Pendrel and van den Ham strongest Canadians at CrossVegas

Canadian men and women had strong rides at CrossVegas, the first UCI cyclocross World Cup of the season. The most notable performance was by Catharine Pendrel (Clif Bar Pro Team). Early in the elite women’s race, Pendrel rode off the front, which was part of her plan, and yet not part of her plan. “I started fourth row, so my objective was to get to the front and get away with a select group,” Pendrel said. “I got to the front and it was a huge group. I wanted to separate it. I made a move to stretch it, but nobody went with me.”

I just need more of that eye of the ‘cross tiger back.

“I don’t have the quickness of the remounts yet because it my first ‘cross race of the season. I’ve done no intervals since Rio,” she said referring to the Olympic cross country mountain bike race, in which she won bronze. “So, really the intensity was hurting me a little bit. Not that you use a World Cup race as a warm up, but it was the perfect warm up. I’m looking forward to Iowa next. I think it was a decent ride today. I have more in me. I just need more of that eye of the ‘cross tiger back.”

Pendrel finished in seventh. She’ll continue her cyclocross season this upcoming weekend at the World Cup and C1 races in Iowa.

Canadian cyclocross national champion Mical Dyck found the racer harder than previous editions. The level of difficulty suited her. She also found this course deterred riders from taking up road tactics. Dyck, who works full-time as a geologist, will race in Iowa, too.

Siobhan Kelly, who raced CrossVegas for the second time, also liked the changes to the course. “The uphill sandpit made the race really interesting,” the under-23 rider said. “Every time you came into it, you had to be prepared mentally. It was probably the biggest obstacle of the entire course. Last year, you’d just hit the sandpit straight and hit it fast and you blew through.”

The thick grass of CrossVegas’s venue, Desert Breeze Park, is known for sapping energy from riders’ legs. The surface, however, does have a feature that can help riders. “In knew, going into every corner, the tires would stick,” Kelly said. “That’s exactly what they did, which was super great. I don’t know how many more ‘cross races we’re going to get like that.”

]On the men’s side, Michael van den Ham (Garneau–Easton Cycling) was not only the top Canadian, but the top North American. He got into a group of three that included U.S. star ‘crosser Jeremy Powers. Throughout much of the race, it seemed van den Ham was doing the work at the front of the trio. “Maybe that was unwise,” he admitted afterwards. “I saw that the group was behind us. I also saw that it looked like Powers was really hurting. Whether we were racing for 16th, 17th or 18th, I just wanted to make sure we stayed away.”

In the 2015 edition of CrossVegas, van den Ham as 60th. In 2014, he was 39th. “Both times, I went out, tried to follow the group and blew to the moon,” he said. “Today, I was a little smarter and I rode my own pace. I never connected with the lead 15. Other people started blowing up and coming backwards. I was still sitting there. I wasn’t comfortable, but I was in my limits.” He finished 17th.

Jérémy Martin is also showing improvement. “I had a really good start,” he said, “but I was caught up behind the big crash. Then, I was more or less riding in the top-15. I think I was a bit excited, so midway through the race, there were 10 or 20 minutes when it just got harder. I was trying to chase hard when I was with [Jeremy] Powers and Mike [van den Ham] to make it to the group ahead. I think it was a bit too much. I had to settle for a while and ride with the group behind. I think I ended up in a sprint for 19th and ended up with 23rd or so. It was good. I wish I could have stayed in a group for top-20, but it’s good. It’s an improvement on last year.

Martin was 35th in the 2015 edition of CrossVegas.