Maghalie Rochette wins RenoCross at Interbike, Van den Ham fourth

Ahead of this weekend’s Waterloo UCI Cyclocross World Cup in Wisconsin, North American and international racers alike stretched their legs at RenoCross. The event coinciding with Interbike and was in its inaugural edition after the industry bike exhibition was moved from Las Vegas to Reno, Nevada. Maghalie Rochette took the win in the women’s race while American Lance Haidet won the men’s race with Michael van den Ham in fourth.

View this post on Instagram

You guys!!!!! We won @crossreno !!! Yahoo!!! Big thanks to everyone helping out!! @iamspecialized @tenspeedhero @evocsports @oakleybike @clifbar @kedgebike @pw_studionord @tenspeedhero @rovalcomponents @sramroad @mucoff

A post shared by David Gagnon (@gagnoncx) on Sep 19, 2018 at 9:46pm PDT

Rochette came fresh off sweeping the UCI weekend in Rochester, N.Y. following the launch of her CXFever program for the coming season. In Reno, she wasted no time taking the hole shot and never looking back. By the finish, she had put 1:03 into her former Clif Bar teammate Katerina Nash. The commanding win boalsters Rochette’s confidence heading into the Trek World Cup and Jingle Cross.

In the men’s race, Van den Ham who has been suffering from a cold, finished fourth. Haidet seperated himself from a big lead group of 10 riders containing Van den Ham late in the race accompanied by Jamie Discoll. Van den Ham followed close behind finishing fourth just 4 seconds from the third place.

View this post on Instagram

Well, I’ve been battling a cold since Monday and was in the fence about even starting @renocrosscx, but happy I did and managed to pull out a 4th place. Did it feel pretty? Not at all, but I’m excited to show what I can do when I’m actually healthy! . ? from @trevorjohnhoward . . . . @garneau @eastoncycling @tlccycling @cyclesmartinc @teamisocentric @stillwatermedicalcenter @100percent_bike @actionsportscanopies @orangesealed @kickeraudio @aspencoffeefs @crankbrothers @sdgcomponents @kmcchain @janzentoyota @fusiongraphix @trpcycling @vittoriatires @feedbacksports @luxury.bath4u @allstate @thesneakysocks @ifeelborn_northamerica @elevenspeedcoffee

A post shared by Michael van den Ham (@mvdhcx) on Sep 19, 2018 at 11:50pm PDT

The field for Sunday’s Waterloo World Cup will be a lot stronger than it was in Reno with the likes of world champions Wout van Aert and Sanne Cant on the startlist. Amoung those missing from the field will be Mathieu van der Poel who finished third at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. He is waiting to make his return to cyclocross on European soil so has opted to skip the North American leg of the season long UCI World Cup which he won the overall and won seven on the nine rounds.