The Junior Men 11-12 was the third title race on Saturday at the 2021 USA Cyclocross National Championships.
Just as in the two races earlier in the day, the youngest Juniors faced two laps on a heavy course.
There were heavy winds in the morning, which meant the title races were postponed and the industry race was canceled.
(1/3) #CXNats Update -So due to heavy winds we are looking at heavy damage to both the course and venue. Racing will now begin at 11am. Riders will have the opportunity to preride at 10:30.
— USA Cycling (@usacycling) December 11, 2021
The damage wasn’t severe, but it was enough to cause the title races to be postponed. The course and venues were both damaged.
Bummer @usacycling #cxnats We learned our lesson at Reno Nats. Last night we took all our @horstcycling stuff down and secured it. First race delayed to 10:30 A.M (at least). That’s all I’ve got for now. #cyclocross pic.twitter.com/l8jbokByVH
— Scott M. Livingston (@_livingston) December 11, 2021
2021 USA Cyclocross National Championships Junior Men 11-12
The Junior Men 11-12 took to the course under blustery, cold conditions.
The youngest Juniors showed you never know who might turn in a surprise ride at Nationals.
Lukas Young had a quiet season race-wise, according to crossresults, registering zero cyclocross races in 2021 and flying under the radar of other racers and race predictors.
It didn’t take long for Vegas to recalculate the betting odds. Young moved to the front after a series of tricky off-cambers after the sand and looked to be in control.
Crossresults.com race favorite Sean Davies was looking to be (at least) the second BMXer to take a Cyclocross Nationals title after local hero Tim Strelecki took the Masters 45-49 title earlier in the week. Davies is a top Expert BMX racer, having won Grands, the biggest BMX race as an Intermediate, and finishing top American in his age group at the UCI BMX World Championships in Zolder, Belgium. In the mold of MvdP, Davies now races BMX, mountain bikes, road, track and cyclocross.
Davies raced 11 races this season, doubling up with the A-Men to gain points for a front-row start. Although Davies got swarmed off the line, he then passed much of the field, pushing through the second through fourth by the stairs to ride within sight of the leader Young.
The two leaders took different approaches to battling the mud. Young stayed on his cyclocross bike, while Davies hit the pits and swapped between his carbon hardtail (similar to Kira Mullin’s 2019 winning bike) and carbon full suspension bike in hopes of getting a cleaner drivetrain and tread.
Young had more left in the tank, and pulled away on the pedaling straights.
Behind the lead two, Kai Blankenship, who raced 14 races before Nationals, hit the turbo, closing the gap to Davies but ran out of real estate.
Young had time to post up coming down the finish, with Davies holding off Blankenship for silver.
Full results below.
2021 USA Cyclocross National Championships Results Junior Men 11-12
| Rank | Bib | Name | Affiliation | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 319 | Lukas YOUNG | Project Echelon | 23:08 | 2 |
| 2 | 318 | Sean DAVIES | Mantis Racing | 23:13 | 2 |
| 3 | 302 | Kai BLANKENSHIP | Cascadia Junior Cycling | 23:15 | 2 |
| 4 | 329 | Baxter CARESS | Nctc | 23:57 | 2 |
| 5 | 322 | Finnley SONNEMANN | Revolution Cycles Club | 24:05:00 | 2 |
| 6 | 323 | Raymond HEMBROOK | Avout Racing | 25:09:00 | 2 |
| 7 | 320 | Harrison MOROSCO | Velocious Sport | 25:24:00 | 2 |
| 8 | 332 | John PAPADAKIS | Baltimore Youth Cycling | 25:55:00 | 2 |
| 9 | 316 | Josiah BOWER | Stinkbug Naturals | 25:57:00 | 2 |
| 10 | 312 | Trevor HALL | Boulder Junior Cycling | 26:28:00 | 2 |
| 11 | 339 | William BAIOTTO | Avout Racing | 26:34:00 | 2 |
| 12 | 324 | Henry FLENTYE | The Pony Shop | 27:26:00 | 2 |
| 13 | 314 | Mazen LAZAR | Usa Cycling | 28:04:00 | 2 |
| 14 | 321 | Paxton SUMMERS | Baltimore Youth Cycling | 28:21:00 | 2 |
| 15 | 325 | Ian GIEBEL | Avout Racing | 28:51:00 | 2 |
| 16 | 340 | Hudson NABLO | Stage1 Cycling / Airline Cycles | 28:52:00 | 2 |
| 17 | 331 | Ryan LEE | Rcv | 29:05:00 | 2 |
| 18 | 326 | Quinn PECONGA | Midwest Devo | 29:17:00 | 2 |
| 19 | 311 | Noah HEKKERT | Rock Lobster | 29:27:00 | 2 |
| 20 | 304 | Lucius HAMBLEN | Velocious Sport | 29:29:00 | 2 |
| 21 | 309 | Roczen BEISSEL | Northstar Devo | 29:34:00 | 2 |
| 22 | 308 | Dylan SKINNER | Lionhearts Junior Racing | 29:48:00 | 2 |
| 23 | 334 | Anders HOLMES | L5 Racing Team | 30:56:00 | 2 |
| 24 | 338 | Luke JOHNSON | Bicycle Doctor | 31:22:00 | 2 |
| 25 | 307 | Ian MARKS | Baltimore Youth Cycling | 32:21:00 | 2 |
| 26 | 315 | Axel BRANDSMEIER | Corridor Devo Junior Cycling Team | 32:24:00 | 2 |
| 27 | 310 | Gavin FRONK | Lionhearts | 32:28:00 | 2 |
| 28 | 328 | Fin DAUFELDT | Corridor Devo Junior Cycling Team | 32:28:00 | 2 |
| 29 | 317 | Arjuna BURGOS | Boost Cyclesport Junior Team | 33:35:00 | 2 |
| 30 | 303 | Eero WHITE | Boulder Junior Cycling | 33:48:00 | 2 |
| 31 | 327 | Sam TRUESDALE | The Pony Shop | 34:01:00 | 2 |
| 32 | 336 | Ronan VALENTIN | Carl Valentin | 34:02:00 | 2 |
| 33 | 330 | Will DAUSCH | Rock Creek Velo | 34:03:00 | 2 |
| 34 | 333 | Reid PURWIN | Minuteman Road Club | 34:04:00 | 2 |
| 35 | 335 | Luke WAGLIARDO | The Pony Shop | 34:05:00 | 2 |
| 36 | 306 | Tanner KAST | Avout Racing | 34:06:00 | 2 |
| 37 | 305 | Benji BERGMAN | Donderdag Youth Cyclocross | 16:05 | 1 |
| 38 | 313 | Daniel GRODNICK | The Pony Shop | 21:58 | 1 |
| 39 | 337 | Will RAUCH | The Pony Shop | 27:51:00 | 1 |
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See the course preview videos from Cantigny Park, DuPage County, Illinois here.
Visit our dedicated 2021 USA Cycling Cyclocross Nationals page for all of our 2021 National Championships coverage.
