THIS WEEK IN PRO CYCLING
Hesjedal and Dunlap take short-track mudfest
Start with the fact that the short track at NORBA NCS No. 4 was held almost entirely on the track around a football field, then add the kind of extremely muddy conditions usually reserved for wintertime European cyclo-cross races, and you have a picture of the racing in Durango, Colorado on Saturday.
After a torrential mid-afternoon rainstorm soaked the Fort Lewis College campus, riders lined up in front of the small stadium's grandstand for a 20-minutes, plus 3 laps race that was thoroughly entertaining to watch, but hell to ride in. When all was done Alison Dunlap (Luna) and Ryder Hesjedal (Subaru-Gary Fisher) each earned wins to extend their leads in the chase for the overall NORBA title.
The women's race, run first at 3 p.m., was most effected by the wet weather, as nearly every rider save Dunlap finished covered in a blanket of mud. Dunlap managed to stay somewhat clean only because she rode alone at the front of the race for all but the first three laps of the 12-lap race.
"It was definitely easier to be up front," said Dunlap, who didn't have to deal with the rooster tails coming up from other riders' wheels.
Dunlap first broke away from the main field on the second lap and was joined by Trek-Volkswagen's Sue Haywood. But Haywood couldn’t hold the reigning cross-country world champion's wheel and soon fell back to a chase group that included Florit, Alison Sydor (Trek-Volkswagen), Shonny Vanlandingham (SoBe-Cannondale) and Mary McConneloug (Seven Cycles).
Vanlandingham was the first to lose contact, after crashing on the back straightaway outside the stadium. McConneloug and Haywood were the next to go, both fading under the relentless pressure of Florit, who is locked in a tight battle with Dunlap for the series title. That left Florit and Sydor to chase down Dunlap, but despite getting as close as 7 seconds in the waning laps, the pair weren't able to reel her in.
Florit, who did almost all the work during the chase, ended up second, with Sydor third, Haywood fourth and Vanlandingham fifth.
"I wish I could have worked with Jimena a little more, but I was at my limit just staying with her," said Sydor, who was one of several riders running a fender in an attempt to fend off the mud.
With a little extra drying time from the afternoon sun, conditions weren't quite as bad in the men's race. And unlike the women's affair the top men stayed together for most of the race. During the first 10 laps of the 13-lap race, lead riders included Hesjedal, Chris Sheppard (Haro-Lee Dungarees), Seamus McGrath (Haro-Lee Dungarees), Peter Wedge (Kona), Geoff Kabush (Kona) and Carl Swenson (RLX-Polo Sport). And Roland Green (Trek-Volkswagen), Adrian Bonilla (Café de Costa Rica) and Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (RLX-Polo Sport) were all also in the mix for most of the race.
It wasn't until the 3-laps to go sign was put up that Hesjedal attacked, and despite some big efforts from the chasers, no one was able to reel him in. On the final lap the chasers began looking around, as they set up for the sprint for the rest of the podium places. When it was done some new faces made it into the mix, as Wedge and Australia's Paul Rowney (Yeti-Pearl Izumi) were next across the line, followed by McGrath then Kabush.
It was Wedge's first time on the NORBA podium and just the second for Rowney. "I felt awesome today," said Wedge. "I've been waiting a long time for this."
Like most of the riders, Hesjedal rode much of the race with his fork locked out and said he ran much higher pressure than normal.
"It was a pretty tactical race," said Hesjedal. "I just sat in for a while and was able to answer any attacks, then gave it a go at the end and made it stick."
