Shannon Gibson Wins the 2012 UCI Masters Cyclocross World Championships – Women 45-49: UPDATED Photos, Report, Results

Shannon Gibson of Stan's Notubes wins the Womens 45-49 race. ©Steve Anderson

For full coverage, schedules and information on the 2012 UCI Master’s Cyclocross World Championships in Louisville, Kentucky visit our 2012 Masters Cyclocross World Championships homepage.

by Grant Berry

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY — The final race of the 2012 Masters Cyclocross World Championships might have had the most challenging conditions of the weekend. The frozen ground had continued to melt throughout the day, and riders were greeted with thick peanut butter mud and ultra slippery corners.

Shannon Gibson (USA) worked to quickly establish a gap and put her technical skills to work. She was followed by Lori Cooke (USA) and Jennifer Maxwell (USA). Antonia Leal (USA) rode in fourth, and was making up ground quickly.

Once Gibson had established a large gap, she looked to be on cruise control and continued to ride smooth and choose the best lines. Behind her, Cooke was being chased hard by Leal.

“I was confident when it came to bike handling today. The mud was really thick and tricky out there!” explained Gibson. “I just kept my head down, and kept grinding away.”

With 1 lap to go, Gibson had put even more time between herself and her chasers, and now had a 40 second buffer. Leal made contact with Cooke, and the fight for the silver medal seemed like it was going to come down to a sprint. That sprint never materialized, as Leal had mechanical issues and dropped back to fourth opening the door for the final place on the podium, which now looked to be Jennifer Maxwell’s.

Gibson rode her last half lap smoothly and raced her way into the history books and a rainbow jersey. Cooke held on for second, and Maxwell was ecstatic with third. Leal seemed dejected, but still managed a small smile for the finish line photographers.

“Pitting was huge today. I was pitting every half lap as the mud was really clogging up my bike. On the last lap, I had to stop a couple times, and even took my gloves off since the mud was making it hard to hold on. I am really excited to get this win!”

Shannon Gibson had closed out the 2012 Master’s World Championships with a very deserving victory.

Rider diaries, videos, photos, reports and all things veldrijden will be pouring in this weekend for the  2012 UCI Master’s Cyclocross World Championships in Louisville, Kentucky. To see them all, visit our 2012 Masters Cyclocross World Championships homepage.

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