emily batty - MTB Race News

Round three of the USA Cycling US CUP presented by Cannondale was raced on a near-perfect Southern California day and produced worthy winners in Emily Batty and three-time World Champion Nino Schurter.

Elite Women

Luna Pro Cycling’s Georgia Gould got hole shot in the women’s race, with Specialized’s Lea Davison charging hard just behind. The women flew around the start loop and headed out for the first of six laps. Scott ODLO’s Swedish National Champion Jenny Rissveds was first to attack and establish a commanding lead over the chasing group which contained the Luna Pro contingent of Gould, Katerina Nash and Katharine Pendrel, along with Emily Batty (Trek Factory Racing), Erin Huck (Scott 3 Rox) and Larissa Connors (Ridebiker Alliance).

By the second lap, with Rissveds still out front, the chase group began to come apart under the stress of an attacking Pendrel, who continued to apply pressure on the climbs. At this point the chasers were reduced to just Pendrel, Batty, Nash and Huck. Pendrel and Batty continued to attack putt the others in trouble. At the end of lap two, Pendrel put in another effort which brought back Rissveds back at the start of lap three.

Midway through the race, the front group was whittled down to just Pendrell, Batty and Huck, establishing a nice lead as they entered the infield loop at the end of lap three. Pressure on the climbs saw off Huck, as Pendrel and Batty built up a commanding lead that would last until lap five. The leaders sat up for a breath, which enabled Huck to come close to rejoining, followed again by Rissveds. Just as they were about to make contact, Pendrel put in another hard effort to build up another gap on Huck during the descent, Batty again on her wheel.

The two leaders (Pendrel and Batty) seemed content to face off in a finish line sprint, where Batty made a crafty move just past the final left hand turn to come around Pendrel in a tight sprint for the win. Rissveds made it in for third, followed by Gould and Huck.

“I’ve worked so hard leading up to this,“ said an thrilled Batty after the sprint. “Hats off to Catharine for not making it easy! I really just had fun with it, throwing the rhythm off and dictating how I wanted it to go. I threw an attack in the corner and left it all out there.”

Pro women’s podium – photo by RibeBiker Alliance

Elite Men

Cannondale Factory Racing’s Henrique Avancini continued the team’s fast starts by taking the early lead after the start lap and heading into the first full lap. Three-time World Champion Nino Schurter (Scott-ODLO Mtb Racing Team) took over, standing up and attacking on the first pass of the steep gravel climb. With Schurter taking the early lead, only New Zealander Sam Gaze was able to match the Swiss Champion. Stephen Ettinger (Sho-Air/Cannondale), Raphael Gagne (Rocky Mountain Bicycles) and Sergio Mantecon (Trek Factory Racing) made up the early chase group. The race settled into this situation for the next few laps, with Schurter maintaining and even extending his lead up to a maximum of thirty seconds.

By the end of the fourth lap of seven, Mantecon and Gagne began to work together and slowly pull back Schurter’s lead. The chase worked and the chasers made contact on lap five after Schurter changed a rear flat. Unfortunately for Mantecon and Gagne, Schurter capitalized on the extra effort spent in the chase and pulled away with ease toward the start of the penultimate lap. Tired from the chase, Mantecon and Gagne fought hard to keep the Swiss Champion in their sights, only to see Schurter take the win convincingly.

Nino Schurter crosses the line – photo by RibeBiker Alliance

“It was a super tough course out there,“ said Schurter at the finish. “You have to be really careful in cornering. One mistake and you’re crashing. I like the shorter climbs so it was a perfect course for me.”

USA Cycling US Cup presented by Sho-Air Cycling Group series standings

After round three of the USA Cycling US Cup presented by Cannondale series, Gagne takes over the lead convincingly after his second win of the series, while Batty retakes the lead in the womens’ series ahead of Pendrel.

The USA Cycling US Cup presented by Sho-Air Cycling Group series will continue with round 4, a UCI Category C3 race, at the Sea Otter Classic in Monterrey, California on Saturday, April 18.

