Tobin Ortenblad gets his first UCI Elite Men's win. 2016 CXLA Cyclocross Day 1. © C. Fegan-Kim. Cyclocross Magazine
The Elite Men stayed in a large pack for the seven-lap contest, with California-native Tobin Ortenblad (Santa Cruz Factory Racing) edging out Jamey Driscoll (Raleigh Clement) at the line by two-tenths of a second. Jonathan Page, four-time men's U.S. Cyclocross national champion, who lives and trains in Utah, raced CXLA and finished fourth.
Only a few seconds separated Katerina Nash (LUNA Pro Team), Amanda Miller (Boulder Cycle Sport/ YogaGlo) and Courtenay McFadden (unattached) for most of the Elite Women's race, presented by Knobbe Martens IP Law. The threesome finished in that order at Whittier Narrows Recreation Area in South El Monte, Calif. It was Nash's fifth victory this year on the USA Cycling Professional Cyclocross Calendar (Pro CX), and last win since her double at Derby City Cup in Louisville, Ky. in early November.
"I've been doing cyclocross for so long I can't even remember. It's still fun so I just keep going," said the 40-year-old Nash. "It's always fun to come back to southern California and race the UCI weekend with CXLA. I've been here many times. (Race Director) Dorothy (Wong) has taken us around different parks in L.A., so I'm getting to know the area a little bit, which is always fun. The course was hard. It was very flat, with lots of corners. It took me a couple of laps in the race to sort of pick good lines. Tough competition out there and I'm happy to take first."
Nash leads Miller, Gomez Villafane at 2016 CXLA Cyclocross Day 1. © C. Fegan Kim. Cyclocross Magazine
CXLA is the only Pro CX race weekend that offers stand-alone races for both Junior Men (17-18 years of age) and Under-23 Men. The U23 Men's race was won by Grant Ellwood (Boulder Cycle Sport/ YogaGlo) from Boulder, CO. The Junior Men's race was won by Californian Benjamin Gomez-Villafane (CycleSport- Villafane).
"My favorite part of the SoCal Cross series is the perfect weather, and the fact of having a UCI race on the West Coast is always good, as I'm a West Coast guy. It's good to race so close to home," said 18-year-old Lance Haidet of San Luis Obispo, Calif. He finished on the podium in third in the U23 Men's race. “(My goal is) getting more UCI points so that I can move up in the grid, once I get to the bigger pro level races."
Ben Gomez Villafane wins the Junior race at the 2016 CXLA Cyclocross Day 1. © C. Fegan Kim. Cyclocross Magazine
Grant Ellwood sprints to the 2016 CXLA Cyclocross Day 1 victory. © C. Fegan Kim. Cyclocross Magazine
Full photo gallery below the results. Stay tuned for more CXLA coverage.
2016 CXLA UCI Day 1 UCI Cyclocross Results - Junior Men
| Pl | Bib | First | Last | Age | Team | Laps | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 172 | Benjamin | Gomez - Villafane | 17 | CycleSport - Specialized | 5 | 42:19.5 |
| 2 | 175 | Scott | Funston | 17 | Rad Racing NW | 5 | 42:33.4 |
