Elite Women's Race Report: Cincinnati Cyclocross Day 1
Story and interviews from Day 1 of the final USCX weekend
Maghalie Rochette had a U.S. World Cup swing that provided a lot of positives to build on. She raced at the front early on at World Cup Waterloo and then was in the mix for a podium spot deep into the muddy World Cup in Fayetteville.
As the Euros went home, and her American sparring partner Clara Honsinger headed to Europe for next weekend’s races, Rochette wanted to make the most of her Saturday race at Kingswood Park in Cincinnati to keep building on her World Cup success.
“Today I wanted to start really fast with the same speed we had in the World Cups, and then try to increase the pace until the end,” Rochette said. “I wanted to simulate the same effort as we have in the World Cups.”
Honsinger and teammate Katie Clouse were noted absences at the start line on Saturday at Kings CX, but USCX series leader Caroline Mani and other top riders were on the start line to try to stop the race favorite Rochette.
One of the darkhorses on the start line was Canadian first-year Elite Sidney McGill. McGill has been on the edge of the top 10 in several races this season, but on Saturday she had a front-row call-up and made the most of it. McGill joined Rochette in taking the holeshot and slotted into second wheel behind her countrywoman.
“This was my first race of the season with a front-row call-up, so I wanted to kind of go for it and try and get on a good wheel right off the start, second or third. Then ride nice and smooth and try to stay calm,” McGill said.
Rochette set the pace in the first lap, with McGill on her wheel. Lauren Zoerner, Caroline Mani, and Caitlin Bernstein formed the early chase.
“I came into the race with a plan of how I wanted to race it. I wanted to make it really hard for practicing for the World Cups. Each lap I had something I wanted to do. For me it was cool because I always had something to think about. Each lap had a goal, and it really kept me busy mentally. I wanted to start with two laps really fast, kind of what the World Cups felt like,” Rochette said about her early-race plan.
At the end of the first lap, McGill was close to Rochette’s wheel, while Mani broke free in solo third, 13 seconds back. Bernstein, Zoerner, and Lizzy Gunsalus made up the chase for 4th.
At the start of the second lap, Rochette stuck to her plan of putting the pedal to the metal of her pedal, and by the time she reached the first of the sections on the “camel,” she had a gap on McGill.
“I was able to hold [Maghalie]'s wheel for most of the first lap, and that felt really good, to be able to have her in sight. I knew I wasn't going to be able to hold that the whole race, but she was still in sight for a good while,” McGill said. “With Maghs, I knew when she went it is what it is. She's very strong and an awesome rider. When she pulled away, I knew what was going to happen.”
After that second lap, Rochette had a 16-second advantage on McGill. Mani Chased another 10 seconds behind the young Canadian. “The young ones start way too fast for me,” Mani said. “I was in kind of a weird tempo, so it took me a while to warm up and get to their tempo, and Maghalie was already gone.”
She added, “They were super aggressive, and I just missed that opportunity to at least try to stay with Maghalie. So it was the kind of race where I was racing for second.”
At this point, it probably doesn’t take much of a spoiler alert to say that Rochette rode her race and stayed away at the front. In the third lap, she did slow things down for a bit, however. “I wanted to slow down in the third lap. Make a conscious effort to slow down. It's easier to go full gas, but I wanted to slow down, and I did,” she said.
The final four laps were all about working on the skills she needs to compete in the World Cups. “I noticed during the last few World Cups, I was missing a little bit in the last few laps. I could follow for like 3/4 of the race, and then I would die a little bit. That's what I want to work on,” she said.
“The four laps after that I wanted to build up until I went to my max in the last lap. Fourth lap as soon as I crossed the finish line, I sprinted. So I had to go hard, then harder in the next lap, and hardest in the last lap. I wanted the last lap to be my fastest because that's how the World Cups are.”
Rochette pushed her pace enough that she slid out on a turn in the last lap, but the error from going too hard had no bearing on the final outcome. The Canadian earned her 4th win of the USCX series with the victory.
“Coming off the first week of the World Cups, I had some good ones,” she said. “In Fayetteville, for the first time ever in a field that strong, I fought for the podium the whole race. The first World Cup I led the first two laps. For the first time, I was racing with the front of the race. I had a really bad day in Iowa for many reasons. It was still encouraging, and I know what I need to work on. I'm close, and if I can bridge that gap, I'll be happy.”
Behind Rochette, the battle for 2nd was a good one. Mani really started closing on McGill in the 3rd of 7 laps, and then made contact with the Canadian at the “Debacle” section about two-thirds of the way through the lap. After Lap 3. the two women crossed the line together, 13 seconds back.
While Mani is the experienced leader of the USCX series, McGill didn’t back down in the battle for 2nd. The Canadian battled with Mani and tried her best to take over the lead. “She was really strong,” Mani said about McGill. “It took me a while to get my groove. I didn't feel comfortable in my cornering. I made a couple of mistakes.”
“In some of the technical sections, I felt like I was able to make a couple passes because I wanted to keep some more speed in those sections. But then on the power straights, she could throw it down and go for it,” McGill said about racing against Mani.
In Lap 5, Mani finally started to get some space on McGill. She opened up a small gap at the first off-camber section on the camel and then attacked past the pit. At the end of the lap, she had a slight 7-second lead on McGill. “She had more watts and pulled away in the straights,” McGill said about Mani.
Meanwhile, Bernstein and Gunsalus locked wheels in a battle for 4th.
Things in the chase behind Rochette ultimately stayed the same in the final two laps. Mani held her gap to take 2nd, and more or less lock up the USCX series, provided she finished on Sunday.
McGill held onto her spot to get her best result of the season. “I feel really good and happy. I think this met and surpassed my expectations,” she said.
Bernstein outsprinted Gunsalus to take 4th, and the young New Englander took home 5th.
Racing resumes on Sunday at 3:05 pm in Cincinnati with the final race of the USCX series.