Saturday C1 Elite Women's Race
Maghalie Rochette (SRAM/Seeker) continues to dominate the Trek USCX Cyclocross Series, taking the victory on day one at Trek CX Cup in Waterloo, Wisc. Twelve years after making her first trip to Waterloo, the win is Rochette’s first ever on the Trek track. The victory also earned her the traditional Wisconsin Badger hockey jersey, which is given to elite men’s and women’s winners.
“I'm from Montreal and hockey is big over there,” she says. “I’ve never had a hockey jersey and this one is a special one. I've always wanted it and I finally got it.”
It was another scorching hot day for cyclocross, with full sun and temperatures in the mid-80s. Rochette wasted little time on lap one, taking to the front and holding it throughout the seven lap race. The Canadian says she didn’t plan to go early, but after puttng in a few “test efforts,” she decided to go all in.
“It went super well, but it was really warm, so I think it would have been smarter to play it a little bit safer and stay as a group a little bit longer,” she recalls.
On lap one, as the field reached the infamous Trek run up, Rochette was already at the head of affairs, followed closely by Manon Bakker (CTW Fenix-Deceuninck), Lauren Zoerner (Highlands Rance, Colo.; Competitive Edge Racing) and Mia Aseltine (Littleton, Colo.; Competitive Edge Racing). Bakker and Zoerner got their bikes briefly tangled up on the runup and Aseltine came around to take second. At the top, Rochette already had a gap with Aseltine pursuing just behind, followed by Bakker.
With gaps established between the top three, Aseltine decided to bridge to Rochette, rather than chance working with Bakker. On lap two, Aseltine logged her fastest lap of the day and reached Rochette, but the reunion was brief. Knowing Aseltine had just put in a big effort, Rochette cranked up the pace and dropped Aseltine before she could settle on her wheel.
“Maghalie has proven in past races that when she gets off the front, she can just stay there,” Aseltine says. “So, I knew I had to catch her and that was a pretty big effort. But she's really smart. She put in a big dig as soon as I got up there.”
Left on her own, Aseltine had to balance recovering from her big effort while holding off Bakker, who was holding steady in third. Bakker, who says she came into the race not feeling well, admits that she felt content to hold position for the rest of the race, until she was caught by Raylyn Nuss (St. Louis, Mo.; Steve Tilford Foundation Racing).
“I thought I would be third, which is not great, but it’s okay,” Bakker recalls. “Then I heard somebody saying that Raylyn is coming and I looked and knew I need to go faster. It all clicked afterwards. I got into a rhythm and I got a lot faster in the technical parts. Raylin sparked the fire.”
Meanwhile, Aseltine’s light was starting to dim. At the start of the final lap, Bakker was still in third but closing the gap quickly. By the time they both reached the wooded section, Bakker had reached Aseltine and put in an attack to come around the Competitive Edge rider. The two stayed together until the final trip over the planks. Bakker rode them, while Aseltine ran. As Aseltine remounted, Bakker put in a big effort and quickly opened a three-bike-length gap. “I sprinted immediately because I knew mentally that would be a big hit [for Aseltine],” Bakker adds.
Aseltine couldn’t counter Bakker’s attack and conceded her spot, rolling across the line in third place. It was Aseltine’s second UCI cyclocross weekend of the season and her second weekend garnering a C1 podium spot. After a strong showing at GO Cross in Roanoke on week one of the series, Aseltine went to the UCI Road World Championships in Rwanda. With Worlds watts in her legs, Aseltine is riding at her best.
“I had like a huge jump in my numbers and I've just felt better racing,” she says. “I'm more confident. There has been a change for sure.”
Results
1. Maghalie Rochette (SRAM/Seeker)
2. Manon Bakker (CTW Fenix-Deceuninck)
3. Mia Aseltine (Littleton, Colo.; Competitive Edge Racing)
4. Raylyn Nuss (St. Louis, Mo.; Steve Tilford Foundation Racing)
5. Sidney McGill (LASTIG OFF-ROAD RACING)
Saturday C1 Elite Men's Race
Eric Brunner (Boulder, Colo.; Competitive Edge Racing) earned his fourth win in the Trek USCX Cyclocross Series on Saturday, taking the top step at the Trek CX Cup in Waterloo, Wisc. The C1 race once again pitted Brunner against U.S. men’s elite National Champion Andrew Strohmeyer (Mount Airy, Md.; CXD Trek Bikes). It was a back-and-forth battle in the early laps, but Brunner pulled away in the second half of and held it to the line. With the win, Brunner and Strohmeyer are now tied on points for the overall USCX series with everything on the line at Sunday’s C2 race.
“I knew that I had to win today in order to stay in it for the series,” Brunner says. “That was the goal for today.”
The win was far from assured in the early laps. On the run-up on lap two, Brunner’s cranks backpedalled and he dropped his chain. Strohmeyer was able to capitalize and gunned it at the front. Although Strohmeyer was able to get away, Brunner stayed steady, using the power sections on the straightaways and climbs to claw back Strohmeyer.
