November 22, 2009; Southampton, NY, USA: Even though The Hamptons are one of the eastern-most places in the United States, it was like a wild west show at the second day of the Whitimore’s Landscaping Super Cross Cup. Amy Dombroski (Schlamm presented by Clement & Primus Mootry) won an old-fashioned duel with Georgia Gould (Luna Chix) in a women’s race that was dominated by riders from Colorado. Then, after the women had their shootout, the Three Amigos of Cannondale/CyclocrossWorld.com rode into town and laid down the law.
Temperatures in the ‘40’s, and hard ground rolled smooth by the previous week’s Nor’easter, made for blisteringly fast laps. The leaders of the Elite Men’s race were frequently lapping the course in under five-and-a-half minutes. And while the track wasn’t fast enough to create a true peloton, drafting was the order of the day in both the Men’s and Women’s Elite races.
Gunning for her second consecutive MAC title, Laura Van Gilder took the holeshot, but by the time the field got to the dreaded Methane Hill, newly-crowned NACT Champion Natasha Elliot (Louis Garneau) had the lead and a gap. By the end of the first lap, the selection had been made as Gould and Dombroski joined Elliot, who faded shortly afterward. Gould and Dombroski dueled for the remainder of the race, with Gould having the advantage on the climbs and technical features of the course, while Dombroski (who rides road for the Webcor Builders pro team) had the horsepower on the flats. There’s an old hot-rod maxim that says, “you can’t beat cubic inches, except with more cubic inches.” And with the very fast conditions of the day’s course, the cliché played proved true as Dombroski was able to gap Gould on the long, paved sprint to complete her weekend sweep of two of the richest races on the women’s circuit. Kelli Emmett (Giant Factory Team) finished third ahead of Van Gilder, who used the weekend to assume the points lead as she tries to win her second consecutive MAC Championship.
In the Men’s race, Tim Johnson survived a first-lap dab on Methane Hill, numerous attacks by Ryan Trebon (Kona-FSA), and a battle with one of his own teammates to collect his second UCI win in as many days. With the extremely fast course, and without the help of teammate Barry Wicks, who didn’t make the cross-continent trip to Long Island, Trebon was clearly compromised tactically as Cannondale-CyclocrossWorld.com’s “Three Amigos” tag-teamed him early in the race and went on to again sweep the podium with Jeremy Powers and Jamey Driscoll following Johnson home . Eventually Trebon faded to sixth, behind Giant’s Adam Craig and Swiss U23 sensation Valentin Scherz (Pro Cycles-Scott-Newwork). With his fifth place finish, Scherz sews-up the MAC U23 title and becomes almost untouchable in MAC’s overall Elite Championship with only the Capital Cross Classic in suburban Washington DC on December 6 remaining. Not a bad vacation for the young rider from Epalinges who came to come to America to race and improve his English before fulfilling his mandatory military service commitment next year.
The MAC Series next moves south to suburban Washington DC for the 11th annual Capital Cross Classic presented by The Bike Lane in Reston, Virginia on December 6. Taking place just two weeks before the winter solstice, the traditional MAC season-ending event will see a slightly revised race-day program to ensure that all classes have the opportunity to complete full races on one of the shortest days of the year.
Brief Result
Men.
1 Tim Johnson (USA) Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com
2 Jeremy Powers (USA) Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com
3 Jamey Driscoll (USA) Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com
4 Adam Craig (USA) Giant Factory Team
5 Valentin Scherz (Swi) Pro Cycles-Scott-NewWork
6 Ryan Trebon
Women.
1 Amy Dombroski (USA) Schlamm-Primus Mootry
2 Georgia Gould (USA) Luna
3 Kelli Emmett (USA) Giant
4 Laura Van Gilder (USA) C3 Athletes Serving Athletes
