Kings CX Day One Race Recap
Rochette and Brunner Claim UCI C1 Victories
Take sunny and dry conditions, mix in over 1000 racers burning in lines all day on the Kings CX track in Deerfield Township, Ohio, and you have the perfect recipe for a classic North American dustbowl cyclocross race.
In wet conditions, Kings can be some of the most challenging racing in North America. When it’s dry, the track is blazing fast with little opportunity to attack and stay away. The finishing stretch up to pit one is the only true power section on the course. After that, there are twists, turns, and rolling hills for the remainder of the lap, meaning you have to get your gap early and then hold it through the twisty sectors.
Elite Women
Lauren Zoerner (Comp Edge Racing) attacked the long uphill start-straight, winning the holeshot and leading the field into the course proper. Halfway through lap one, a leading trio of riders formed with Katie Clouse (Steve Tilford Foundation Racing) and Maghalie Rochette (CX Fever) joining Zoerner.
Lizzy Gunsalus (Marian University), Kaya Musgrave (Cervèlo Orange Living), Mia Aseltine (Comp Edge Racing), Ella Brenneman (CXD Trek Bikes) and Caroline Mani (Groove Off Road Racing) formed the chase group.
In lap three, Gunsalus went down trying to get to the front of the chasers, allowing Mani to escape that group and pursue the leading trio alone. Ahead of her, there was a lot of watching amongst the leaders but not much attacking. Rochette tried to escape in the woods but lost traction and almost went down. She decided to keep the rest of her matches unstruck until the final lap.
I slid out in the woods. So, I was like, okay, I know that this was maybe a good place to go, because it worked out. Like, I got a few bike lengths, and you don't need much here, to be honest. Once you open it, then you can really open the gap, but I couldn't get that separation.
Along with Rochette, Clouse spent a good amount of time driving the trio at the front, waiting for an opportunity to get away but knowing it may not present itself.
Mags hit it in the first few laps really hard, which made the separation. She was super strong today. And this course is so fast that you can't really form too many gaps when you're pretty evenly matched. But it was a really fun race, super fast and I just battled with Mags and Lauren, who was doing great today.
For Zoerner, this race was all about staying with Rochette and Clouse.
Once we established that top three, I was like, I am not moving. I'm staying in third wheel. There were a couple of laps in the middle when I thought it's getting kind of easy and I could probably launch an attack, but I was like, no, just sit in and then see what happens. Like just make it to where you can make it to and sit in for as long as possible and go with everything.
On the final lap, the trio remained together through pit two. At the entrance of the camel1 feature, Rochette attacked the climb and kept the pressure high going into the wooded section where she had previously attacked. That acceleration dropped Zoerner but not Clouse, who kept within a couple of bike lengths as the duo completed the front side of the camel and headed toward the finish.
Rochette turned onto the tarmac first, with Clouse right on her wheel. Clouse didn’t wait long to leave Rochette’s draft on the long uphill, finishing straight. The pair started the long sprint together and finished millimeters apart with Rochette taking the win.
For Clouse, she was happy to be back on a UCI cyclocross podium and to match her efforts with Rochette, but like any competitor, she is still looking for that little bit more on Sunday.
In the end, Mags just put in a really good day. When we got to the last lap, and I was able to stay with her, I was like, ‘Oh, maybe I have it in the sprint.’ But it was I just needed like, just that much more.
Elite Women Results
Elite Men
All eyes were on Eric Brunner (Comp Edge Racing) at the start of the elite men’s race, but it was Ian Ackert (Trek Future Racing) who had the fastest start, taking the holeshot and leading a long line of racers through the undulating topography of the former Kingswood golf course. Ackert held the front spot for the first half lap before handing the leader baton to fellow Canadian Tyler Clark (Hockley Valley Resort Armada).
Keeping the Canadian relay team intact, Cody Scott (Comp Edge Racing) took to the front on lap 2, leading a group of 10. On lap three, the pace began to pick up, and Ackert, Curtis White (Steve Tilford Foundation), Tyler Clark, and Brunner established a group of four off the front. That group became a trio after Ackert found the same slippery ground Rochette encountered at the entrance to the wooded section.
After Ackert exited the lead group, Brunner used the finishing straight to attack on lap four. Taking advantage of the one power section on the course, Brunner established a gap that he was able to hold for the remainder of the race. Although it looked decisive from the outside, Brunner saw it differently.
I was all in there. This course is really twisty, turny. There's only really one long pedaling section. I knew it wasn't going to be—even if I got away—it wasn't going to be immediately. I was going to have to attack for a long time, and it was well over a lap that I was attacking. It was a tough one.
That lap four effort was the fastest of the day. And while White was able to match the effort on the initial surge, he fell back on lap five. Despite not keeping the pace, being at the front of the race was a nice feeling for White, who is still returning to form after a pre-season bout of pneumonia.
I've always been at the forefront of these races and have had matches to burn Sometimes I've raced a little reckless at times because I've had the the bandwidth and the power to do so. And then to be in a position this year where I have to pull every trick up my sleeve just to hold the group and to be in the second group … to be in this position today was good. I was happy with it.
Brunner maintained his lead for the remainder of the race, taking his second victory of the season. White soloed in for second, with Tyler Clark finishing third. Owen Clark (Hockley Valley Resort Armada) claimed fourth place, with Ackert recovering from his early mishap and finishing fifth.
Elite Men Results
The course is on a former golf course that has large hills and mounds throughout. The biggest hill/mound is known as the camel and is the central feature of Kings CX.
Tops vs Drops anyone?
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