“I picked up the pace and put it in preMy good lap,” Strohmeyer says. “I gapped him pretty good but after a couple of straights back-to-back, I could see him coming back quickly even though I was going full gas.”
Brunner crashed near pit 1 on the fourth lap and Strohmeyer surged ahead. Once again, Brunner stayed steady and brought back his rival. Over the second half of the race, Brunner was able to maintain a hard pace and take it to the line for the win.
“I tried to pace the course and ride it like a time trial,” Brunner says. “I put in the efforts where it was going to pay off more and on this course. I think that's definitely the climbs here.”
Behind, Strohmeyer was starting to pay a heavy price for his efforts, experiencing some exercise-induce asthma symptoms. “It's something that comes around when it gets really hot and the air quality is not great,” he says. “I lost the ability to take deep breaths.”
It turned out that Brunner wasn’t the only racer Strohmeyer needed to worry about. At the start of lap two, Jules Van Kempen (Chapel Hill, N.C.; Team Winston Salem – Flow) crashed and fell back to 12th place. Although well off the pace, he was ultimately able to rally, picking his way through groups of riders until he reached the final set of chasers with four laps to go.
“For a lap after I crashed, I was really down,” Van Kempen recalls. “I wasn't feeling good. I wasn't driving well. I lost confidence for a lap or two. Then, I was just coming back to groups. My dad and brother were out here cheering and people were yelling that the group for third wasn't far away. When I got in that group, it was like, ‘All right, it's a new race.’”
When Van Kempen caught on, the chase group was six racers. Van Kempen stayed around third in the group for a couple of laps, as riders started to fall off the back. With about three laps to go, Tyler Clark (Caledon Hills Armada) flicked his elbow to call Van Kempen to the front. Van Kempen took the opportunity to ramp up the pace and soon found himself alone.
“I was just riding and got a gap,” he says. “I paced myself because there were still three laps to go and that's far in this heat. But I could see I was slowly catching Andrew and I was like, ‘Well, shoot, I should probably try and close that gap, too.’”
With two to go, Van Kempen reached Strohmeyer and the two rode together briefly until Van Kempen put in a dig. “I was pretty pinned the whole time out there,” Strohmeyer says. “When Jules caught me, I did what I could to stay with him, but I knew if he put in an attack, I only had one speed. I was going as hard as I could go, but I couldn't accelerate harder than that. So as soon as he put it in a dig, that was it.”
Van Kempen crossed the line in second, taking his second C1 victory in two weeks. “I was second guessing myself after last weekend, thinking maybe it was a fluke,” he says. “But now the belief that I can [make the podium] is coming slowly. The confidence is coming.”
Results
1. Eric Brunner (Boulder, Colo.; Competitive Edge Racing)
2. Jules Van Kempen (Chapel Hill, N.C.; Team Winston Salem – Flow)
3. Andrew Strohmeyer (Mount Airy, Md.; CXD Trek Bikes)
4. Tyler Clark (Caledon Hills Armada)
5. Cody Scott (Competitive Edge Racing)
Sunday C2 Elite Women's Race
Rochette took the win in Waterloo, on day two at Trek CX Cup. With the victory in Sunday’s C2, Rochette claimed the overall women’s elite Ktle in the Trek USCX Cyclocross Series. Combined, she won seven of eight races in the series, losing only once to Bakker on day one of Rochester Cyclocross.
“I’m very grateful for the folks from the Trek USCX series for bringing us together, giving us something to chase,” Rochette says.
Sunday’s win was far from a forgone conclusion. After Saturday's C1, when Rochette secured the victory by lap two, Sunday saw a group of contenders battle at the front in the early laps, led by Rochette, Bakker, Sidney McGill (LASTIG OFF-ROAD RACING) , Asteline, and Nuss. By lap three, Rochette, Bakker and McGill had shed the others and Rochette put in a bit of a dig that tested McGill.
“Maghalie opened a little gap that I was able to bring it back,” McGill says. “Later on that lap, she went again on a short little climb and that broke things apart."
Rochette and Bakker traded blows throughout the rest of the race, but the day’s high winds—which gusted at up to 30 mph—neutralized efforts to get away. “The wind was stronger than yesterday, so if Maghalie attacked, I just needed to stay on her wheel and I was fine,” Bakker says.
Approaching the sixth and final lap, both riders considered their options. “It was a puzzle of like how to get away,” Rochette says. “I think Mannon was riding better than me technically today, but I think I was a little bit stronger on the pedalling sections. So, I tried to go on the last lap and I knew I had to hit the headwind section first with a tiny gap, just so she's not straight onto my wheel.”
