October 9/17 11:06 am - Charm City Cross: Day 2 results, Rochette 2nd

Posted by Editoress on 10/9/17
 

Cloudy skies, a little rain and a lot of humidity seemed to ignite the second day of competition on Sunday at Charm City Cross for USA Cycling's Professional Cyclocross calendar (ProCX). The  Category 2 races began with Kaitlin Keough (Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com) taking her second victory on the weekend at Druid Hill Park, attacking on the signatures stairs to gap second-place finisher Canada's National Champ Maghalie Rochette (Clif Bar Pro Team). Reigning U.S. National Champion Stephen Hyde (Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com) would narrowly snag the win in the Elite Men's race over youngster Spencer Petrov (Aspire Racing) in the final turns of the course.

Women
In the Women's Elite C2 race, Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com teammates Keough and Emma White would control the first part of the race, similar to the team tactics used Saturday in the C1 event. Canadian National Champion Rochette was in the mix, as well as Rebecca Fahringer (Stan's NoTubes p/b Maxxis/gof) and Crystal Anthony (Maxxis Shimano Pro Cyclocross) and France's Caroline Mani (Van Dessel).

Keough and Rochette would attack with two laps to go establishing a solid lead, with White holding steady in third place. As they reached the pavement for the final time, Keough would just edge Rochette for the win. It would be the fifth time Rochette would finish second in a ProCX event this year, a third time to Keough.

"Maghalie (Rochette) really made me work for it," said Keough, who earned her seventh podium spot, five of those wins, this ProCX season. "She (Rochette) raced really smart today. She didn't put her nose in the wind once until the last lap, which was really smart for her. Emma and I were up there together and it was two against one for a while, so that was good. But I was motivated today. This is my last race for a little bit at the end of a big block, so I'm happy to do well here this weekend."

With the win, Keough continues as the solid leader for the women in the Sho-Air US Cup-CX Series. White and Rochette are second and third, respectively. Rebecca Fahringer (Stans NoTubes p/b Maxxis/gof) and Crystal Anthony (Maxxis Shimano Pro Cyclocross) are tied for the fourth spot.

Men
A group of six would stick together on the tacky course until the final laps in the Elite Men's race. With four laps to go, 19-year-old Petrov would animate the race with several attacks, forcing Hyde to chase. It would come down to a battle between these two riders and a small crash after the big steps in the final half lap. The results would find Hyde remounting from the mishap cleanly and holding a small gap for the win.

"It was a fight between him (Petrov) and I. I had a little slip of my front wheel, and of course, it was wet right there," Hyde said about the tumble with Petrov on the final lap in the "W" section of multiple turns. "He rode over top of me, and we both got tangled up. I was the first one back on the bike. You don't want it to play out like that, you want it to be like legs-on-legs. Then from there on out I had like a four-second gap. I tried to hold it. I don't think he was able to get into his pedals really quickly after the stairs. I just dug deep and held it. That was it man, I just dug deep."

Petrov would earn his second runner-up finish in an Elite Men's ProCX race this year, having finished in the silver spot at the C1 contest at KMC Cross Fest in Conn. last weekend. In the mix all day was Kerry Werner (Kona Factory CX Team), who finished a solid third place on Sunday. Saturday's winner and current ProCX point leader Tobin Ortenblad (Santa Cruz/Donkey Label Racing) would finish fourth.

It was the second ProCX win of the year for Hyde, the first as a C2. The win kept him close to overall Sho-Air US Cup-CX leader Ortenblad in the men's standings, in second place. Werner is third overall, followed closely in the points by Petrov. Curtis White (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com) is fifth in the series.

Report and photo courtesy Jackie Tyson/Peloton Sports

Results from the second day of Charm City Cross in Baltimore, Maryland

Day 1