The fourth round of the Utah Cyclocross Series offered up a mix of the warm weather Utah racers are accustomed to and the nasty wet conditions of traditional cross racing. The early races enjoyed temperatures in the 60s with partly cloudy skies until the start of the men's event when a storm dropped the temperature and a cold drenching rain on the course.
The opening paved climb of the Draper Equestrian Center racecourse
The women enjoyed the nicer part of the day and once again staged a strong field of 11 racers for their event. Once again it was Velo Bella rider Kathy Sherwin taking the early lead on the opening paved climb. Sherwin was followed closely by Erika Powers (Revolution/Peak Fasteners) and Tiffany Pezzulo.
The riding was technical on the Draper Equestrian Park racecourse with mountain bikers holding the clear advantage in the tight singletrack sections of the course. Sherwin is an accomplished cross country mountain bike racer and it showed. Not even an early race crash could stop Sherwin on her path to victory. Sherwin brushed off the opening lap mishap and used her bike handling abilities to cruise through the course.
Behind the leader it was Pezzulo and Powers going back and forth throughout the race until Powers opened a small gap as Pezzulo crashed in a sandy corner. That was all Powers needed to cement her hold on second place. Powers missed last weekend's race due to a hip injury but after the race Powers denied being hampered by her hip in Draper. Chantel Olsen and Laura Patten completed the podium taking 4th and 5th respectively.
Gillespie focused on his second win of 2009
In stark contrast to the women's event the men started in a full-on downpour. This week Bart Gillespie (Monavie-Cannondale.com) was the clear favorite to take the win. Last week's winner Eric Rasmussen (Specialized) would no doubt be riding toward the front but perpetual contender Ali Goulet (Church of the Big Ring) was racing the USGP of Cross race in Kentucky.
Once the gun went off Specialized teammates Rasmussen and Tanner Cottle moved to the front on the opening climb but Gillespie was never far behind and halfway through the opening lap he was in front followed closely by local mountain biker Dave Welsh (Kuhl/Scott). With Gillespie out front, Cottle, Rasmussen, and Welsh attacked each other the second time up the paved opening climb followed closely by Reed Wycoff (Contender), Bryson Perry (Cole Sport), Alex Grant (Monavie-Cannondale.com), and Thomas Bender (Kuhl/Scott).
After the opening laps, riders began to settle in except Grant who was looking to make up time after his first lap crash on a slippery clay descent. Grant didn't waste time as he leap-frogged entire groups and did something seldom seen in the Utah series- chase down Bart Gillespie. Once together the two teammates worked to solidify their lead virtually guaranteeing a Monavie win.
Reed Wycoff leads Eric Rasmussen on the run up
Behind the leaders the top spots remained unsettled as riders traded positions. Rasmussen had moved into third and was soon joined by Wycoff who used his singletrack speed to bridge the gap. Behind, a large group including Perry, Bender, Cottle, and Tyler Fout (RMCC) challenged each other for the final podium spot. As the race wore on the rain had slowed but the conditions failed to improve. The course began to claim some victims as Grant suffered his second crash of the day springing Gillespie clear and Bryson Perry also went down giving new meaning to the term "wadding it up" as he collected a giant wad of mud in his helmet.
Bryson Perry with "Dirt Wad" firmly attached
With Gillespie on the road to his second win of the season and Grant maintaining his grip on second the remaining riders battled for position. With two laps to go Wycoff launched a strong attack on the paved climb. He could only pull 5 seconds out front but that was enough for him to hold until the finish.
Finally, Thomas Bender took advantage of the confusion and crashes in the chase group and surged forward after having a slow start. Bender's strong performance saw him bridge up to teammate Dave Welsh late in the race, eventually passing him for 5th place.
Teammates Dave Welsh and Thomas Bender late in the race
Once again weather and great competition created some thrilling racing for the 4th race of the Utah Cyclocross Series. Stay tuned to MTBracenews.com next weekend for coverage of Utah Cyclocross Series races in Saturday and Sunday. Click on our gallery for more photos from the cyclocross race.
Race Notes:Ali Goulet won his race in the 35+ Master's race at the USGP of cyclocross and continues to lead the series.
Results
A Men
1, Bart Gillespie (Monavie-Cannondale.com)
2, Alex Grant (Monavie-Cannondale.com)
3, Reed Wycoff (Contender)
4, Eric Rasmussen (Specialized)
5, Thomas Bender (Kuhl/Scott)
6, Dave Welsh (Kuhl/Scott)
7, Tyler Fout (RMCC)
8, Tanner Cottle (Specialized)
9, Bryson Perry (Cole Sport)
10, Beau Pitken
A Women
1, Kathy Sherwin (Velo Bela/Ellsworth)
2, Erika Powers (Revolution/Peak Fasteners)
3, Tiffany Pezzulo
4, Chantel Olsen
5, Laura Patten
6, Stephanie Skoreyko (University of Utah)
7, Kelsy Bingham
8, Mary Foss (Kuhl/Scott)
9, Alison Vrem (RMCC)
10, Jennie Wade (Church of the Big Ring)
