Dyck and Kabush finish first yet again

Sunday’s cyclocross race may have been billed as a grudge match for Saturday’s Canadian championships, but in the end some familiar names stood atop the podium at the Daryl-Evans B.C. Grand Prix of Cyclocross.

After struggling to stay upright in extremely slick conditions the day before, riders awoke to completely different conditions in South Surrey Athletic Park. Despite light rain, strong winds ensured the course dried up quickly to a consistency like peanut butter. Also, the course was much less technical with fewer corners, no run-up and a shorter section through the forest, reducing the lap length to 2.7 km. With a strong headwind on all three long climbs, the conditions made for some very tactical racing.

Since the race was part of the UCI calendar, several American riders from the U.S. northwest—such as Steve Fisher and Spencer Paxon—also made the trip to try to grab some valuable international ranking points.

Elite Women

The elite women’s start list Sunday was almost identical to Saturday with one notable exception: national bronze medallist Emily Batty (Subaru-Trek) opted not to ride, spending the day hiking on Grouse Mountain instead.

After Natasha Elliott (The Cyclery) got the hole shot off the start, newly minted national champion Mical Dyck (Stan’s No Tubes) quickly moved to the front. By the end of the opening lap, Dyck led a front group of three riders with Pepper Harlton (Juventus) and Wendy Simms (Kona). Sensing the danger, mountain bike Olympian Catharine Pendrel (Luna) jumped across on the uphill road section through the start/finish as Elliott faded back to fifth, making a front group of four.

The arrangement didn’t last long, however, as Pendrel hooked her handlebar on some course marking tape and fell heavily on the third lap. The twisting motion wrenched her back and she took some time to get back on her bike.

“I didn’t even know if I could stand up,” she said. Although once she got going, she said she felt fine. She rejoined the race in seventh place.

As Pendrel set about making her way back up the rankings, Harlton, Simms and Dyck settled into a steady rhythm, with Sandra Walter (Local Ride/Dr. Vie Superfoods), Natasha Elliott and Jean Ann Berkenpas (Secret Cycles/Xprezo) 30” back.

On the final lap, Dyck broke the stalemate as she hit the front through the technical uphill section, 500 m from the finish, and opened up a gap going into the last descent.

“I knew I wanted to be in the lead,” said Dyck. The strategy paid off as Simms, sitting second wheel, had her own problems with the course marking tape.

“I went tight and just got caught up on it,” a disappointed Simms said. “I played it perfectly:second wheel the whole last lap.”

But the race wasn’t over as Harlton closed up on Dyck on the descent, setting up a sprint that Dyck  won narrowly.

Dyck’s focus now shifts to the challenge of preparing for the world championships at the beginning of February with a very limited racing calendar.

As for Pendrel, she’s taking a pass on the Worlds in order to recharge her batteries over the winter. Her wants to be ready to make an assault on the mountain bike world cup circuit in 2013. After signing on with Luna for the next four years, it’s all part of her preparation for the 2016 Olympic Games.

Elite and Under-23 Men

For the first couple laps, the elite and under-23 men’s race looked more like a criterium than a cyclocross race as the 45-rider field strung out in one long line in the super fast conditions. Eventually, a group of 10 opened up a small gap. After Mike Garrigan crashed out on an awkward asphalt corner, the race coalesced to a front group of five: Saturday’s winner Geoff Kabush (Scott-3 Rox Racing), under-23 champion Evan McNeely (Specialized Canada), Andrew l’Esperance (Norco Factory Team), and U.S. riders Steve Fisher (Hagens Berman powered by Raleigh) and Spencer Paxon (Kona).

By the halfway point, the front group had about 20” on a chase group made up of Aaron Schooler (Norco Bicycles-Sri Importing), Chris Sheppard (Rocky Mountain Bicycles), Derrick St. John (Stevens Racing powered by The Cyclery) and another U.S. rider, Sean Babcock (Kona).

Eventually, l’Esperance faded out of the front group. After about 40 minutes, as McNeely led the group through the pits, Fisher—in second spot—hooked some snow fencing and fell, allowing McNeely gain a 10-second gap. McNeely decided to try to capitalize on the situation and began forcing the pace.

“I decided that was my best chance to get the group split up,” McNeely said.

A cool and calm Kabush was the first to recover, working with Fisher to reel McNeely in over the course of a lap as Paxon faded back. After McNeely was caught, he responded with another attack. Again Kabush was the one to respond, this time leaving Fisher dangling 10 seconds back.With two laps to go, McNeely and Kabush started playing cat and mouse in the strong headwind, allowing Fisher to catch back on again to make a front group of three. But the trio didn’t last long as Kabush hit the front on the most technical climb on the second-last lap and McNeely followed too closely. The younger rider touched wheels with the elder and was forced to put a foot down. That mistake was all Kabush needed; he drilled it. He led McNeely by five seconds and Fisher by 10 with a lap to go and the three held those positions to the finish.

“I don’t know if it was my patience and experience that won that,” said Kabush, who said he deliberately avoided leading too early because of the wind. “It was great to have two Canadian champions at the front.”

The result is an important one for Kabush, who needs as many UCI points as possible to get a good start position at Worlds.