Kenda Cup East Finale – Walpole, MA

Noah Tautfest and Crystal Anthony Take Kenda Cup East Series Finale

Written by: Karen Potter

The Kenda Cup East Series finale took place Sunday at the Barn Burner in Walpole, Massachusetts. Following up on Saturday’s Boston Rebellion ProXCT UCI 2 race, the Barn Burner used the same course with an additional mile of more rooty, twisty, New England-style singletrack to create a 5.5-mile lap.

While several of the local pros opted to race just Saturday’s Pro XCT event, many partook in a double race weekend to seal up their Kenda Cup East standings and some just for the fun of suffering.

Crystal Anthony navigates a rock garden in Walpole

It was another hot and humid day in New England so staying hydrated properly was important. With minimal elevation gain in the racecourse, riding steady and staying smooth through all the corners was the key to success.

In the elite/open women’s field, Saturday’s ProXCT winner Crystal Anthony (Riverside Racing) won handily over her competition and took the 2015 Kenda Cup East series title as well. Fifth place finisher in Saturday’s ProXCT race, Karen Potter (Pivot/MTBRacenews.com) followed up in 2nd maintaining her 2nd overall in the series. Kimberly Quinlan (Bicycle Express Racing), who also raced Saturday, was within sight of Potter through the first 3 laps of the race but could not close the gap as Potter pulled away from her on the last lap. Quinlan finished 3rd.

The elite/open men’s race saw a battle between Noah Tautfest (Bicycle Express Racing) and Tom Sampson (Vittoria/Yeti) duking it out for the win and for 3rd place overall in the Kenda Cup East Series. Billy Melone (ATA Cycles) and Dan Timmerman (Riverside Racing) had 1st and 2nd places locked up and opted to race just Saturday’s ProXCT race and then Sunday’s Pro Short Track.

In the end, Taufest bested Sampson for the win at the Barn Burner by less then 30 seconds and gave him the final podium spot for the series overall.

Full results here: http://results.bikereg.com/race/6478

Kenda Cup East Series Results:http://results.bikereg.com/kendacupeast