Bonelli Park 2 cross country brief results

Elite women

1 Emily Batty (Canada) Trek Factory Racing; 1:32:22
2 Catharine Pendrel (Canada) Luna Pro Team; 1:32:23
3 Jenny Rissveds (Sweden) Scott-ODLO Mtb Racing Team; 1:32:39
4 Erin Huck (United States) Scott 3 Rox; 1:32:42
5 Georgia Gould (United States) Luna Pro Team; 1:33:44

Elite men

1 Nino Schurter (Switzerland) Scott-ODLO Mtb Racing Team; 1:30:21
2 Raphael Gagne (Canada) Rocky Mountain Bicycles; 1:30:26
3 Sergio Mantecon (Spain) Trek Factory Racing; 1:30:43
4 Derek Zandstra (Canada) Scott 3 Rox Racing; 1:28:56
5 Stephen Ettinger (United States) Sho-Air/Cannondale Mtb Racing Team; 1:31:59

USA Cycling US Cup Series Standings after two rounds

Elite women

1 Emily Batty (Canada) Trek Factory Racing; 114 points
2 Catharine Pendrel (Canada) Luna Pro Team; 95 points
3 Katerina Nash (Czech Republic) Luna Pro Team; 90 points
4 Georgia Gould (United States) Luna Pro Team; 90 points
4 Erin Huck (United States) Scott 3 Rox Racing; 77 points

Elite men

1 Raphael Gagne (Canada) Rocky Mountain Bicycles; 104 points
2 Sergio Mantecon (Spain) Trek Factory Racing; 83 points
3 Anton Cooper (New Zealand) Cannondale Factory Racing; 75 points
4 Derek Zandstra (Canada) Scott 3 Rox Racing; 66 points
5 Adam Morka (Canada) Trek Canada; 64 points

: Emily Batty (right) takes the sprint to finish off an exciting round 3 of the US Cup – photo by RibeBiker Alliance

: Nino Schurter crosses the line – photo by RibeBiker Alliance

: Pro women’s podium – photo by RibeBiker Alliance

: Pro men’s podium – photo by RibeBiker Alliance

: Full results for pro women

Batty and Gagne make a Canadian sweep of USA Cycling US CUP Round 1 at Bonelli Park

Emily Batty (Trek Factory Racing) and Raphael Gagne (Rocky Mountain Bicycles) won round 1 of the USA Cycling US Cup Pro Series presented by Cannondale at Frank G. Bonelli Park in San Dimas, California, on Saturday afternoon. The opening round was greeted with clear sunny skies and temperatures in the 90’s, making for a hot, dry and dusty day of racing at the highest level.

Elite women

The women got things underway after a series of amateur events and the action heated up quickly. A fifty-plus size field took off from under the Kenda arch and it was Catharine Pendrel of the Luna Pro Team who took the whole shot and the early lead after the short start loop.

The Luna-led front group of five slowly peeled away and separated from the pack, only to be joined by the day’s revelation, Larissa Connors on lap one.

The Southern-California based high school math teacher soon found herself racing with World Champions, World Cup winners and Olympic medalists. Connors (Ridebiker Alliance) would at times prove to be the strongest climber of the front bunch, but would occasionally drop back from the leaders only to fight back over and over to bring them back after falling off the pace.

Luna’s Georgia Gould put in a hard effort towards the top of the first major climb of the day, which settled the formation of the front group of six as: Pendrel, Gould and Nash (Luna Pro Team); Emily Batty (Trek Factory Racing); Chloe Woodruff (Team Stan’s NoTubes-Niner) and Connors (Ridebiker Alliance). Behind them, the chase was led by Evelyn Dong (Sho-Air/Cannondale), Lesley Patterson (Scott Bikes) and Lea Davison (Specialized Factory Racing).

On lap three of the seven-lap race, Nash and Woodruff would drop off the front group after pressure from Gould and Pendrel, with Batty calmly sitting in and Connors continuing to battle back to the leaders.

The race settled into this rhythm with little change until the final lap, when Batty finally made her move on the first ascent after the line. Putting in a strong attack, Batty got the gap needed and continued to put pressure on Pendrel for the remainder of the race to finish with a 39 second win over the current World Champion Pendrel, with Gould in third, Connors in fourth and Woodruff in fifth.

