Hartford, Connecticut – Maxx Chance (University of Colorado-Boulder) had a busy Christmas break, heading over to Europe for the Namur and Zolder block of Euro Cross camp and then quickly hitting the road for Hartford. After relatively dry races at those venues, he had to wait for the U.S. Cyclocross Nationals in Hartford to get his mud exercises in. Chance made the most of the opportunity to race in the mud by taking the first Stars-and-Stripes jersey of the week in the Men’s Collegiate Club race in Hartford.
The collegiate club men are underway, as is our live #cxnats updates throughout the week. The start is the only time the racers are clean. pic.twitter.com/SwIxXv7HUN
— Cyclocross Magazine (@cyclocross) January 4, 2017
Rain nearly all day Tuesday left the course a muddy mess that looked like one found at the Belgian or Dutch national championships. Organizers removed the slip-and-slide descent from yesterday, but the course still featured deep mud throughout the course and several technical off-cambers rendered more difficult by the precipitation.
Early rain meant a muddy course for the day. 2017 CX National Championships Hartford Day 2 Collegiate Men Club. © A. Yee / Cyclocross Magazine
Chance blasted out to take the holeshot and staked himself out to a 10 second lead on a chase group of five after descending the muddy section off the levee. During the second lap, Cooper Willsey (Furman University) joined Chance at the head of the race while Willsey’s teammate Brenden Rhim (Furman University) worked to close the gap to the lead duo.
Two ways to climb, the leaders shown here. 2017 CX National Championships Hartford Day 2 Collegiate Men Club. © A. Yee / Cyclocross Magazine
The most unique feature of the Hartford course is the steep embankment section near the beginning of the circuit. It is ostensibly a choose-your-own-adventure section, but two early-week lines have already emerged – high and low. Riders during the morning racers have had split opinions about which is the best way to go, and Willsey and Chance were no different, with Chance going high and Willsey going low.
Winner Maxx Chance on a solo breakaway. 2017 CX National Championships Hartford Day 2 Collegiate Men Club. © A. Yee / Cyclocross Magazine
As the riders took the muddy descent off the levee for the third time, disaster struck for Willsey. The Furman rider hit a muddy rut at the bottom of the slope and crashed over his handlebars. Chance seized the opportunity to open up a gap at the front, and he quickly pulled an 8 second lead on Rhim, who moved into second place.
Maxx Chance and Brendan Rhim. 2017 CX National Championships Hartford Day 2 Collegiate Men Club. © A. Yee / Cyclocross Magazine
After opening up a gap, Chance stayed on the afterburners to pull away from the field. He took a 1:15 lead heading into the last lap and stayed strong through the finish to win by 1:21. Rhim took the silver medal and Willsey overcame his tough third lap to take bronze. Byron Rice (Appalachian State University) and Casey Hildebrandt (University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point) rounded out the top 5. See the full results below.
Your first #cxnats title winner, @maxx_chance of @CUBoulder, collegiate club men. #cxnats2017 pic.twitter.com/8tQJTXyDsg
— Cyclocross Magazine (@cyclocross) January 4, 2017
We had a chance to interview Chance after his race and he describes the course conditions, race strategy and his outlook on the upcoming U23 race. (Pardon the mid-interview hock-a-loogie. If you raced in these conditions you’d have excess mucous, too.)
