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McConneloug, McCormack tops in Northampton
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To keep herself motivated in races she’s comfortably winning, Mary McConneloug (Seven Cycles) often imagines racing against her top competition from the West Coast.
“Ann Knapp is just around the next corner,” she thinks to herself, “and Gina Hall is right behind me. I have to keep it pegged.”
Sunday’s fifth stop on the Verge New England Cyclo-cross Series looked like another day for McConneloug to race against imagined opponents, but a racer on loan from Colorado ended up giving McConneloug a real run for her money.
While she spends most of her time racing multi-hour mountain bike events, and dabbles in ultra-distance adventure races as well, Gretchen Reeves (Rocky Mountain) took to the fast, intense cyclo-cross format with amazing speed. The 33-year-old from Boulder made her New England ‘cross debut by applying late-race pressure to a tiring McConneloug, who had led the elite women’s race after taking the lead from Anna Milkowski (Rona) at the end of the first lap.
McConneloug’s margin swelled quickly and it looked like another runaway win for the two-time defending New England series champion. But Reeves crept back into the picture in the final three laps, as McConneloug started to show the effects of her fast early pace. Still, McConneloug pulled herself together just enough to keep Reeves from getting within striking distance and won her third New England series event of 2004.
“I was suffering for sure,” said McConneloug, who yet has to decide whether or not she’ll race at U.S. nationals, “I definitely pushed myself. I was red-lined. [But] you have to go out front early and the field will shatter.”
“I was jonesin’ for some racing,” explained Reeves of her decision to come back to New England, “I came here to get some UCI points for nationals so I wouldn’t have to start at the very back at nationals.”
Crash, bang, boom
On the men’s side, Ryan Trebon looked like he would emulate McConneloug, as the lanky Kona rider grabbed a healthy lead on the third lap and piled on the seconds with each successive trip around the 2km course. But with his lead up to almost 40 seconds, Trebon crashed hard on a hairpin corner that transitioned from mud to pavement. Trebon hit the deck, losing his chain in the process, and his lead evaporated. What had been the chase group, Ben Jacques-Maynes (Sierra Nevada), Adam Craig (Maxxis-Giant), Todd Wells (GT-Hyundai), Mark McCormack (Clif Bar-Colavita), and Marc Gullickson (Redline), suddenly became the lead group, with an ailing Trebon tacked on the back.
With Gullickson and McCormack yo-yoing off the back of the select group, Craig and Wells worked the front while Trebon recovered. McCormack finally joined the front for good and set up a last lap with any of the leading four riders in with a chance for the win.
Taking chances and riding aggressively, McCormack took charge in the final quarter lap, even giving Trebon a bump as the two positioned for the final sprint. McCormack led out the sprint, with Craig unable to come around and a disappointed Trebon coasting across in third.
“It took me a while to recover because I banged my elbow and my hip pretty good,” said Trebon with a shake of his head. “I had this stupid race won. I felt good and I was just cruising out there, I was getting five seconds a lap. And on the final lap Mark just bumped me before that last corner. Whatever.”
For his part, McCormack said he’d always planned to race a conservative early race and pour on the coals as the finish approached. “I felt really good from the start, but I’m a patient rider,” said McCormack. “It was always a battle to stay within a group for me, but if I get to the last lap and I sense I have a chance of winning I’ll take a lot more chances on the last lap. In a race like today, it wasn’t that much of advantage drafting-wise, so I took that to heart and I was patient. This is my biggest ‘cross win in several years. Almost all the big guns were here.”
The Verge New England Cyclo-cross series continues November 27th in Sterling, Massachusetts.
Elite Women
14th Cycle-Smart International Cyclo-crossNorthampton, Mass.
Verge New England Series, Round 5
1. Mary McConneloug, Seven Cycles, 40:01
2. Gretchen Reeves, Rocky Mountain, 40:26
3. Anna Milkowski, Rona, 40:53
4. Maureen Bruno, Cyclocrossworld.com, 41:24
5. Mackenzie Dickie, Team Bicycle Alley, 42:37
6. Betsy Schauer, Fort-GPOA, 42:44
7. Tara Ross, Team Diet Cheerwine, 43:02
8. Celeste Drumm, HUP United, 43:14
9. Stephanie White, Dansko-Wheelworks, 43:15
10. Sinead Fitzgibbon, Aquafina, 43:21Elite Men
1. Mark McCormack, Clif Bar-Colavita, 57:07
2. Adam Craig, Maxxis-Giant, same time
3. Ryan Trebon, Kona, s.t.
4. Todd Wells, GT-Hyundai, s.t.
5. Ben Jacques-Maynes, Sierra Nevada, 57:37
6. Marc Gullickson, Redline, 57:49
7. Erik Tonkin, Kona, 58:32
8. Jackson Stewart, Clif Bar, 59:14
9. Jesse Anthony, Cyclocrossworld.com, s.t.
10. Michael Broderick, Seven Cycles, 59:25
