By Mary Topping
ProVelo Passion
Grant Ellwood second, Eric Brunner third in U23 UCI race
Gage Hecht wins US Open of Cyclocross 2017, day 1
Saturday’s US Open of Cyclocross course used almost every inch of the Valmont Bike Park hillside in Boulder, Colorado. It wound up and down and up again and west and east then west again. As gusts flung dust about and stretched course tape into scallops, the west winds magnified the rollercoaster effect, alternately pushing and holding back riders.
It was enough to transform even the strongest athletes into boats tossed on a roiling sea.
After the race, Gage Hecht (Alpha Bicycle Co/Groove Subaru) admitted to feeling queasy. “I’d come around and change direction, and whoa, my stomach would feel a little weak,” he said.
Gage Hecht solos up the 5280 stairs
Laurel Rathbun (Donnelly Pro Team), who competed as a U23 in the elite women’s race, threw up during lap two.
Laurel Rathbun’s holeshot in the elite women’s race
Maxx Chance (EVOL Racing) said the wind blew him off his bike at the top of the “corkscrew” feature, a set of banked turns beginning at the highest point on course. The current U23 national champion, Lance Haidet (Donnelly Pro Team), might have seen that happen.
Haidet agreed it was just about the craziest wind he’d ever raced in. “Some of the slow corners going into the corkscrew, it was like you were literally getting blown into the air it was so windy,” he said after the finish. “But it made for some interesting racing, for sure.”
The U23 field circles the west end of Valmont to begin lap 1. Note wind socket in upper left of frame.
After Grant Ellwood (Boulder Cycle Sport) nabbed the holeshot, Chance launched into the same aggressive style of racing that set the tone for this year’s national championships in Hartford.
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