| 3 | 171 | Calder | Wood | 17 | Rad Racing NW | 5 | 42:38.3 |
| 4 | 188 | Evan | Clouse | 18 | Hot Tubes Cycling Team | 5 | 42:45.3 |
| 5 | 173 | Henry | Jones | 17 | Bend Endurance Academy | 5 | 42:50.8 |
| 6 | 174 | George | Schulz | 18 | Van Dessel Factory Team | 5 | 44:16.2 |
| 7 | 186 | Brayden | Buchanan | 18 | Rad Racing NW | 5 | 44:17.5 |
| 8 | 187 | Donovan | Birky | 18 | Hutch's/Bend Dental | 5 | 45:26.9 |
| 9 | 189 | Brent | Franze | 18 | Giant co factory | 5 | 47:07.2 |
| 10 | 185 | Wiley | Melton | 18 | Melton Design Build p/b GS CIAO | 5 | 48:21.6 |
2016 CXLA UCI Day 1 UCI Cyclocross Results - U23 Men
| Pl | Bib | First | Last | Age | Team | Laps | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 123 | Grant | Ellwood | 21 | Boulder Cycle Sport/YogaGlo | 6 | 49:22.2 |
| 2 | 122 | Maxx | Chance | 21 | Evol Racing | 6 | 49:22.7 |
| 3 | 121 | Lance | Haidet | 20 | Raliegh Clement | 6 | 49:23.0 |
| 4 | 147 | Spencer | Downing | 22 | Panache Houndstooth Racing | 6 | 50:32.3 |
| 5 | 128 | Garrett | Gerchar | 21 | Clif Bar | 6 | 50:32.4 |
| 6 | 130 | Cameron | Beard | 19 | Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com Devo | 6 | 51:11.7 |
| 7 | 127 | Brannan | Fix | 20 | Alpha Bicycle Company - Vista Subaru | 6 | 51:29.5 |
| 8 | 126 | Isaac | Niles | 22 | Accent Inn / Russ Hays p/b Champion System | 6 | 52:00.9 |
| 9 | 125 | Skyler | Mackey | 22 | KCCX Elite Cyclocross Team | 6 | 52:26.8 |
| 10 | 134 | Anders | Nystrom | 21 | ClifBar | 6 | 52:46.3 |
| 11 | 133 | Lucas | Rowton | 22 | Team MBS | 6 | 52:51.7 |
| 12 | 132 | Liam | Earl | 21 | Team Clif Bar | 6 | 53:54.3 |
| 13 | 131 | Cormac | Dunn | 20 | Clif Bar Devo | 6 | 55:13.3 |
| 14 | 144 | Christian | Husband | 20 | Full Circle Cycling | 6 | 55:27.1 |
| 15 | 145 | Ian | Stowe | 22 | 6 | 55:45.9 | |
| DNF | 146 | Nicolas | Padilla | 19 | G2 Bike | 2 | 18:40.5 |
2016 CXLA UCI Day 1 UCI Cyclocross Results - Elite Women
| Pl | Bib | First | Last | Age | Team | Laps | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 52 | Katerina | Nash | 40 | LUNA Pro Team | 5 | 44:11.6 |
| 2 | 51 | Amanda | Miller | 31 | Boulder Cycle Sport/YogaGlo | 5 | 44:19.9 |
| 3 | 53 | Courtenay | McFadden | 32 | 5 | 44:27.2 | |
| 4 | 55 | Sofia | Gomez Villafane | 23 | Tenspeed Hero | 5 | 44:41.7 |
| 5 | 57 | Mindy | McCutcheon | 33 | DNA-Cotton Sox | 5 | 45:37.0 |
| 6 | 56 | Serena | Gordon | 38 | LIV | Giant Co-Factory | 5 | 46:01.8 |
| 7 | 54 | Emily | Kachorek | 37 | Squid | 5 | 46:02.4 |
| 8 | 61 | Beth Ann | Orton | 36 | Team S&M Sellwood Cycle Repair | 5 | 46:44.3 |
| 9 | 60 | Danielle | Arman | 27 | Tenspeed Hero | 5 | 46:58.3 |
| 10 | 58 | Samantha | Runnels | 26 | Ridebiker p/b Sho-Air | 5 | 47:08.7 |
| 11 | 65 | Clara | Honsinger | 20 | Team S&M | 5 | 47:17.3 |
| 12 | 62 | Shannon | Mallory | 19 | NW Women's CX Project | 5 | 47:41.8 |
| 13 | 64 | Christa | Ghent | 27 | Evol Elite Racing | 5 | 47:59.6 |
