Elite Men's Race Report: 2021 Cincinnati Cyclocross Day 1
Race report and interviews from Day 1 racing at Kingswood Park in Ohio
While it was great that Vincent Baestaens came over to the U.S. ahead of the World Cups to race and roll the USCX series races, one thing his presence did do was deny us the chance to see the North American Elite Men’s field in full effect.
In recent years, the Elite Men’s field has been lit, with Kerry Werner and Curtis White doing their thing in 2019, any number of riders winning in 2017, and Tobin Ortenblad coming out of seemingly nowhere in 2017. In that tradition, Sunday’s Elite Men’s race at Cincinnati Cyclocross was no different, although at leaFest one of the key players was.
The race ultimately came down to two riders battling to literally the last feature and the last corner, but getting there was a great race befitting of the field’s recent tradition.
Things Get Wild in Cincy
The course at Kingswood Park in Mason, Ohio, is known for its off-camber turns and tricky technical features that have been made even more challenging by rain in recent years. As the Elite Men took the start line, conditions were overcast, but relatively dry.
Brannan Fix got things started by taking the holeshot and then staying on the front into the first lap. Fellow Coloradoan Eric Brunner hopped on his wheel and the two set the pace in the first of nine laps. After the first trip around the course, a lead selection of Fix, Brunner, Curtis White, Kerry Werner, Andrew Strohmeyer, and Lance Haidet emerged.
After Fix set the early pace, Brunner moved to the front early in Lap 2. He kept things relatively under control, as the lead group of six stayed together and Goose van der Meer and Michael van den Ham were left dangling behind them.
The issue of hopping versus running the barriers has come up several times in recent weeks, and on Saturday, the planks again mattered. At the end of Lap 2, Haidet was dangling in sixth wheel and when he ran the planks and Brunner put in a dig up the slight incline of the start/finish straight, the L39ion rider got gapped off the back.
To be fair, Brunner’s attack put everyone in a world of hurt. White and Fix followed his wheel immediately, while Werner and then Strohmeyer did their best to minimize the damage. Werner bridged up after the technical section in the woods, and Strohmeyer after the first camel. However, Strohmeyer could not keep the pace, and after Lap 3, the lead selection was down to Brunner, Fix, White, and Werner.
Now, the course at Kingswood Park is notorious for its slick when wet conditions, but for the first few laps of the Elite Men’s race, the overcast skies were just overcast skies. When a slight drizzle started in Lap 4, well then things got crazy.
After sitting in for the first three laps, White made his presence known at Pit 1 when he attacked after Brunner and Fix pitted to deal with the changing conditions. Werner followed his wheel, while Brunner stepped into 3rd after swapping for a new bike.
White’s decision to not grab a new bike seemed to pay off when Werner went into the course tape and Brunner went down trying to deal with Werner’s misfortune.
“I got super optimistic there for a second,” Werner said. “I thought it was going to sprinkle and mist the rest of the race. Maybe two or three laps in, when it got the slickest, Brunner pitted right away and it was just Curtis and me off the front. I thought we could hold it. But Curtis took it down in one of the off-cambers, and I came past him and said, 'Hey man, take it down a bit and chill. Smooth is fast.' Then the next corner it took it into the tape and he passed me back. It was kind of a shitshow.”
“On the third or fourth lap, I got gapped off by a couple of seconds,” Brunner said. “I actually slid out while I was gapped off. Kerry didn't crash, but he kind of spun around at the exact same corner.”
White, however, was unable to take advantage of the misfortune of Werner and Brunner, and four laps into the race, the selection of six was down to three—Werner, White, and Brunner. Strohmeyer and Fix chased behind them.
White continued to lead into Lap 5, setting the pace at the front. When White finally stopped at the pit, Brunner moved to the front to take over pacemaking.
“We saw a little bit of rain coming in, and I chose to go to a lower tire pressure,” White said. “There were a chaotic couple of laps where I slid out a couple of times, Kerry slid out, Brunner slid out. But it was pretty clear it was the three of us who were on a good level.”
While Brunner had a strong road season, he fell ill right before the start of the cyclocross season and has faced a struggle to regain his form. Last Friday night at Jingle Cross, Brunner showed what he can do when going well, and on Saturday, he again looked to exploit his power on the long straights.
At the end of the 5th lap, leading into the 6th, Brunner put in a massive dig heading up the start/finish straight and into the grassy part of the course. His move put White in a world of hurt and forced Werner to ring the alarms to follow his wheel. “About mid-race, I did put in a real dig. I would say that was the only time I was all-in until the last lap,” Brunner said.
