November 30/10 8:21 am - NECCS # 8 report, results and photos

Posted by Editoress on 11/30/10
 

The Bay State Cyclocross concluded on Sunday with an exclamation point, by Jeremy Powers (Cannondale p/b cyclocrossworld.com) taking a solo victory in the men's race in impressive fashion and Andrea Smith (Ladies First Racing) outsprinting Maureen Bruno-Roy (Bob's Red Mill p/b Seven Cycles) for the women's victory.  Overnight temperatures well below-freezing kept Sunday's course in Sterling frozen for much of the day, giving racers greasy and rutted conditions to top off the generally more technical Sunday parcours.

Some of the course's primary features - including three long off-camber sections - remained frozen for the entire day, claiming the glue jobs of several underinflated tubulars. A section added to the course distinct from Saturday's race - a series of tight corners that even in the best conditions would prove difficult for racers to flow through - ended the day soft and sloppy, and allowed some of the key selections on the day to be made.

Photo gallery

Women
For the elite women, the race started out in a similar fashion to Saturday, with a big selection being made early and a group of six burning the laps down together. Sunday's group included C3/Athletes Serving Athletes teammates Laura Van Gilder and Arley Kemmerer, NECCS leader Sally Annis of crossresults.com p/b JRA Cycles, Natasha Elliott (Garneau Club/Chaussure/Ogilvy), Andrea Smith and Mo Bruno-Roy.

Natasha Elliott

The group held together for almost the entire race, with all racers making attempts at getting away.  However, between the nature of the course and the strength of the lead group, no attacks were able to stick. With two laps to go, on the descent from the upper level, Laura Van Gilder, who had already recovered from one mechanical that forced her into the pit, slid out on a frozen turn, taking down Annis and briefly holding up Elliott.

Bruno-Roy and Smith took advantage of the slip and built a quick ten-second gap. The other racer who wasn't held up in the crash was Arley Kemmerer, who had been sitting at the back of the group, ready to take advantage of mistakes made by anyone in the group. Though she was unable to get up to the leaders, Kemmerer held Elliott off for the remainder of the race and held on for an impressive third place.

At the front, Bruno-Roy and Smith kept a high pace for the final lap, with Smith leading much of the time. Bruno-Roy took to the front on the approach to the finishing straight, knowing her best chance to outsprint Smith would be to be in front and control the available course. In the final fifty meters, Smith found a small opening along the fencing and bested Bruno-Roy by the slimmest of margins. Elliott came across fourth with Van Gilder fifth and Annis sixth.

With her victory, Smith regained the Verge NECCS leader's jersey by a slim margin heading into the final weekend of the series, next weekend in Warwick, Rhode Island. Van Gilder, by virtue of her victory yesterday, was able to take home the coveted NACT championship belt.

Men
The elite men had a near-repeat of Saturday, with Jeremy Powers sitting comfortably in a large group for the first half of the race until he decided that it was time to turn up the heat. The early selection came quickly, with Powers, Nick and Luke Keough (Champion System p/b Keough Cyclocross), Josh Dillon (Richard Sachs/RGM Watches/Radix), Adam Myerson (Cycle-Smart), Justin Lindine (bikereg.com/Joe's Garage/Scott) and new face from North Carolina, Travis Livermon (Mock Orange Racing).

After the first few laps, the group had begun paring down, with Lindine, Livermon, Nick Keough and Dillon dropping off the pace. At the front, Luke Keough, Myerson and Powers seemed to be working well together until Powers stepped it up a notch, gapping Myerson off the back. With two laps to go, Luke Keough was also dropped from Powers's wheel and local favorite J-Pow was able to take a second win on the weekend in front of his family.

In contrast to Saturday, Luke Keough was able to keep himself clear for yet another series podium. Behind, Lindine was able to make contact with Myerson for the final few laps. Knowing that, in the interest of maintaining his series lead, Lindine would need to stay with Myerson through to the finish, he did just that, leading through most of the final two laps. Myerson and Lindine both seemed ready to make an attack, but both knew that without a mistake, they'd not be able to get free. No mistakes came and Lindine led Myerson onto the tarmac and resigned himself to damage control as Myerson took the sprint for third and came closer still to Lindine's position at the top of the series podium.

Of note, the U-23 podium was a family affair, as Luke Keough topped the podium with U-23 series leader Nick Keough second and their brother and teammate Jesse third. Lindine's grip on series leadership is tenuous going into the last weekend. With many of the bigger names in Portland for the USGP finals, each has a chance to win the series with top placements at NBX in Rhode Island. With his victory, Powers took home the NACT championship belt in style, sweeping the final two rounds in front of his home crowd.

Powers took home the NACT championship

Next weekend, December 4th and 5th, are the final two rounds of the 2010 Verge New England Championship Cyclocross Series. They will take place at the NBX GP of Cross in Warwick, Rhode Island.

NACT final overall standings

Sunday results