December 8/19 20:53 pm - Northeast Cyclocross Series Final report and results

Posted by Editoress on 12/8/19
 

The final races of the 2019 Northeast Cyclocross Series took place in Warwickm Rhode Island on the weekend.

Day 1, Saturday December 7th

The 2019 Vittoria Northeast Cyclocross Series continued with race number five on Saturday with the NBX Gran Prix of ‘Cross. Elite racers competed for UCI Category 2 points in USA Cycling’s Pro Cyclocross Calendar (ProCX) and for the coveted Verge leader jersey in the Vittoria Series. All riders faced bitter cold temperatures and winds off the ocean at Goddard Memorial State Park. The twists, turns, and terrain of the iconic New England course changed throughout the day’s events going from icy to slick to icy again as temperatures plummeted.

Rebecca Fahringer (Kona Maxxis Shimano) claimed her third consecutive Vittoria Series win in the elite women’s race. Lane Maher (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com) attacked on lap one and would ride away to a solo victory.

For the Vittoria Series overall, after scoring double victories at Supercross Cup, Fahringer extended her lead with 150 points. For the men, Maher now leads with 120 points; a mere two-point lead over second place Nick Lando (Competitive Edge Racing).

Women
Fahringer noted the impact of the course conditions on today’s race. “I really wasn’t sure coming into the race about the snow before I got to the venue. Was it going to be snowy, was it going to be muddy? Pre-ride yesterday, the snow definitely was a factor for line choices. Today, the snow was just a factor for where you might be able to pass and your lines were dictated by the already cleared spots.”

Fahringer would start the day outside the top group. “I had a bad first lap but made some passes where I could. I was outside of the top five going into the sand run on the first lap and I just closed the gap to the front two.” Fahringer would make her attack with three laps to go and never looked back. She finished just five seconds ahead of Lizzy Gunsalus (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com) who took second. Ruby West (Pivot Maxxis P/B Stans NoTubes) took 3rd at 14 seconds back.

“Today on the start I was lucky enough to get the holeshot,” said Gunsalus. “I was like, you know what, I’m just not going to blow up on the start but if I’m fast enough to be first into the first corner, why not?”

Gunsalus credits much of the day to her technical skills. “I’ve been racing this course for a while so this one has always been one of the more technical races around where we are. So I was pretty confident with the technical sections, the sand, the beach. I knew it could be rideable if you rode it fast enough into the beginning.” Gunsalus waited until the final lap to shed U23 Pan-American Champion Ruby West (Pivot Maxxis P/B Stans NoTubes).

“I kind of tried to ride from the front from the start,” said West. “It was probably a lap in before Becca [Fahringer] got back up to the lead. I tried to keep the pace high, didn’t know where the legs would be at I haven’t raced in a few weeks, so I was just happy with a good hard effort today.”

Men
In the elite men’s race, Maher rode away from the field on lap one. “I’m usually a last lap, last two laps kind of attack person. I usually can’t ride the whole race by myself but today I was kind of thinking that I could if I hit the sand right on the first lap.” Maher cleaned the sand stretch and established a significant gap quickly and would finish fifty-five seconds ahead of second place finisher Sam Noel (Comp Edge Racing/UVM Cycling).

Noel spent much of the race back and forth with Ben Frederick, (ORNOT), who completed the entire race on a single-speed bike. Noel would narrowly edge out Frederick in the final half a lap by just four seconds.

“It was me, Ben, and Nick [Lando] for a bit,” said Noel, “and then Nick kind of blew up trying to chase Lane back so then it was just Ben and me. We were very comparable in all the sections. It came down to the final lap in the little ride up after the sand section. He had to unclip and I just got a little gap and was able to maintain it.”

“It was just pure racing out there,” exclaimed Frederick. “Sam and I were going back and forth and there’s a lot of pedaling on the second half of the course so on the first half I had to ride really hard to hold position and then do 160rpm on the back half of the course to try and keep up.”

Frederick saw NBX as a valuable opportunity to tune his skills on the single-speed before heading to Nationals. “The more I ride this thing the more comfortable I am on it. A single-speed 'cross bike doesn’t really make sense outside of 'cross season so I want to ride it as much as I can through the end of the year. I’m going to be getting on a plane to Seattle in a few days, so just trying to get those last few races in.”

Day 2, Sunday December 8th

The 2019 Vittoria Northeast Cyclocross Series continued with race number six on Sunday with the second day of the NBX Gran Prix of ‘Cross. Elite racers competed for UCI Category 2 points in USA Cycling’s Pro Cyclocross Calendar (ProCX) and for the coveted Verge leader jersey in the Vittoria Series. On the iconic rooted and icy New England course, riders endured cold temperatures and winds off the ocean at Goddard Memorial State Park in Warwick, R.I.

Rebecca Fahringer (Kona Maxxis Shimano) secured her fourth consecutive Vittoria Series race win in the elite women’s race. Lane Maher (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com) powered away to another solo UCI victory.

For the Vittoria Series overall, Fahringer took her second Vittoria Series title with 200 points. Maher secured the leader’s jersey for the elite men’s competition with 170 points.

Women
Fahringer, with a strong start, established early control of the race. “I really focused on trying to have a better start today,” noted Fahringer. “Actually, at some point, Arley [Kemmerer] told me to slot in, because it was like she and I were going at it, and she was like ‘just go.’ So I had a better start and took the lead within the first start loop and I was pretty happy about that. I led for a while, about a lap, and then Lizzy took it back. I was just able to hammer it on every power section and slowly, slowly, gap her off.” Fahringer would finish in 46 minutes and 36 seconds, 42 seconds ahead of 17-year-old Lizzy Gunsalus (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com).

Gunsalus, claimed her second UCI podium on Sunday, after leading the race with Fahringer. “I kind of just stuck on her wheel as long as I possibly could,” said Gunsalus, “and that was about, I don’t know, I’d say about fifty to sixty percent of the race. We established a pretty good gap and then I finished, I think, within a minute of her at the end of the day and she was just stronger than me today.”

U23 Pan-American Champion Ruby West (Pivot Maxxis P/B Stans NoTubes) finished third, 1:51  behind Fahringer. “It kind of just felt like a time trial today,” observed West. “I had a pretty bad start and just missed the group and then I think I was just kind of chasing from there so it made for a very long day by myself which was tough on such a windy and open course.”

Men
In the elite men’s race, Maher would ride away with the race for a second day. “It was similar to yesterday,” said Maher. “We did one more lap, so I guess the laps were a little bit faster so I got away maybe lap 2 or 3 and yesterday was on the first lap so a little less time out by myself.”

Sam Noel (Comp Edge Racing/UVM Cycling) would work to keep Maher in sight after a solid start with teammate Nick Lando, who lead the early laps of the race. “After yesterday, Nick and I kind of came into today with a plan,” said Noel. “And we were up in the front with Lane just trying to control the race more than yesterday. Unfortunately Nick crashed, I think on the second lap in the snow under the bridge and that kind of left Lane and I. Then Lane attacked and I couldn’t go with him but still raced as hard as I could.” Noel finished 1 minute and 5 seconds behind Maher.

Making the early group was Ben Gomez Villafane (Squid Bikes). He would go on to finish third after losing contact with the leaders as the race broke apart. “I made quite a few mistakes during the race,” said Gomez Villafane, “but yeah, it just got spread out really fast, a little faster than yesterday. I think that was due to that some sections were a little more drawn out with power and then at race pace it was a lot more technical than it was during pre-ride. I feel like since it got a little warmer, the ground thawed a little bit, so it got a little slippery.