Sunny, temperature in the 70s and dry-welcome to Utah cyclocross racing. While cross racers around the rest of the country were slogging through the mud, the crossers in Heber, Utah, were stripping off clothes before the race start.
Ali Goulet leads Eric Rasmussen through the barriers with Reed Wycoff just behind
The Heber cross course is known as a power rider's course. With deep wheel-sucking grass, long straights, and the dreaded Mount Heber run up Heber is taylor-made for a well-trained cross workhorse. Ellsworth rider Kathy Sherwin certainly fits that mold perfectly.
As the women started at 11AM many riders had already suffered fat tires from the goat-head thorns that surrounded the race surface. But once the action started the mishaps stopped. The top women in Utah cyclocross all charged down the opening straightaway. Sherwin powered to the lead followed closely by Dayna Deuter (Church of the Big Ring), Jen Hanks (Revolution/Peak Fasteners), Rachel Cieslewicz (Church of the Big Ring), and Tanya Swenson (Cole Sport) who rode a 29 inch mountain bike with narrow tires.
As the pack roared around the first corner the course shot them straight into a quick dismount and up Mount Heber. Sherwin struggled with the first barrier, banging her Ellsworth hard into the metal barricade but she maintained her lead on the run up. Deuter used a clean transition off the bike to close up on the leader which she maintained halfway through the opening lap.
Kathy Sherwin corners with Dayna Deuter on her wheel
Once Deuter lost her grip on the leader Sherwin was off for a 40-minute individual time trial. Although the dominating Ellsworth rider had a huge lead she pushed an incredible pace. Her opening lap time of 6 minutes and 42 seconds was faster than all of the men who had raced before her.
Tanya Swenson and Rachel Cieslewicz trade turns on the front
Behind the two leaders Jen Hanks opened up strong and put an gap of 10 seconds on the duo of Swenson and Cieslewicz. The two experienced chasers worked together to try and close the small gap. Hanks kept charging, standing and sprinting out of all the corners, finally wearing down the chasers.
At the end it was Sherwin finishing first with a large margin over second place Deuter who was followed by Hanks. Cieslwicz and Swenson had the closest battle in the race with Cieslwicz closing a late gap on Swenson and overtaking her for the 4th spot while Swenson took 5th.
In the men's A race the top riders lined up this time without Bart Gillespie who was racing mountain bikes in Brazil. The left no shortage of elite riders capable of producing a great race. With his impeccable technique and unequalled fitness Ali Goulet (Church of the Big Ring) was no doubt the top favorite. There to challenge Goulet were Reed Wycoff (Contender), Eric Rasmussen (Specialized), Bryson Perry (Cole Sport), Robbie Squire (Binghams), Jason Sager (Jamis), and teammates Dave Welsh and Thomas Bender (Kuhl/Scott).
Sager took the early lead but faded the first time up Mount Heber. Goulet surged into the lead with Rasmussen and Wycoff just behind. After a scorching first lap Goulet and Rasmussen were in the lead with Wycoff just seconds behind. Behind the leaders a huge group of riders amassed including all the top riders.
Dave Welsh leads the chase group in front of Bryson Perry
After the first lap Wycoff finally closed the gap in the leaders and tucked into third position. The three quickly built a large lead on the chasers and it was clear one of these three riders would take top honors.
The chase to the leaders clearly took it's toll on the Contender rider and Wycoff was once again off the back. This time there would be no bridging back. Once he lost contact Wycoff dropped like a rock through the field leaving Rasmussen and Goulet to battle for the top spot.
As the laps wound down, the lead duo took their turns on the front with neither establishing a clear advantage until the bell lap when Goulet took the lead coming into the home stretch. As he rounded the final corner Goulet started to wind it up for the final sprint. Already having a several seconds lead over Rasmussen, Ali turned it off confident in his win. He should have known Rasmussen doesn't know when to give up as he used his powerful sprint to blast past the Church of the Big Ring rider just before the finish line for one of the biggest upset victories in Utah cyclocross history.
Thomas Bender has another solid day on the cyclocross bike
After a tight, back-and-forth struggle, Thomas Bender emerged from the chase group to claim third place followed by Bryson Perry and Connor O'Leary (Monavie-Cannondale.com).
Race Notes
2008 Utah Cyclocross Series Champion Erika Powers (Revolution/Peak Fasteners) suffered a hip injury during the week preventing her from racing on Saturday. Powers hopes to be back racing by next weekend.
Cris Fox was handing out cash when the riders could find him
Results
Women
1, Kathy Sherwin
2, Dayna Deuter
3, Jen Hanks
4, Rachel Cieslewicz
5, Tanya Swenson
6, Meaghan Cunningham
7, Stephanie Skoreyko
Men
1, Eric Rasmussen
2, Ali Goulet
3, Thomas Bender
4, Bryson Perry
5, Connor O'Leary
6, Robbie Squire
7, Dave Welsh
