Van Gilder Sprints for the Win, Powers Strikes Again in Gloucester Day 1 – UPDATED: Photo Gallery, Race Report, Full Results

Jeremy Powers shown here celebrating after winning the first Planet Bike Cup USGP in Wisconsin © Wil Matthews

by Marion Hambrick

Gloucester, MA – Tropical Storm Nicole welcomed racers to Gloucester with torrential rains and winds but proved no match for Laura van Gilder (C3-Athletes Serving Athletes) and Jeremy Powers (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com), who battled to victories in the Great Brewers Gran Prix of Gloucester Elite Women’s and Men’s races. Van Gilder currently leads both the Champion System MAC Series and the National Calendar Cyclo-Cross Series standings while Powers came in to the race second only to teammate Tim Johnson in the US Gran Prix overall standings.

Elite Men
After delivering the one-two punch at last weekend’s USGP Planet Bike Cup, Jeremy Powers and Tim Johnson of Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com came to Gloucester primed to continue their dominance in the North American Cyclocross Trophy (NACT) series.

Jeremy Powers gained the early lead with Johnson, Ryan Trebon (Kona), Luca Damiani (Kenda Pro Cycling) and Davide Frattini (Hudz-Subaru) in pursuit. Trebon launched an attack and took the lead with teammates Powers and Johnson giving chase. Tristan Schouten (Planet Bike-Blue Competition Cycles) moved up to join the chase group with Frattini and Damiani. Trebon, Powers and Johnson continued to lead the race, putting several seconds between themselves and the chasers.

Not to be outdone by his teammates, Jamey Driscoll (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) moved his way up through the pack and bridged to join the chase group with Schouten and Frattini. Trebon continued to push the pace and held the lead until Johnson made a key pass at the barriers. Powers later took the lead with Trebon and Johnson in close proximity. Teammates Powers and Johnson continued to trade positions while pushing the pace. The two eventually created a 22-second gap between themselves and chasers, leaving Trebon and Schouten to solo in for third and fourth positions, respectively. Johnson held the lead until his untimely bike change in the last lap gave Powers a 13-second gap and the win.

Commenting on the race, Frattini Tweeted, “Happy for my 6th place at Gloucester Day One after a week where I spent more time driving my car than riding my bike.” Frattini will join Johnson, Trebon, and others at the start Sunday as Powers goes for back-to-back wins at Gloucester.

Elite Women
Coming off top-10 finishes in the Planet Bike Cup, Amy Dombroski (Luna) took the early lead at the start. Maureen Bruno-Roy (Seven Cycles-Bob’s Red Mill) and Meredith Miller (Cal Giant-Specialized) gave chase, catching Dombroski near the end of the first lap. Miller later put some distance between herself and Bruno-Roy to turn up the heat on Dombroski. At the run-up, the two created a gap with chasers van Gilder, Bruno-Roy, Andrea Smith and Natasha Elliott in hot pursuit. However, they proved no match for the two leaders. The fast pace shattered the field and split the riders into smaller groups.

Dombroski and Miller continued to push, trading places for first and second positions, until a bike-handling miscue caused Miller to drop from first to fourth. Dombroski capitalized on the slip and regained the lead. She along with Miller, Bruno-Roy, Sally Annis (crossresults.com-JRA Cycles) and van Gilder put seven seconds between themselves and chasers Wendy Simms, Andrea Smith (LadiesFirst Racing) and Kaitlin Antonneau (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com). The young Antonneau would go on to take an impressive sixth place in the race affectionately known as “The New England World Championships.”

Miller later powered back to the front with Simms on her wheel, then attacked to leave Simms behind. Van Gilder continued her pursuit of Miller, while Annis attempted to bridge up to the leaders. Miller and van Gilder created a three-second gap on Annis, while Dombroski remained further back and Elliott a distant fourth. A flat tire took Annis out of the running for the podium. Miller and van Gilder continued to push, creating a small buffer between themselves and Elliott. In the battle to the line, van Gilder attacked in the last quarter-lap and took the win.

Dombroski Tweeted, “Tough race in Gloucester today. Laura van Gilder took the big win. She is pure class.” In her post-race blog, Dombroski indicated she would not compete in Sunday’s race. However, expect the fireworks to continue as van Gilder, Miller, Annis, and others return for a second day of action in Gloucester.

Photo Gallery:

Elite Men:

Elite Women: