Rochester Cyclocross Day 2
Clauzel and Strohmeyer extend winning streaks to four.
The North American cyclocross fields have had four races to figure out how to beat Helene Clauzel (Van Rysel Racing Team) and Andrew Strohmeyer (CXD Trek Bikes). So far, they haven’t come up with anything that works, as the French champ and the first-year elite rider from Mt. Airy, Maryland, have swept the first two rounds of the Trek USCX series.
Elite Women
Not content with allowing Clauzel an easy ride and knowing Maghalie Rochette (Canyon) wanted to improve on Saturday’s second place, Sidney McGill (Cervélo Orange Living) came off the line fast and led the field over the flyover on the partially reversed track. Although the initial start was fast, the sharp end did not sustain the high pace, and a large group stayed together for the first few laps. Manon Bakker (Crelan-Corendon) made a mistake early, crashing on the planks, but was not stressed now that she has acclimated to the American racing style.
They start a lot slower, which is good for me because I'm not the best starter, but then it's weird. Yeah, the race is so different. It slows down a lot, which in Europe it's just full gas for an hour1. But yeah, I’m getting the hang of it. It's fun now.
As the front group started to whittle down to a manageable number, Rochette went to the front to control a race she knew could get away from her. Rochette banged up her knee pretty good in Saturday’s race and needed eight stitches to close up a wound. That injury, coupled with less-than-stellar feelings on day two, left her with a bit of a “fake it ‘til you make it” strategy. She stayed at the front as long as possible but was distanced in the later laps and ended up sixth.
Around the mid-race point, the front group included Clauzel, Bakker, McGill, Katie Clouse (Steve Tilford Foundation Racing), Rochette and an ever-present, ever-dangling Caroline Mani (Groove Off Road Racing). With two laps to go, that group was halved, with McGill, Clauzel and Bakker all vying for the win. A few seconds back, Rochette and Clouse chased, with Mani starting to fade back.
On the final lap, the trio of Mcgill, Clauzel and Bakker went into the woods knowing how the race would play out. The only thing to be decided was who would play their cards the best.
The book on Rochester was written years ago, and it has never been revised, abridged or appended. To win, you must get to the top of the stairs first. Trying to sprint from behind is nearly impossible. Clauzel read the assignment and showed up prepared for class.
We're all together at pit two. So yes, I say if you are on the front just after the stairs, I think for me I win. So I push more and more in the stairs. And yeah, it was really fun to win again in the sprint.
McGill also knew the assignment and did everything she could to execute it.
I was able to follow Helene a lot of the way. And then just in that last half lap, kicked, and we were able to get a little gap on Manon. I tried to pass Helene on the stairs but she shut the door on me and I just couldn't bring it back. I tried to pass twice before getting into the stairs and both times she shut it down. And then, on the stairs, I tried once more to get past her, and she, yeah, she knew what to do.
Bakker ended up third behind Clauzel and McGill. Mani caught and passed Clouse for fourth, and Rochette made the best of her ride, finishing sixth.
Series Standing
Elite Men
The elite men had a 4:05 pm wake-up call, and Andrew Strohmeyer was the alarm clock. Unlike Saturday, Strohmeyer wanted to ensure everyone was ready to race when the whistle blew.
That was plan A. Today we're going back to the plans. Everyone was probably feeling tired. I woke up this morning not feeling particularly great. Didn't feel great before the race. So, it's like, "Ah, let's go. We'll just rip the band-aid off and see if I can get away early and then just be able to ride around by myself."
Although it got the group moving, Strohmeyer’s plan to do sixty minutes solo wasn’t in the cards as the group wouldn’t let him get away that easily. By lap two it was all back together, thanks to big efforts by Kerry Werner (Groove Off Road Racing), who went to the front to ensure nobody hit the snooze button.
Werner continued to attack the race, trying to figure out how to beat Strohmeyer. He was aggressive throughout the race and, with four to go, put in his biggest effort of the race. Strohmeyer kept the attacks in check and knew what he had to do.
Kerry led the whole lap and as soon as he was going hard on the backside of the course, I knew. I was like, "All right. Same as yesterday. Here we go." He pulled off [on the finishing straight]. I attacked and they couldn't follow. So, it worked.
Strohmeyer used that attack to create a gap and put in the fastest lap of the day at 6:50. This effort, with three to go, allowed him to cruise to his fourth win in a row. Behind, Tyler Clark (Hockley Valley Resort Armada), Marcis Shelton (Bear CX), Ortenblad, Scott Funston (Cervélo Orange Living) and Jules van Kempen (Cervélo Orange Living) all vied for second place. Werner flatted with three to go and was no longer in contention.
Shelton was the best of the chasers. He put in another strong ride to distance himself from the group and safely ride out the remainder of the race in second place2. Improving on his third place finish at GO Cross, Shelton is quickly establishing himself as a rider to watch as we hit the second half of the Trek USCX series.
As for the race for third, if you saw the group on the fast grassy sections, it looked like they were riding together and waiting for the end game. But in the group, according to Ortenblad, it was a different story.
Tyler Clark and I were kind of scrapping, and there was a big fight out of pit two into the left, right and there. So it’s just a lot of battling for position. I was keeping an eye on the shadows on me and just trying to kind of ride a defensive line and then swing back if I saw a shadow on that side of me. And then on the last straightaway going into the last passing spot, into the last corners, I just lit it up and probably had maybe four or five bikes on Scott [Funston]. And I just had to get to the stairs with a small gap, and that's what I did. And I was able to not have to sprint or anything.
It was touch and go there. I wasn't feeling great, to be honest, and it was good to just warm up through the race and get it done.
Ortenblad outmaneuvered the group for third place behind Shelton and Strohmeyer.
Series Standings
We now head to Baltimore, Maryland, for Charm City Cross and round three of the Trek USCX series. The narratives are taking shape with Clauzel looking unbeatable on the women’s side and Eric Brunner showing up to see if he can stop the Mt. Airy Express.
The latest Cyclocross Radio with interviews from top riders at Rochester, should be up tomorrow.
If you look at the lap times of the women’s race, you can see what Bakker is talking about. The final lap for the leaders is significantly faster than the rest. And race slowed down considerably with three to go.
Shelton is putting together an impressive season and doing it so unassumingly that I screwed up and forgot he was out there. If you read the e-mail version of this post, this paragraph didn’t exist. Apologies, Marcis! You’re killing it.
Sounds like Manon has more in the tank to be pushing the pace. ;)
What happened to Werner on the last lap? He led with a few laps to go but fell way back having to really dig to finish as high as he did. Did he have a mechanical?