2017 CX National Championships Hartford Day 2 Results Collegiate Men Club
| Place | Bib | Last | First | Team | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 142 | CHANCE | Maxx | University of Colorado Boulder | 55:05:00 | |
| 2 | 114 | RHIM | Brendan | Furman University | 56:26:00 | 1:21 |
| 3 | 115 | WILLSEY | Cooper | Furman University | 56:37:00 | 1:32 |
| 4 | 105 | RICE | Byron | Appalachian State University | 56:51:00 | 1:46 |
| 5 | 125 | HILDEBRANDT | Casey | University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point | 57:09:00 | 2:04 |
| 6 | 141 | GERCHAR | Garrett | University of Colorado Boulder | 59:24:00 | 4:19 |
| 7 | 140 | TANNER | Jack | University of Colorado Boulder | 59:57:00 | 4:52 |
| 8 | 118 | CURTIS | Zachary | Bridgewater State University | 1:00:37 | 5:32 |
| 9 | 113 | MORSE | Nathaniel | Furman University | 1:01:07 | 6:02 |
| 10 | 122 | KESSLER | David | Rhode Island School of Design | 1:01:34 | 6:29 |
| 11 | 144 | GREIF | David | University of Arizona | 1:02:14 | 7:09 |
| 12 | 120 | TRAVIS | Clayton | Virginia Polytechnic University | 50:42:00 | @1Lap |
| 13 | 135 | HEDLUND | Samuel | University of Vermont | 51:47:00 | @1Lap |
| 14 | 134 | LANDO | Nicholas | University of Vermont | 52:07:00 | @1Lap |
| 15 | 106 | GARVICK | George | Appalachian State University | 52:52:00 | @1Lap |
| 16 | 112 | NICHOLAS | Andrew | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | 53:39:00 | @1Lap |
| 17 | 146 | GINIAT | Andrew | DePaul University | 54:01:00 | @1Lap |
| 18 | 151 | MANDERFELD | Tristan | US Military Academy | 54:03:00 | @1Lap |
| 19 | 121 | WOODARD | Luke | Virginia Polytechnic University | 55:01:00 | @1Lap |
| 20 | 132 | CRIPE | Jonathan | Louisiana State University | 55:04:00 | @1Lap |
| 21 | 137 | OWENS | Matthew | University of Vermont | 56:32:00 | @1Lap |
| 22 | 130 | LYNN | Simon | US Air Force Academy | 57:06:00 | @1Lap |
| 23 | 116 | THOMAS | Nick | Arizona State University | 57:24:00 | @1Lap |
| 24 | 150 | PASQUALINA | Alec | Gonzaga University | 57:53:00 | @1Lap |
| 25 | 104 | WOLD | Travis | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | 58:34:00 | @1Lap |
| 26 | 147 | GENGLER | Wyatt | US Military Academy | 58:41:00 | @1Lap |
| 27 | 117 | PEABODY | Marcus | Rhode Island School of Design | 59:32:00 | @1Lap |
| 28 | 136 | DAMPHOUSSE | Sam | University of Vermont | 59:45:00 | @1Lap |
| 29 | 143 | ANDRE | Perry | University of Colorado Boulder | 1:00:21 | @1Lap |
| 30 | 101 | LOUIS | Rhys | Arizona State University | 1:00:34 | @1Lap |
| 31 | 103 | MARTIN | Michael | Harvard University | 1:00:35 | @1Lap |
| 32 | 126 | WOLLNER | Jonathan | University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point | 1:01:30 | @1Lap |
| 33 | 102 | MEYER | Colin | Harvard University | 1:01:53 | @1Lap |
| 34 | 124 | BERKOW | Zachary | Dartmouth College | 1:02:28 | @1Lap |
| 35 | 139 | WALKER | Kyler | University of Colorado Boulder | 1:03:38 | @1Lap |
| 36 | 133 | MANDEL | Charles | University of Vermont | 1:03:56 | @1Lap |
| 37 | 131 | SPAIN | Benjamin | Tulane University of Louisiana | 1:06:01 | @1Lap |
| 38 | 111 | JANKOWSKI | Benjamin | University of Massachusetts Amherst | 1:07:30 | @1Lap |
| 39 | 123 | GRANAT | Max | The University of Texas at Austin | 1:09:35 | @1Lap |
| 40 | 128 | MCMAHON | Dan | Colorado School of Mines | 50:06:00 | @2Laps |
| 41 | 119 | MCGIBONEY | Ryan | Virginia Polytechnic University | 50:12:00 | @2Laps |
| 42 | 148 | OKAZAKI | Ammon | US Military Academy | 50:16:00 | @2Laps |
| 43 | 109 | EHRENBERGER | Tobias | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 50:22:00 | @2Laps |
| 44 | 129 | WELLS | Jonathan | Colorado School of Mines | 50:51:00 | @2Laps |
| 45 | 110 | VEGGEBERG | Sam | University of Massachusetts Amherst | 53:16:00 | @2Laps |
| 46 | 149 | ALLEN | Dylan | US Military Academy | 53:57:00 | @2Laps |
| 47 | 145 | LEY | Ethan | North Carolina State University at Raleigh | 58:55:00 | @2Laps |
| 48 | 108 | SCHUR | Reid | Washington University in St Louis | 1:02:31 | @2Laps |
| 49 | 127 | BENAVIDEZ | Dominic | University of New Mexico | 1:07:03 | @2Laps |
| DNF | 107 | CLARK | Garrett | Appalachian State University | ||
| DNS | 138 | WALTERS | Dalton | University of Colorado Boulder |
