Ride Your Own Race: Timmerman Sets National Championship Pace in Masters 40-44

With the afternoon sun turning the icy ruts into icy, muddy ruts, Matt Timmerman (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com) knew getting to the front of the Masters 40-44 race would be a key to success,

“Man the first lap was so hard. Unbelievably hard. I think everyone on the line realized you needed to be at the front and kind of ride your own race because it was really hard to follow. Everyone was making different mistakes, so you didn’t want to be making someone else’s mistakes. You kind of wanted to make your own mistakes.”

A crash at the start created some added excitement. 2017 Cyclocross National Championships, Masters Men 40-44. © D. Mable / Cyclocross Magazine

Timmerman was able to make the lead selection that emerged in the first lap and eventually worked his way to the front of the race to ride his own race. He minimized his mistakes and rode to a convincing National Championship in the Masters 40-44 race.

After one trip through the circuit, a selection of Timmerman, Johannes Huseby (Boulder Cycle-Sport / YogaGlo), and Justin Robinson (Santa Cruz Factory Racing) established itself at the front of the race. Robinson led the dash up the embankment on lap 2 and looked to take over the lead group early in the race.

Justin Robinson (Santa Cruz Factory Racing) leading the race on lap two. 2017 Cyclocross National Championships Masters Men 40-44. © D. Mable / Cyclocross Magazine

The other two riders had different plans, and after they descended down the levee, Timmerman and Huseby had opened a gap on Robinson. The race’s middle lap of the five lap race was when Timmerman made his move. By the time he got to the top of the embankment, he had opened up a 10 second lead on Huseby to take control of the race.

Johannes Huseby (Boulder Cycle Sport/ YogaGlo) would finish the race in third. 2017 Cyclocross National Championships Masters Men 40-44. © D. Mable / Cyclocross Magazine

Timmerman kept a comfortable lead through the rest of the race to win the race and the Stars-and-Stripes jersey. Timmerman said the effort took total concentration:

“No mistakes. You had to be 100% focused for all 45 minutes out there. The mindset was just every corner, every straightaway, where am I going? Where’s my line? How fast am I going? What are my tires doing? Are they starting to squirm? Am I going a little too fast, a little too slow? It was hard. It was mentally as hard as it was physically hard.”

Mathew Timmerman leading on the climb. 2017 Cyclocross National Championships Masters Men 40-44. © D. Mable / Cyclocross Magazine

After Timmerman got away from Huseby, the Coloradoan still held a 15 second lead over Robinson after the Santa Cruz rider’s rough second lap. During the first half of lap 4 up the embankment and down off the levee, Robinson made his move to the front and established a five second lead for second on Huseby. Robinson continued to extend the gap in the bell lap to secure the silver medal.

Justin Robinson would end the race in second. 2017 Cyclocross National Championships Masters Men 40-44. © D. Mable / Cyclocross Magazine

Robinson said the run was where he made his move in lap 4, “I just kind of found my groove. I tried riding the top one lap and he gapped me way back. Then I realized I ran really strong, and that’s when I caught up to Jos and passed him. I figured I could hit it there on the last lap and gap him even more, and it worked really well.”

Mathew Timmerman wins the 2017 Cyclocross National Championships Masters Men 40-44 race. © D. Mable / Cyclocross Magazine

Huseby held on for bronze and said he was happy with his third-place effort against Timmerman and Robinson, “My goal was to get away and make a separation at the beginning because I knew it would be a big cluster behind us, especially on the run-up and stuff. I knew that both Matt and Justin would be tough competition today, and they’re both some of my life-long, really good friends. It was great to get to race against them. And I was having a very hard time seeing. I got so much mud in my eyes I couldn’t see very well. I was really happy overall.”

Full results below the video interviews.

Matt Timmerman, 2017 Masters 40-44 Cyclocross National Champion

Justin Robinson, 2017 Masters 40-44 Cyclocross National Championships, Second Place

2017 CX National Championships Hartford Day 4 Results Masters Men 40-44