Thunder Cross Race Recap
Holmgren and Ackert win Pan-Am Dress Rehearsal
After a brief but intense rain and wind storm during the Thunder Cross UCI junior men’s race, the skies cleared, and the winds subsided for the two elite races that served not only as a UCI C2 event but also a dress rehearsal for today’s Pan-American Championships. The rain did not cause slower conditions on the track, but it did create some slippery sections in corners considered innocuous earlier in the day.
Elite Women
Lauren Zoerner (Comp Edge Racing) led the field through the early turns and over the flyover. She was quickly joined by Sidney McGill (Cervélo Orange Living) and Katie Clouse (Steve Tilford Foundation). That trio established a gap over the field except for the current Pan-American champion, Isabella Holmgren (Lidl-Trek), lurking in the background.
After a lap of racing, Holmgren joined the leaders as Zoerner started to drop back. Natalie Quinn (CCB Racing) also announced her presence, latching onto Holmgren’s wheel.
At the 20-minute mark, Holmgren started controlling the pace at the front, which dropped Quinn from the group. The leading trio stayed together for another few laps before Holmgren used her ability to ride the planks to create a gap.
I noticed that because I stayed on the bike, I didn't have to wait to clip in. After the barriers, that was a bit of an advantage. Going into the last few laps, I used that and tried to keep the power going to get a gap.
The acceleration after the planks with two to go dropped Clouse from the leaders and gave us a possible preview of how today’s Pan-Am race may shake out. The Canadian duo of McGill and Holmgren raced in tandem for the final two laps.
Going into the long off-camber section that precedes the finish, Holmgren created enough of a gap for her to take the win, with McGill not far behind. Clouse finished third.
For Holmgren, last night’s race was not only a warm-up for today; it was her first real cyclocross racing since last season1. But like any true competitor, once you call something a race, racing will ensue.
Today's definitely more to get the legs woken up, and just race cross again. I just raced and wanted to see how it goes. Even though I approach it more as getting ready for tomorrow, It's still racing, and you’re still going to … you’re racing to win.
Elite Men
At Kings CX a few weeks ago, Ian Ackert (Trek Future Racing) and Eric Brunner (Comp Edge Racing) battled all race long. Ackert’s late-race mechanical kept him from shifting in the final half-lap and Brunner powered away for the win. We’ll call that storyline one for Saturday’s C2 Thunder Cross race.
Storyline two was the return of Scott Funston (Cervélo Orange Living) who knows how to go fast in Missoula’s Big Sky Park. We haven’t seen Funston for several weekends, so this was a good check-in to see if the recent training paid off.
Not racing on Saturday was Andrew Strohmeyer (CXD Trek Bikes). One of the favorites for Sunday, along with Funston and Brunner, Strohmeyer is concentrating solely on today’s Pan-American Championship. Ackert will not face that trio on Sunday. He is the favorite to defend his U23 Pan American Championship.
Ackert went to the front of the race from the gun and set the early pace with Brunner on his wheel. Funston slotted into third, and Maxime St-Onge (Stimulus Trek) rounded out an early group of four. Tyler Clark (Hockley Valley Resort Armada) wasn’t far behind. Curtis White (Steve Tilford Foundation), another race favorite, was off the pace, having to navigate through midfield crashes.
While Funston and Ackert stayed consistent at the front, Brunner struggled to find his comfort zone. He crashed more than once and had to weigh how much energy he wanted to expend fighting back to the leaders, with the primary goal of the weekend—defending the Pan-American Championship jersey—happening less than 24 hours in the future.
At just over the halfway point in the race, Ackert and Funston continued to lead, trading efforts at the front. Brunner remained third, and Clark was joined by White, who methodically worked his way back into contention after a frustrating start.
In the final lap, Ackert stayed content sitting on Funston’s wheel. Around the final turns and onto the finishing stretch, Funston led out with Ackert a bike length behind. In the sprint, Ackert defied our pre-race conventional wisdom, proving it was possible to win from behind in a sprint.
Ackert took the win, with Funston a close second. White salvaged his race and finished third, while Brunner shut it down on the final lap to finish fourth.
For Ackert, it was his first Elite UCI win and an excellent warm-up for today.
It was kind of a roller coaster the whole race. It's like someone always had at least a three-second gap. We were never fully together. I think Brunner almost caught us twice, but he kept … I think he crashed twice.
It's a good warmup for tomorrow. I'm excited for that. I think on the last lap, I kind of sat on a little bit. I feel bad for that. But I ended up taking the sprint, so I was happy.
The Pan-Am Championships start today at 11:45 MT. You can watch the livestream at
Holmgren did race last week in a local race but ran into a tree early in the contest. Despite the run-in with the tree, she reported that the Christie Pits O-Cup event was great and had a really fun atmosphere.
You hid the connection to the theme for Ackert; on the video it looked like at one point in the last lap (maybe it was next to last) his shifting went out again and he couldn't get out of an easy gear; but I guess the derailleur came out of crash mode or whatever and he was able to close back to Funston.