| 14 | 81 | Caitlin | C. Bernstein | 28 | Vive La Tarte | 5 | 48:11.5 |
| 15 | 80 | Gina | Estep | 44 | Team Group Health | 5 | 48:19.8 |
| 16 | 79 | Hillary | King | 30 | Bicycle Centres | 5 | 49:31.0 |
| 17 | 78 | Anne | Usher | 38 | 5 | 49:51.0 | |
| 18 | 76 | Terra | Kier | 35 | squareone/Helen's | 5 | 49:59.0 |
| 19 | 83 | Anne | Perry | 44 | Canyon Bicycles-Shimano | 5 | 50:06.8 |
| 20 | 63 | Heidi | Wood | 32 | 333fab CX Factory Team | 5 | 50:56.6 |
| 21 | 66 | Chelsea | Weidinger | 33 | MASH SF | 5 | 52:06.3 |
| 22 | 82 | Abby | Youngwerth | 17 | 4 | 31:15.6 | |
| DNF | 59 | Rebecca | Blatt | 37 | Van Dessel | 1 | 09:37.6 |
2016 CXLA UCI Day 1 UCI Cyclocross Results - Elite Men
| Pl | Bib | First | Last | Age | Team | Laps | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Tobin | Ortenblad | 23 | Santa Cruz Factory Racing | 7 | 56:33.6 |
| 2 | 1 | James | Driscoll | 31 | Raleigh Clement | 7 | 56:33.8 |
| 3 | 19 | Allen | Krughoff | 33 | Boulder Cycle Sport/YogaGlo | 7 | 56:42.4 |
| 4 | 20 | Johnathan | Page | Fuji | 7 | 56:47.0 | |
| 5 | 4 | Yannick | Eckmann | 24 | Boulder Cycle Sport/ Yogaglo | 7 | 56:47.8 |
| 6 | 12 | Carl | Decker | 42 | Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 7 | 56:48.0 |
| 7 | 7 | Justin | Lindine | 33 | Apex / NBX / Trek | 7 | 56:48.2 |
| 8 | 5 | Michael | van den Ham | 25 | Garneau - Easton Cycling | 7 | 56:48.5 |
| 9 | 8 | Geoff | Kabush | 40 | SCOTT-3Rox Racing | 7 | 57:25.1 |
| 10 | 6 | Troy | Wells | 33 | Team CLIF BAR | 7 | 57:33.6 |
| 11 | 9 | Cody | Kaiser | 25 | LangeTwins / Specialized | 7 | 57:38.9 |
| 12 | 11 | Craig | Richey | 33 | Garneau - Easton Cycling | 7 | 58:04.8 |
| 13 | 10 | Adam | Craig | 36 | Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 7 | 59:08.8 |
| 14 | 14 | Brian | Matter | 39 | Team Wisconsin | 7 | 59:23.9 |
| 15 | 13 | Kevin | Bradford-Parish | 35 | SET/coaching | 7 | 59:24.1 |
| 16 | 39 | Sean | Estes | 39 | Cycle Sport - Specialized p/b Muscle Milk | 7 | 59:26.8 |
| 17 | 36 | Scott | Chapin | 34 | Santa Cruz Factory Racing | 7 | 59:27.0 |
| 18 | 18 | Tyler | Cloutier | 28 | Renewed Professional Cyclocross | 7 | 59:40.4 |
| 19 | 28 | Robin | Carpenter | 25 | Hincapie Racing Team | 7 | 00:02.0 |
| 20 | 38 | Mark | Flis | 34 | Squadra Flying Tigers pb Jamis Bicycles | 7 | 00:28.1 |
| 21 | 29 | Ryan | Rinn | 35 | vive la tarte cx - Huckleberry Bicycles | 7 | 00:28.6 |
| 22 | 17 | Kacey | Campbell | 27 | 1st city cycling | 7 | 01:15.7 |
| 23 | 16 | José Alfredo | Pacheco | 32 | Buena Park bicycles | 7 | 02:11.9 |
| 24 | 34 | Garrett | Follmuth | 30 | squareone/Helen's | 7 | 03:57.5 |
| 25 | 43 | Anastasio | Flores Jr | 46 | Spokesman Cyclocross | 7 | 06:18.3 |
| 26 | 33 | Kaler | Marshall | 31 | 6 | 57:19.6 | |
| DNF | 15 | Bjorn | Selander | 29 | 2 | 16:27.4 |
2016 CXLA Day 1 Photo Galley by Cathy Fegan-Kim:
Melinda McCutcheon attacking the sand at 2016 CXLA Cyclocross Day 1 and would finish fifth. © C. Fegan-Kim. Cyclocross Magazine
