Faia Surprises Crowd and Himself with Masters 45-49 Win at the 2014 National Cyclocross Championships – Report, Gallery, Full Results

The course at Valmont Bike Park this morning may have been set up the same as yesterday, but with gusting winds and freezing temperatures, the terrain was entirely different from the slippery mud of Thursday’s races. Instead, the course was bumpy and rutted, which made for faster but slightly-less-comfortable laps for the first race of the day, the Masters 45-49 race.

Jon Cariveau leads Tim Faia, Kenny Wehn and Don Myrah with Robson off the front. © Cyclocross Magazine

Michael Robson (Moots) took an early lead, with his teammate Jon Cariveau in the mix and working for him as he raced himself. The eight minute laps—the fastest of the week so far—made for more pack racing, and the front group was fairly large, with Tim Cannard, Kenny Wehn (Stan’s No Tubes), Tim Faia (Trek), James Cochran (Atlas Cycling Team) and race favorite Don Myrah, who had just returned from racing Masters Worlds in Switzerland, where he took the title there.

Robson held the lead coming into lap two, while Myrah was forced to pit after his brakes began to rub. “One of the springs in my rear brake came undone, I had to pit and it cost me a little time. It just killed me. I was happy with my race though. I was happy to give Tim a good race, especially after just getting back from Europe.”

It was congested the first time up the stairs. 2014 Masters 45-49 Cyclocross National Championships. © Steve Anderson

Robson was steady in the lead, and it was apparent that while Cariveau wasn’t planning to concede his position, he wasn’t going to work to bridge up to his teammate with the group. “We’ve raced together and traveled together so much that we didn’t have to plan tactics, we knew what to do,” Robson told Cyclocross Magazine.

Don Myrah leading Tim Faia – 2014 Masters 45-49 Cyclocross National Championships. © Steve Anderson

By 20 minutes in, Faia, Robson and Myrah had built up a slight gap on the rest of the leaders, who were being encroached upon by another case group including mountain biker Travis Brown, who was ironically stopped due to drivetrain issues on his singlespeed.

Robson later explained his strategy, saying, “With the ruts and how rough it was and how hard it was, we wanted to be up to the front I hadn’t planned on leading but nobody else went that hard. I’m used to doing a good hard one or two laps at the beginning of a race and then settling in, and I felt really, really good until the second lap, and then Myrah and Faia started to chip away and get back to me.”

With two laps to go in the five-lap race, Faia and Myrah had dropped Robson and were battling in earnest for the title. Behind them, there was a large gap to the now-spread-out lead group. “I was comfortable. I felt really good where I was riding, and I just stayed at that pace and opportunities presented themselves,” Faia explained. “The third lap, I got away.”

Coming in to the final lap, spectators were shocked to see Faia come through the finishing straight with 10 seconds on Myrah, but Faia told Cyclocross Magazine that it wasn’t “until the hill that I knew I had it.”

Faia crossed the line with plenty of time to celebrate, and even as he rolled through, he was grinning ear to ear and shouting, “How did that happen?”

After passing Robson, Faia takes control for good. 2014 Masters 45-49 Cyclocross National Championships. © Steve Anderson

Behind him, Myrah was uncontested for second and Robson rolled in for third, immediately going over to Faia to say, “I’m as happy as if I’d won,” as the two hugged.

“I was very surprised,” Faia said. “I started riding on Monday. Since the 12th of December, I’ve just been doing a lot of ski mountaineering. I don’t believe it. It was beautiful. It all worked out.”

Shocked to take the win, Faia crossed the line asking “How did that happen?” © Mike Albright

Tim Faia was surprised with the win. © Steve Anderson

Results below gallery.

Faia Surprises Crowd and Himself with Masters 45-49 Win – Gallery

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Master Men 45-49 Results - USA Cycling National Championships of Cyclocross 2014

For all the best Cyclocross Nationals 2014 coverage, including bike profiles, race reports, results and video interviews, check out our 2014 Cyclocross National Championship Page here.