When everything settled from Lap 5, Brunner and Werner had a 16-second lead on White. Strohmeyer and Fix chased another 31 seconds back.
Brunner and Werner Do Battle
While Werner and Brunner were locked in a mano-a-mano battle on Saturday, there is no question the two bring different skills to the cyclocross table. “We're different riders. He's more of a longer pedal section power rider, and I can just hit the punchy stuff over and over again,” Werner explained.
To Werner’s credit, he minimized Brunner’s power, and to Brunner’s credit, he minimized Werner’s skill in the technical sections. Werner went to the front early in Lap 7, but then Brunner re-took the lead when Werner stopped for a new bike at Pit 2. Werner, showing his technical prowess, eliminated the gap on the second off-camber section on the camel.
“Kerry did one lap on the front, but mostly it seemed like he wanted to sit second wheel. I wasn't going to play games too much because I'd rather race against him than both of them,” Brunner said.
Brunner led the entire penultimate lap, with Werner dutifully sitting on his wheel. “I was trying to draw that fine line and not dig a super deep hole,” Werner said. “I really wanted to be on his wheel on all the longer pedal sections to save as much draft as possible and maybe discourage him from opening the throttle. That was the strategy.”
The first half of the bell lap was relatively benign, with Werner sitting on Brunner’s wheel as he had done for several laps. Then, after Pit 2, stuff got real, as they say.
As Brunner coasted into the turn following pit row, Werner put in a dig and passed his rival on the inside. “It was kind of a matter of figuring out where to be in front. I jumped him at Pit 2 and thought I could hold him until the final couple of corners, which was really the goal,” Werner said.
After Werner ate up Brunner’s lead on the second camel section in Lap 7, it was clear being first through that section would be important. Brunner returned the favor to Werner by putting in a huge effort and making the passing shortly before the “Debacle” rum-up section.
With Brunner now in the lead, Werner’s chances to make a pass were running out. Waiting for the two riders were the barriers and then a short finishing sprint.
“He jumped me back at the lake,” Werner said. “I was on his wheel coming into the final sections. I tried a couple moves. A couple times where he swung wide, I would inch up on his side, looking for an opening, but it didn't present itself without being too sketchy.”
Like Werner, Brunner knew what was coming heading into the left-hand turn into the barriers and then the finishing sprint. “Kerry is really good in the tight corners, but really it was a game of being first into the last corner,” he said.
After being unable to pass Brunner on the second trip along the camel’s hump, Werner went for it at that final turn into the barriers.
“Kerry tried to make the pass right before the barriers and he ended up crashing,” Brunner said. “I tried to stay on the inside until pretty late, but I wasn't on the very very left, so he had room to come in, but he had to make a really tight corner.”
Werner ate it on the barriers trying to go for the win, which would have been his first of the year. He also explained what went down.
“The final opportunity was coming into the barriers. I didn't want to take it to a sprint because he was stronger than me. Jumping the barriers, you already end up opening up a bike length or two because of how they're set up. He swung super wide to set up for the barriers straight, and I thought I'd jump him on the inside and I did. I should have unclipped and ran it and really slowed him up, but I just wasn't really thinking about it.”
Werner went for the W, but Brunner came away with the W. After we hyped him as a rider to watch in our Weekend Preview, he emerged as the latest beneficiary of the Bulletin Bump that has become a REAL THING this cyclocross season.
“I'm just racing into shape here,” Brunner said about his recent success. “I got sick at the beginning of the season, so that knocked me back. I was coming off a good road season where I felt really fit, and so it just took a few races to get going. Get comfortable. Build some confidence. It's been about putting a bunch of little things into place.”
Werner held on for 2nd after his tumble and was happy with the result. “I'm stoked to be there again, especially after the Cyclocross Stage Race of America. I recovered well. I had good legs. Eric was a bit stronger than me today, so it was really a game of managing effort and gaps, especially leading into the power sections, because he would just get on top of that gear really hard.”
White held onto his gap to take 3rd. “Brunner and Kerry raced really well technically. I just wasn't where I needed to be today, and I hope to bring a better version tomorrow.” White said. “Technically, they were riding a little bit better than me. It wasn't physiological, it's just that they were riding better than me technically. I have to go back to the drawing board and work on it in training and move on to tomorrow.”
Strohmeyer finished 4th and Fix 5th to round out the wide-angle podium.
Racing at the Cincinnati Cyclocross weekend concludes on Sunday with the C2 race.
