by Jacob Sisson, Photos by Michael Franken
Sunday at the Whitmores Landscaping Supercross Cup brought about slightly warmer temperatures than the day before, and the wind that had made spectating (let along typing live updates…) almost impossible, had disappeared. One thing that didn’t change was the hierarchy of the elite women’s race. Repeating an impressive victory from the previous day, Georgia Gould (LUNA) once again demolished her opposition en route to her second win in as many days. Starting the day 16 points behind Amy Dombroski (Velo Bella – Kona) in the NACT standings, Gould managed to flip the standings around, taking home the inaugural North American Cyclocross Trophy title.
Dombroski was determined to make a claim at the title, and from the minute the race started, her intentions were on display. Gould hit the front of the race on the opening prologue loop, and it was Dombroski who she brought in tow. The course on both days had included a short, but very steep, incline at the far side of the venue dubbed “methane hill.” The pitch was steep enough that if you did not carry enough speed into it, you would end your trip rolling back towards where you started. On numerous occasions, this course feature would play a prominent role in shaping the race. Methane hill wasted no time in bearing its teeth, forcing Dombroski to put down a foot on her first trip over the summit. This slight bobble allowed Gould, who had crested flawlessly, to gain a lead that she would never surrender. As Dombroski fought to be reabsorbed by the field, Gould was concentrated on extending her lead.
Behind Gould and Dombroski, a group of chasers, including Natasha Elliot (EMD Serono – Stevens), Maureen Bruno Roy (MM Racing p/b Seven Cycles), Deidre Winfield (Velo Bella – Kona) and Laura Van Gilder (C3-Sollay.com), were trying hard to bring back the two leaders. Behind that group were Sue Butler (Monaviecannondale.com) and the resurgent Lynne Bessette (Cyclocrossworld.com). As the race progressed, Dombroski was brought back to the chasers under the watch of Elliot, while Butler and Bessette were able to chase on to the back. Elliot’s accelerations shortly pulled herself and Dombroski off the front of the group, but the duo were soon back into the fold. With the chase group numbering six, methane hill would once again mix things up. Lynne Bessete took to the front of the group, followed by Laura Van Gilder. Bessette made it safely over the top, but behind her, chaos ensued, as Van Gilder could not quite make it over, allowing Bessette to grab a lead.
Natasha Elliot took up the chase duties to try and track down Bessette, and in so doing, managed to rid the group of Winfield, and put Dombroski in difficulty. At this point, Gould had managed to amass a lead of about 30 seconds, and her win was looking more and more assured. Bessette was almost caught by the time the chase group made it to methane hill, and her capture look assured when she was forced to a stop by the steep pitch. Just as the chase group was on her wheel, Elliot crashed at the summit, giving Bessette back her lead. Van Gilder was the first to make it out of the logjam behind, and quickly got a gap over the chasers. Dombroski was the next to sort herself through the rubble, coming down in fourth. Following her crash, Elliot faded back down to the chasing group of Maureen Bruno Roy and Sue Butler, who were at the back of the traffic jam atop methane hill.
As the race wound down, Gould had a comfortable lead over Bessette who also had a relatively comfortable lead over Van Gilder. Winfield and Dombroski were working together to catch Van Gilder and get Dombroski into a good position to salvage the NACT title should Gould suffer any sort of bad luck. Behind those two, Sue Butler had attacked Bruno Roy and Elliot and solidified her place in sixth place. Over the course of the final lap, the race had sorted itself out and settled down, with each woman riding the rest of her race conservatively. The positions at the beginning of the last lap stood until all the women crossed the finish line. Dombroski had rode Winfield off her wheel over the course of her pursuit of Van Gilder but would have to settle for fourth place. Elliot was able to rid herself of Bruno Roy in the last few hundred meters of the race to bring home seventh place.
With that, Gould had doubled her win tally at the Whitmores Landscaping Supercross Cup. She was also able to overcome her deficit in the NACT standings and took home the overall title belt, a bling pink title belt. Dombroski held on to second place in the series, followed by Sue Butler, who took home third.
Photo by Michael Franken
Full Results:
1 Georgia Gould (Luna Chix)
2 Lyne Bessette (Cyclocrossworld.com)
3 Laura Van Gilder (C3 Sollay)
4 Amy Dombroski (Velo Bella – Kona)
5 Deidre Winfield (Velo Bella – Kona)
6 Susan Butler (MonavieCannondale.com)
7 Natasha Elliot (EMD Serono/Stevens)
8 Maureen Bruno Roy (MM Racing p/b Seven Cycles)
9 Kathy Sherwin (Velo Bella – Kona)
10 Sally Annis (NEBC/Cycle Loft/Devonshire Dental)
11 Rebecca Wellons (Ridley Factory Team)
12 Barbara Howe (www.barbrides.com)
13 Amy Wallace (RGM Watches – Richard Sachs – Boathouse Inc)
14 Sarah Kerlin (HRS/ Rock Lobster)
15 Cris Rothfuss (NEBC/Cycle Loft/Devonshire Dental)
16 Kristin Gavin (Human Zoom/Pabst Blue Ribbon)
17 Carolyn Popovic (Team CICLE)
18 Linnea Koons (international bicycle/global)
19 Nikki Thiemann (Human Zoom Pabst Blue Ribbon)
20 Anna Milkowski (Velo Bella-Kona)
21 Callie McDowell (Boston University / Scantily Plaid)
22 Jennifer Maxwell (Team Kenda Tire)
23 Sinead Fitzgibbon (Team Hops)
24 Marci Titus Hall (DeSalvo Custom Cycles
One Lap Down
25 Kristine Church (Human Zoom/ Pabst Blue Ribbon)
Two Laps Down
26 Elizabeth Harlow (c3-sollay.com)
DNF Heidi von Teitenberg (C3-Sollay.com)
