
411030:38:03AndreaSmithLadiesFirst RacingSomervilleMA
511050:38:09arleykemmererC3 - Athletes Serving AthletesSaylorsburgPA
611070:38:15CrystalAnthonyLadiesFirst RacingBeverlyMA
711040:38:18MaureenBruno RoyBob's Red Mill pb Seven CyclesArlingtonMA
811200:38:25ElleAndersonLadiesFirst RacingLEBANONNH
911060:38:25SaraBresnick-ZocchiEmbrocationcycling.comArlingtonMA
1011160:38:54catherinesterlingBikeman.comworcesterMA
1111120:39:02RebeccaWellonsQuad CyclesWoburnMA
1211140:39:20AnnaBarensfeldSterling CX p/b SendmailWellesleyMA
1311090:39:34CarolynPopovicTeam CFEast NorritonPA
1411290:39:37JenaGreaserNorEast CyclingNewtonMA
1511150:39:37PattyBuerkleVA Asset Group p/b Artemis/TrekPittsburghPA
1611110:39:46ChristinaTamilioLadiesFirst RacingBrightonMA
1711230:39:51StaceyBarbossaElite Endurance Training SystemsRutherfordNJ
1811410:40:15MelissaRossTeam Kenda Presented by GearGrinderNorwoodMA
1911360:40:24cassandramaximenkosilverbull centralwheelnaugatuckCT
2011250:40:29BrittLeeBowmancrossresults.com p/b JRA CyclesNew YorkNY
2111450:40:36NancyLabbe-GiguereLadiesFirst RacingArlingtonMA
2211430:40:48KathleenLysakowskiCycle LodgeWareMA
2311180:40:53FrancesMorrisonJ.A.M. Fund/NCCEasthamptonMA
2411220:41:14LEXALBRECHTJuvederm-Specialized-MazdaLAVALQC
2511240:41:22BrynaBlanchardNorth American VeloTroyNY
2611190:41:29KristineChurchHuman ZoomPhiladelphiaPA
2711390:41:37LauraRalstonNorEast CyclingCambridgeMA
28111420:41:37ElizabethWhiteBLUE STEEL CYCLERYBedfordNH
2911310:41:37JennyIvesVerge Sport/ Test PilotSaratoga SpringsNY
3011370:42:00VanessaMcCafferyCorning/NoTubes Race Team/Swan CyclesNewfieldNY
3111330:42:16LaurenKlingNew England Athletic CyclocrossSomervilleMA
3211300:42:22MollyHurfordTeam Rockstar Games / Signature CyclesHamptonNJ
3311440:42:40KerryLitkaNorEastNashuaNH
3411320:42:57MarianJamisonLadiesFirst RacingGloucesterMA
3511260:43:14KELLYCHANGSyCipOaklandCA
3611380:44:47AnnaMilkowskiWheelworks RacingAndoverMA