November 21/09 17:00 pm - NACT: Whitmore's Super Cross, Day 1

Posted by Editoress on 11/21/09
 

Canada's Natasha Elliott (Louis Garneau) did just enough to clinch the 2009 NACT Title Belt at today's first day of the Whitmore's Landscaping Super Cross Cup, while Tim Johnson led a crushing display by the Cannondale - CyclocrossWorld.com team to clinch the men's title.  Racing continues in the Hamptons tomorrow with UCI and MAC points still on the line and additional paying places in the NACT season awards still to be decided.

In the Women's race, Mary McConneloug (Kenda Tires/Seven Cycles/Stans No Tubes) took the holeshot, but Amy Dombroski (Schlamm presented by Clement & Primus Mootry) would be the day's main protagonist.  Within 5 minutes of the start, Dombroski had a three second lead over McConneloug and Kelli Emmett (Giant Factory Team), with a further gap back to a chase group containing defending Georgia Gould (Luna Chix), Laura Van Gilder (C3 - Athletes Serving Athletes), Mo Bruno-Roy (M&M Racing presented by Seven Cycles) and NACT points leader Elliott.  McConneloug would lose contact, while Emmett bridged across to the leader.  It would be a back-and-forth battle for the win until the end.

The fast course led to tight and tactical racing.  Even though rain on Friday left portions of the course slightly slippery, it was a super-highway compared to the muddy conditions that have been the norm on the East Coast for most of this season.  While the chase riders would split and regroup throughout the race, Emmett and Dombroski battled for the lead, with Dombroski looking like the rider with the most horsepower.  Sure enough, on the last climb on the last lap, Dombroski attacked to finally drop Emmett to take the win.  Gould soloed in for third place while Van Gilder outsprinted McConneloug and Elliott.  Elliott's 18 points for her sixth place was just enough to claim the $1,500 NACT season bonus.  Van Gilder, meanwhile, is now tied on points with Bruno-Roy for the MAC Championship.

In the Men's race, Ryan Trebon (Kona) took the early lead after passing current MAC points leader Valentin Scherz (Pro Cycles-Scott-Newwork).  Halfway into the first lap, a lead group of Trebon, Scherz, Chris Jones (Champion Systems), Josh Dillon (Richard Sachs -  Watches - Radix), the Carl Decker and Adam Craig duo from Giant, and Cannondale - CyclocrossWorld.com's three musketeers (Tim Johnson, Jeremy Powers and Jamey Driscoll) had separated from the rest of the field.  Trebon would spend the majority of the next twenty minutes driving the pace in an effort to break-up the Giant and Cannondale cartels.  Craig and Decker would be relegated to the chase group while Trebon tried to manage the minority side of a three-on-one break.

The pivotal moment of the race came almost halfway through the hour, when Trebon briefly dropped his chain on the major hill, losing contact.  The Cannondale trio didn't need an invitation, and dropped their collective hammers.  First Powers, then Johnson led the attack, with Driscoll digging deep in third.  Trebon looked briefly as though he was going to reel in the leaders, but as Johnson upped the pace even more, the gap between the Kona rider and the three leaders started to increase.  With ten minutes left, Trebon fell and the race was essentially over.  Johnson, Powers and Driscoll raced home in that order to sweep the podium.  Johnson, who came into the weekend needing only fifty points to clinch the NACT championship, scored all that plus an extra 10 to make it a double loss for Trebon, who will now have to relinquish the Title Belt he won last year.

Racing in the Hamptons continues tomorrow on a longer course for all of the MAC and NACT classes.