Elite Men's Race Report: Cincinnati Cyclocross Day 2
Report and photos from a muddy close to the USCX series in Ohio
Finishing on podiums at the top level of North American cyclocross is all well and gone, but for Kerry Werner, things have gotten a little frustrating lately. You see, after coming up just short against Eric Brunner on Saturday, Werner had finished 2nd six times in 13 races.
Needless to say, Werner has been a bit frustrated. “There was one fleeting moment during the race where I thought, what's going to happen if I get second today? I've gotten a lot of seconds this year even though I have had a good season so far,” he explained.
Fortunately for Werner, the cyclocross gods smiled upon him on Sunday, as rains turned the off-cambery course at Kingswood Park into a slippery and slidey mess. You could not have asked for more perfect KERRY WERNER CONDITIONS. We were, fortunately, able to get a look at Werner before the race.
While one could make a strong case that Sunday was Werner’s day of destiny, it was a young rider who tried to steal the show early on.
After Lance Haidet took the holeshot and Werner, perhaps a bit uncharacteristically, set the pace early on, Andrew Strohmeyer started surging forward. First he went from 4th to 2nd with an aggressive pass of Curtis White and Haidet while heading into a short drop, and then he passed Werner on the inside of the first camel descent to take over the lead.
At the front, Strohmeyer was not the least bit starry-eyed, as he kept applying the pressure, opening up a gap on Werner on the slippery climb up the longitudinal part of the camel hump.
“I knew I had to try to move to the front early and not worry about what everyone else was doing,” Strohmeyer said. “I knew everyone would make mistakes on this course, so I wanted to just get out there and try and ride smooth and fast. It took me to the front at one point, and I was like, oh this is kind of new.”
A chase of Werner, White, and Haidet eventually reeled Strohmeyer in, and when he slipped out on a turn descending off the second sidehill camel section, the early lead selection was solidified. One lap in, Michael van den Ham and Tobin Ortenblad chased 11 seconds behind the leaders.
The second of seven laps was Lance Haidet time. Haidet has a history of racing well in slick conditions—his 2017 Hartford U23 National Championship ride in the snow comes to mind—and so his Lap 2 aggression was of little surprise. After White went to the front early in the lap, Haidet went to the front and applied pressure for an extended period of time.
For the time being, he had a 3-second advantage at the end of the lap. Meanwhile, second-row starter Ortenblad completed his bridge to the chase to make it a group of four.
The third lap set the stage for the rest of the race, and folks in Mason would have been forgiven if they were having a bit of deja vu.
Haidet’s lead got swallowed up at Pit 1, and then White went to the front to try his hand and shaking things up. Strohmeyer could not keep the pace for long, and midway through the lap, the lead was down to White, Werner, and Haidet.
Unfortunately, at the entry to the long section along the lake, Haidet realized his chain had dropped, and he fell all the way back to 5th, well off the pace of the two leaders, White and Werner.
The conditions, the riders, it was basically Cincinnati Day 1 from 2019.
White and Werner Renew Rivalry
In theory, conditions favored Werner in the latest renewal of the rivalry between the two Ws. Werner has long shown an aptitude and steering his bike in slick conditions, but at the same time, White has come a long way in his technical abilities and has last winter racing in Europe under his belt. For folks at the venue and tuning in at home, it was bound to be a good one.
“I know [Kerry] excels on this course,” White explained. “It's very unique and it suits him well. The amount of rolling undulations and off-cambers and the features; you have to be very careful where you're placing your wheel and the lines you take.”
White controlled the pace throughout the 5th lap, with Werner dutifully sitting on his wheel. As Werner explained, it was kind of a reverse situation from GO Cross earlier this season, with Werner studying White’s moves.
“[Curtis] was doing a lot of work in the middle of the race. He was running really well,” Werner said. “I wouldn't say I was struggling with it, but I'd say he was stronger than me running. I don't know if he was saving energy doing that, but he would put me on the limit a little bit.”
“I was just back there watching what he was doing. Seeing what mistakes he was making. Seeing what lines he took that were good and which ones I needed to change.”
Lap 4 of 7 ended with the two together.
“I felt like I was riding better than I ever have in these conditions. There was a point with maybe two and a half laps to go where Kerry was a couple of bike lengths back and he was under pressure,” White said.
Meanwhile, Strohmeyer broke away to take over solo 3rd with a 10-second margin on Haidet and Van den Ham.
“There was a group of three of us racing for third. We were just riding and people would make mistakes and gaps would open,” Strohmeyer said. “I think at one point someone made a mistake and I looked behind me and it was a pretty big gap, so I said, keep rolling and let's see what happens.”
In Lap 5, Werner finally moved in front of White after Pit 1 and set the pace at the front. White stuck on Werner’s wheel, and there was rarely much separation between the two. Werner admitted he was less than thrilled to see White still on his wheel with two to go.
“I was getting a little nervous because in 2019 Cincy we had similar conditions and I got away from Curtis a bit earlier, so to have him there with two to go, it was like, what's going to happen now? I didn't want it to come down to a two-up effort on the pavement or something.”
In Lap 1 and during his time at the front the previous lap, Werner seemed to really vibe on the undulating off-cambers between Pit 1 and the first camel section. In the penultimate lap, he upped the pace just enough and let things flow. Slowly, but surely, he opened up a few bike lengths on White.
“I wanted to do a bit longer of an effort because the way the course was riding, as soon as you start to see red, you're going to make mistakes,” Werner said. “I wanted to apply that pressure more gradually rather than dump something into a 7-minute lap. All I wanted to do was get that one or two bike length gap and have Curtis get discouraged and then keep building and keep building.”
Werner had a 3-second advantage exiting the first camel section, and then soon after, White’s fate was more or less sealed. White rode into the course tape at the entrance to the flat section along the lake, and as he got untangled, Werner’s advantage quickly grew. The gap went up to 11 seconds at the bell.
“He already had a second or two when I got my foot tangled up, so I was already under pressure,” White said. “Both of us were making a lot of mistakes. I felt like I had him under pressure a dozen times, and he had me 13 times. That's how it happened.”
Werner kept his gap the full final lap to finally take home a win that felt particularly nice given his recent frustrations. After airing his woes on social, he got some unexpected help in his quest for the dub.
“I don't like to keep things bottled up. I think putting stuff out there gets me more fired up. It gets people more interested in what's going on. I think I saw that a little bit today. Everyone out here pushed me up over the camel hump with one and a half to go. It was awesome having everyone yelling in my face.”
White held on to take 2nd and right his ship a little bit after a disappointing result on Saturday.
The other man of the afternoon proved to be CXHairs Devo (ummm, some relation?) rider Strohmeyer. After being aggressive early and throwing down with the top in the sport, Strohmeyer topped his head-turning 4th at Day 1 of GO Cross with a podium finish on Sunday at Kings CX.
“I really like this course. I know when it rains it gets really slick, which kind of suits my riding style. Mainly, I think it was my mindset. I went out there and said whatever happens, happens. Let's go ride and have some fun. Usually when I do that, good things happen, and today was one of those days.”
Haidet took 4th and Van den Ham rounded out the wide-angle podium in 5th.
With the win, Werner clinched the USCX overall series title. Gosse van der Meer finished 2nd after doing all the Jingle Cross races, and our guy Vinnie B took 3rd. Brunner took home Skyline Coneys courtesy of the Alpha Bicycle / Silverthorne team for finishing 4th in the GC.
Domestic racing resumes next weekend in Indianapolis at the Major Taylor Cross Cup.
