Pro Men's Winner Alex Grant
Olympic rings, short leg-burning climbs, wide-open high-speed descents, and grass; welcome to Soldier Hollow. As site of the 2002 Olympic Cross Country ski events, Soldier Hollow is an ideal race venue for XC racing in the snow and the dirt.
This weekend it played host to race number 5 on the Utah Intermountain Cup schedule. Despite it’s lack of technical features, Soldier Hollow is a challenging race. The undulating course has short steep climbs intermixed with open flats and equally short but steep descents. The broken nature of the race’s 9 mile lap quickly deadens the legs with nonstop pedaling. The Pro men would complete 3 ¼ laps while the women set off for 3.
Riders broke from the start line at 10 AM well before the heat of the day had a chance to set in. But that didn’t stop the Green Machine of Monavie-Cannondale from heating things up.
Utah’s top team sent four of it’s best riders to the front Bart Gillespie, Alex Grant, Mitchell Petersen, and roadie Burke Swindlehurst, who races part-time for Monavie when not racing the road with the Continental Pro Team Bissell. Dave Welsh (Kuhl/Scott) was a very lonely man as the only rider in the lead group not sporting Monavie green.
Welsh’s best efforts could not hold back the green sea. Early on, Alex Grant, Gillespie, and Swindlehurst established themselves at the front. In keeping with his usual path to fitness Grant has been steadily riding himself into great form. He took his first win of the season at last weekend’s race in Sherwood Hills utilizing his skill as a climber and solid bike handler. Grant would prove to be the strongest this weekend in completely different terrain.
The Monavie trio stayed together until the final lap when Grant accelerated on a long climbing section, which dislodged Gillespie. Swindlehurst quickly closed the gap but could not overtake the stronger Grant.
Grant took his second win in as many weeks with Swindlehurst coming in just 30 seconds later. Gillespie held on for third, as Welsh broke up the Green Machine crossing the line in 4th ahead of Petersen who finished 5th.
Kenda/Tomac Rider Amanda Carey
In the women’s event, a contingent of out-of-towners broke up the elite Utah field. First of the party crashers was Amanda Carey (Kenda/Tomac), a resident of Victor, Wyoming, the gifted rider found herself at Soldier Hollow for some challenging racing. Carey’s teammate, Heather Holmes was the only rider to match her in the early going. The Kenda/Tomac riders stayed together after the climb on the first lap but the descent proved too much for Holmes who is still recovering from a wrist surgery early this year.
That was the last anyone would see of Carey as she charged away for the win. Holmes would continue to ride strong in second place while Californian Sarah Kaufmann (Titus/Roaring Mouse) battled her way into the third spot. Utahn KC Holley (Subaru/Gary Fisher) rode a strong race to finish fourth just 1 week out from a win in the Coed Duo race at the 12 Hours of Mesa Verde. The final podium spot went to accomplished California Pro, Carolyn Popovic (Bear Valley Bikes).
Written by: Shannon Boffeli with contributions from Blake Zumbrunnen and Ty Hansen
Pro Men
1, Alex Grant (Monavie-Cannodale.com) 2.01.20
2, Burke Swindlehurst (Monavie-Cannodale.com) 2.01.53
3, Bart Gillespie (Monavie-Cannodale.com) 2.04.07
4, David Welsh (Kuhl/Scott) 2.06.05
5, Mitchell Petersen (Monavie-Cannodale.com) 2.06.13
6, Chris Holley (Gary Fisher/Subaru)
7, Rich Abbott (Revolution/Peak Fasteners)
8, Chad Harris (Racer's Cycle Service)
9, Johnny Hintze (Biker's Edge)
10, Ty Hansen (Revolution/Peak Fasteners)
11, Quinn Bingham (Biker's Edge)
12, Brandon Firth (Rocky Mountain)
13, Kevin Day (Kuhl/Scott)
14, Mark Wimmer
15, Brandon Cross (Monavie-Cannnondale.com)
DNF Blake Zumbrunnen (Revolution/Peak Fasteners)
Pro Women
1, Amanda Carey (Kenda/Tomac) 2.18.22
2, Heather Holmes (Kenda/Tomac) 2.24.15
3, Sarah Kaufmann (Titus/Roaring Mouse) 2.25.06
4, KC Holley (Subaru/Gary Fisher)
5, Carolyn Popovich
6, Erika Powers (Revolution/Peak Fasteners)
