Lance Haidet Survives to Win U23 Men’s Thriller

Gage Hecht led at the start, but had to defend his position the entire Men’s U23 race. 2017 Cyclocross National Championships – U23 Men. © D. Mable / Cyclocross Magazine

With only a few hundred meters to go to win the Men’s U23 National Championship, Maxx Chance (EVOL DevoElite Racing) appeared to be headed to his second Stars-and-Stripes jersey of the weekend when an unthinkable disaster struck. Heading through one of the last corners before the elite-only run-up and descent, Chance’s chain fell off and he was forced to spend several seconds putting it back on.

The heartbreaking moment of Maxx Chance. 2017 Cyclocross National Championships © D. Perker / Cyclocross Magazine

Sitting five seconds back, Lance Haidet (Clement) seized on Chance’s misfortune and took the lead with the finish line in sight. The Clement rider rode the last features cleanly to win the Men’s U23 National Championship in a thrilling finish fans are not likely to forget.

Haidet said staying in contention in the last lap put him at his limit, but ultimately paid off:

“On that last lap I was completely in the red, like making all kinds of mistakes, but everyone else was as well. So just sticking on Maxx’s wheel, and a couple times I thought I lost his wheel, and would totally skid out a bit, but unfortunately for him, he dropped his chain, and I saw that and was coming up on him, and was just like so stoked. But lots of different feelings that last lap.”

Even the leaders had trouble with the off-camber icy turns. 2017 Cyclocross National Championships – U23 Men. © D. Mable / Cyclocross Magazine

Fighting back the emotions of being so close to a National Championship, Chance said he was still happy with a weekend that included the Collegiate Club Stars-and-Stripes jersey,

“It’s a great weekend. My previous best finish was like outside top 10 so I had an amazing race, and I was really happy, really excited. This was my best Nationals finish in the U23s to date. And I rode really strong and I’m really happy with it but it’s just really hard to work all season, and have it right there, like two corners away, and have a mechanical, but that’s how it goes.”

An Exciting Race Leads to a Thrilling Finish

The Men’s U23 affair was exciting for the entire race. Cooper Willsey (Cannondale Cyclocrossworld) jumped out to an early lead he eventually surrendered to Gage Hecht (Alpha Bicycle Co. – Vista Subaru) during the second lap.

Curtis White had a tough afternoon including this crash. 2017 Cyclocross National Championships © D. Perker / Cyclocross Magazine

Curtis White (Cannondale Cyclocrossworld) was also up near the front for the first few laps before suffering a crash that took him out of contention for the podium.

Chance eventually worked his way off the front and was chased for a lap by Wednesday’s Collegiate Varsity winner Brannan Fix (Alpha Bicycle Co. – Vista Subaru) before Hecht worked his way back into the second position while Haidet hung around in contention for the podium as well.

Gage Hecht, Maxx Chance and Curtis White battled for much of the race. 2017 Cyclocross National Championships – U23 Men. © D. Mable / Cyclocross Magazine

Chance, Hecht, and Haidet were all in contention heading into the bell lap. Chance described the tight racing in the last lap:

“One to go, Gage caught me, I had been riding solo for most of the race. I attacked on the Bonk Breaker hill, and we got a gap, and I was coming through pit two, made a little mistake in the trees and Lance caught up to me, and it was Lance and I. Gage went down and then I had a little gap on Lance with three corners left. Dropped a chain, had to get off and get it back on. Lance and Gage passed me. But I was able to get it back on and sprinted Brandon for third. Happy but also really disappointed.”

Lance Haidet picked his way through traffic, finally reaching the third step of the podium. 2017 Cyclocross National Championships – U23 Men. © D. Mable / Cyclocross Magazine

Hecht also pulled around Chance after the mechanical and took second. Chance recovered to beat Fix in a sprint to the finish to take third.

Haidet said the key to overcoming a slow start and staying in contention was to ride smoothly and take advantage of his technical skills,

Maxx Chance led late in the final lap with Gage Hecht and Lance Haidet close behind. 2017 Cyclocross National Championships – U23 Men. © D. Mable / Cyclocross Magazine

“I’ve always been a more technical rider than a power rider, so on all the straightaways I just kept it consistent, not so hard that I’d go into the red, because I didn’t want to go into the technical sections totally blown and make all kinds of mistakes. So a lot of where I was making time was through the corners and just accelerating out of a corner, which is where I’ve always been pretty good.”

Racers snake through the slick and slippery course. 2017 Cyclocross National Championships – U23 Men. © D. Perker / Cyclocross Magazine

Haidet spent maybe 500 meters on the front of the race, but those 500 meters were the only ones that ultimately count. He described his emotions during the thrilling finish:

With two laps to go, the battle for first was still tight. 2017 Cyclocross National Championships – U23 Men. © D. Mable / Cyclocross Magazine

“Right when I went by him I wasn’t really thinking about but then on the top of the little UCI section I look back sort of on the run-up and no one’s behind me and I’m like whoa, as long as I don’t crash, I’m National Champion. So yeah, that’s a really good feeling.”

Solid U23 Debut for Hecht

Racing in his first U23 race after having success at the Junior level, Hecht showed the mental toughness of a much older racer while fighting with the talented field of riders,

Large crowds greeted Lance Haidet across the line, winning the U23 Men’s race. 2017 Cyclocross National Championships – U23 Men. © D. Mable / Cyclocross Magazine

“That last lap it was hard because you want to go, ‘Well I’m in third now, I’m locked in,’ but you gotta keep telling yourself well there’s a good chance everybody’s gonna make a mistake and this could all come back together. So I was telling myself that the entire last lap, and it happened to one of the riders who just had an accident, so it sucks to see that happen to somebody, but I’m kinda happy that it did.”

Lance Haidet wins. 2017 Cyclocross National Championships – U23 Men. © D. Mable / Cyclocross Magazine

Hecht said overall he enjoyed the experience Chance described as “rubbin’ is racing”:

“It was just amazing. I had a blast in all those tight situations and really enjoyed jostling it out with Lance and Maxx, and I’m just really excited about what went down and how it happened and how it went.”

2017 CX National Championships Hartford Results - U23 Men