“What an awesome start to the season,” said Batty. “I worked really hard over the winter and spring. My confidence is there, my Trek equipment is dialed in, so it’s really motivating knowing that the hard work paid off. The Luna girls are always ‘on’ so it’s always a challenge and it defines that level of competition!”

Raphael Gagne leads Max Plaxton in Bonelli – photo courtesy of RideBiker Alliance

Elite men

The men’s race was shortened by a lap due to the heat and would also be seven laps of the tough Bonelli Park course. With temperatures already topped out, the men set off, with Italy’s Andrea Tiberi getting the wholeshot and fellow Italian Marco Aurelio Fontana (Cannondale Factory Racing) taking over the lead on the first full lap.

Fontana’s teammate Manuel Fumic then took the lead and for a brief moment it was Cannondale Factory Racing in first, second and third, as Anton Cooper (New Zealand) benefitted from a strong start to claim his spot near the front. 2014 overall US CUP champion Geoff Kabush (Canada) slotted into fourth with Kerry Werner (Raleigh Clement Cycling Team) ensuring an American spot in the top five.

Just into the second lap, Fumic put in a hard effort to get the gap he wanted, with Gagne trailing at fifteen seconds. Behind, Sergio Mantecon (Trek Factory Racing), Cooper and Fontana, Todd Wells (Specialized Factory Racing), Kabush and Werner formed the chase group.

On the second lap, the chase group slowly reeled in Fumic, who was caught first by Gagne and then by the remainder of the chasers.

With just two laps remaining, Max Plaxton (Team Sho-Air/Cannondale) put in an attack that only Gagne could bridge up to. The two would remain at the front for the remainder of the race to duel it out for the victory. Behind, U23 Cooper and James Reid (Trek RECM) joined up to defend their impressive positions against this top-flight field.

Gagne’s repeated attacks finally snapped the elastic when Plaxton was unable to bridge back on the short steep climbs of the final lap. Gagne pushed his lead out further on the final descent back into the park and had time to celebrate his twenty-second victory over fellow Canadian Plaxton. Cooper, Reid and Mantecon rounded out the international podium.

“This is my first ever cross country US CUP win, so I’m super happy with that,“ said Gagne at the finish. “I am here with Rocky Mountain and the Quebec Province so thanks to them for the support. I found that little extra energy to catch back up to Max. He always has a lot of watts so it was good to be up there with him.”

“I felt comfortable in the big group and it was really dusty out there so I decided to take my own lines,” said Plaxton. “My hat’s off to Raphael, it’s great to have a Canadian one-two. Thanks to America for putting on the race, but… sorry! Thanks everyone for coming out and cheering today. It was hot… but it was great!”

USA Cycling US Cup presented by Sho-Air Cycling Group series standings

After round one of five in the USA Cycling US Cup presented by Cannondale series, Gagne leads the series ahead of Plaxton and Cooper while Batty leads the womens’ series ahead of Pendrel and Gould.

The USA Cycling US Cup presented by Sho-Air Cycling Group series will continue with round 2, a UCI Category HC race in Fontana, California on Saturday, March 21.

Bonelli Park cross country brief results

Elite women

1 Emily Batty (Canada) Trek Factory Racing 1:49:55
2 Catharine Pendrel (Canada) Luna Pro Team 1:50:34
3 Georgia Gould (United States) Luna Pro Team 1:51:00
4 Larissa Connors (United States) Ridebiker Alliance 1:51:42
5 Chloe Woodruff (United States) Team Stan’s NoTubes-Niner 1:52:17

Elite men

1 Raphael Gagne (Canada) Rocky Mountain Bicycles; 1:29:35
2 Max Plaxton (Canada) Team Sho-Air/Cannondale; 1:29:55
3 Anton Cooper (New Zealand) Cannondale Factory Racing; 1:30:08
4 James Reid (South Africa) Trek RECM; 1:30:21
5 Sergio Mantecon (Spain) Trek Factory Racing 1:30:49