The smallest women’s race of the weekend toed the line today in Iowa, as they previewed the next day’s World Cup racecourse.
Much like the Friday night race, most of the women racing on Sunday chose to sit out the Saturday C2 except Mannon Bakker, Perrine Clauzel and Sunny Gilbert, who was an alternate in Waterloo and Fayetteville but qualified for Iowa City.
Clauzel had a fast start but was passed by Gilbert. 2021 Jingle Cross Day 2 Elite Women. © D. Mable / Cyclocross Magazine
Clauzel claimed the holeshot, but it didn’t take long for Bakker to take control of the front of the race.
Bakker raced for nearly an hour. 2021 Jingle Cross Day 2 Elite Women. © D. Mable / Cyclocross Magazine
By the time the women reached the top of Mt. Krumpit, Bakker had a small gap, Clauzel followed in second with Harriot Harnden in third and Sunny Gilbert close behind in fourth.
The woman to watch was Gilbert, as she slowly closed the gap to Harnden and quickly passed her to claim the third position. Gilbert, who didn’t qualify for the previous two World Cups, has been on a tear to race and gain more points for a better start position at the races.
Sunny Gilbert ran Mt. Krumpit to secure second on the day. 2021 Jingle Cross Day 2 Elite Women. © D. Mable / Cyclocross Magazine
Up front, Bakker was increasing her lead to Clauzel, who was falling back as the former runner, Gilbert was striding her way up to her. Before long, Gilbert made the pass on Clauzel to claim second. Gilbert continued to put more time on Clauzel to solidify her second place.
Bakker held onto first to claim victory, Gilbert smiled her way to the finish for second as Clauzel rolled in for third.
Bakker is no stranger to racing at Jingle Cross. She battled Jennifer Jackson to a photo finish in 2019, and looked to the naked eye to have won the sprint. This time around, she left no doubt.
Manon Bakker had a long, solo, victorious day at the office. 2021 Jingle Cross Day 2 Elite Women. © D. Mable / Cyclocross Magazine
The talk of the crowd was the length of the race for the women. The women raced eight laps with Bakker having a finishing time of 57:53! Many women raced for over an hour.
Hear Bakker talk at length about the race’s distance and effort below.
Full results below.
Tomorrow will be the final race of this long stretch of racing concluding with the last U.S. World Cup.
Our 2021 UCI Cyclocross World Cup coverage is brought to you by Bike Rags Apparel with additional support from BikeIowa.
2021 Jingle Cross Day 2 Results: UCI C2 Elite Women
| Rank | Bib | Name | Affiliation | Time | Split Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Manon BAKKER | Trek Factory Racing | 57:53:00 | 7:27 |
| 2 | 48 | Sunny GILBERT | Hardwood Next Wave | 58:29:00 | 7:30 |
| 3 | 1 | Perrine CLAUZEL | Iko-Crelan | 59:38:00 | 7:39 |
| 4 | 5 | Harriet HARNDEN | Bissell-ABG-Giant | 1:00:07 | 7:40 |
| 5 | 6 | Taylor KUYK-WHITE | Parallel 44 Racing p/b Sanford | 1:00:32 | 7:43 |
| 6 | 20 | Jennifer MALIK | Fast Fun Nice p/b Wattie Ink | 1:00:53 | 7:40 |
| 7 | 34 | Anna DOROVSKIKH | Team Supernice | 1:01:08 | 7:41 |
| 8 | 32 | Erin FELDHAUSEN | 1:01:34 | 7:36 | |
| 9 | 22 | Rachel GEITER | Geoff???s Bike and Ski | 1:01:45 | 7:41 |
| 10 | 82 | Cassidy HICKEY | Orion Racing | 54:52:00 | 8:16 |
| 11 | 28 | Natalie SMITH | 55:15:00 | 7:54 | |
| 12 | 25 | Leslie ETHRIDGE | Bonsai Endurance / Zone 6 | 55:20:00 | 7:58 |
| 13 | 67 | Katelyn WALCROFT | 55:23:00 | 8:27 | |
| 14 | 30 | Caitlin NEUMAN | Trek Cyclocross Collective | 55:29:00 | 7:51 |
| 15 | 37 | Ellie MITCHELL | Hardwood Next Wave | 55:43:00 | 8:04 |
| 16 | 16 | Molly CLARK-OIEN | VeloRevolution=WP Cycles | 55:51:00 | 7:50 |
| 17 | 23 | Anne USHER | ORNOT Elite Off-Road Team | 55:51:00 | 8:02 |
| 18 | 63 | Kelly LAWSON | Team S&M CX | 56:16:00 | 8:12 |
| 19 | 36 | Abby STRIGEL | Blue Competition Cycles p/b Bui | 56:16:00 | 8:15 |
| 20 | 49 | Sophie RUSSENBERGER | 48:03:00 | 8:26 | |
| 21 | 19 | Corey COOGAN CISEK | Visit Walla Walla | 40:38:00 | 8:19 |
| 22 | 15 | Emily LEONARD | Competitive Edge Racing | 33:17:00 | 8:30 |
| 23 | 24 | Robin WILLIAMS | 33:44:00 | 8:21 | |
| @4Lap | 27 | Sarah LARSON | Cascadia Wheel Co. Factory Team | 8:19 | |
| @4Lap | 26 | Molly LOHRY | Ultra Violet | 8:35 | |
| @4Lap | 17 | Ryley MOSHER | Paradise Garage Racing p/b Sman | 8:55 | |
| DNF | 29 | Stephanie TAPLIN | 7:51 | ||
| DNS | 2 | Alice Maria ARZUFFI | ITALIAN CYCLING FEDERATION | ||
| DNS | 4 | Gaia REALINI | RSCX - HOUSE INDUSTRIES | ||
| DNS | 35 | Maeghan EASLER | NWCX Project |
Check out the full results for the UCI Junior Women and UCI Junior Men from earlier today.
