Kelli Emmett » Women's Race NACT #10 Southampton 11/22/09

Women's Race NACT #10 Southampton 11/22/09 745 views

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.