With a half lap to go, Rochette attacked into rocky step-up section, knowing that it would create a bike-length gap. From that feature, the course went straight into a headwind. “I knew that was my move,” Rochette says. “I wasn’t looking back, just going all in to the finish. And it worked.”
Rochette opened a gap that kept stretching out in the final turns. After Rochette took the win, Bakker crossed the line six seconds back, followed by McGill at 26 seconds in arears.
“I'm just so grateful for this series,” Rochette says. “What a cool start to the season.”
Results
1. Maghalie Rochette (SRAM/Seeker)
2. Manon Bakker (CTW Fenix-Deceuninck)
3. Sidney McGill (LASTIG OFF-ROAD RACING)
4. Raylyn Nuss (St. Louis, Mo.; Steve Tilford Foundation Racing)
5. Mia Aseltine (Littleton, Colo.; Competitive Edge Racing)
Sunday C2 Elite Men's Race
After seven races over four weekends, the men’s elite title in the Trek USCX Cyclocross Series came down to one final showdown at Sunday’s C2 of the Trek CX Cup. U.S. Men’s Elite National Champion Andrew Strohmeyer and Pan American Men’s Cyclocross Champion Eric Brunner came into the day tied on points in the fight for the overall series win.
Brunner evened the score with a win in Saturday’s C1, dropping Strohmeyer mid-race and holding a large gap all the way to the finish. After Saturday’s dominant performance, Brunner seemed well positioned for a double win weekend on a course that was identical both days. For Strohmeyer, day one served as a scouting report for the Sunday finale. After seeing how Brunner raced the course on day one, Strohmeyer says he figured out where and how to respond to Brunner’s moves.
“I knew the places where attacks were going to happen and I knew where he was strong and where he felt good on the course, so I was ready for it,” Strohmeyer says.
In the early laps, the top ten riders remained grouped at the front with no one establishing a clear lead. By lap three, the group had whittled down to Strohmeyer, Brunner, Van Kempen, and Clark. On the next lap, Clark dropped off the pace, followed shortly by Van Kempen.
With Strohmeyer and Brunner alone at the front, the wind began to play a heavy role with gusts reaching up to 30 mph. Strohmeyer knew he needed to conserve and let Brunner work hard in the wind.
“Today was just about being smart and not wasting energy when it didn't need to be used,” he says. “I let him roll at the front, and I was happy to just follow him around. I only went to the front when I needed to. It was just racing smart and then making the move when it was the right time and not trying to force anything.”
On lap six of nine, Brunner started to struggle to stay with Strohmeyer. “My initial thought was that I’d spent too much time in the wind, but I started to feel that hunger knock,” Brunner says. “I think I just didn’t eat enough [that morning] and that was the main thing.”
With three to go, Strohmeyer knew where Brunner was likely to make a move and he was ready to counter. “I knew he was going to attack on the hardest section of the course, which is from the secret bar, then over the flyover to the barriers,” he recalls. “Yesterday, when he attacked there, I couldn’t follow. Today, I was right there on the wheel.”
On the next lap, Strohmeyer moved to the front and started to open small gaps whenever he punched it out of the corners. With less than two laps to go, Strohmeyer went full gas and gapped Brunner. On the final lap, Brunner turned his slowest lap of the day, ultimately conceding a 35-second gap to Strohmeyer at the finish.
Although out on his own, Van Kempen was able to hold his third-place spot, rolling in 56 seconds behind Strohmeyer. Van Kempen has been a revelation in recent weeks. Although he has been a consistent top-ten rider in the past, he earned his first C1 podium at Charm City Cross and followed up with another C1 podium on Saturday at Trek CX Cup. “Today, I had faith in my legs,” he says. “I decided to put myself on Andrew and Eric's wheel and that was going to get me to where I wanted to be.”
Sunday’s race concluded one of the more thrilling seasons for the men’s elite field in the USCX series. The battle between Brunner and Strohmeyer remained tight throughout the entire series with the overall coming down to the last day of racing.
“I’m not happy with the result, but I'm really happy for the sport,” Brunner says. “Strohmeyer and I are starting to have this rivalry and I think it’s one of the best that we've seen in the sport in a while.”
Strohmeyer says the level of racing at this year’s USCX races has raised the bar for everyone. “We've had four weeks of really good racing and it's been tight battles,” he says. “I think it it's elevated the level in the U.S. a lot. I think that comparing where we are now to where we've been in the past, I think we're closing the gap to the Euros. With having Eric here, we were both pushing each other and pushing the level up more and more. I'm excited to see where it takes us.”
Results
1. Andrew Strohmeyer (Mount Airy, Md.; CXD Trek Bikes)
2. Eric Brunner (Boulder, Colo.; Competitive Edge Racing)
3. Jules Van Kempen (Chapel Hill, N.C.; Team Winston Salem – Flow)
4. Kerry Werner (Vinton, Va.; Velo Mafia Racing p/b Bikeflights)
5. Tyler Clark (Caledon Hills Armada)
