Miller and Berden Take Day 2 of DTLA Historic CX
12/5/11 - Day two of the Southern California UCI weekend presented another fantastic sunny day of events. The elite races had a change of cultural flavor today as the race promoter brought in a Mariachi band to share the local flavor of nearby Olvera Street. The guitar, trumpets, and violins rocked as riders floored it down the starting straight and through many other parts of the crowd filled in-field.
The course with its minor tweaks for day two again made for strategic racing as the long straights and tricky turns brought more exciting action. The start was again the same with a long fast straight, into a challenging loose left and an immediate right. The riders came through the twisting front section, minus a few turns and opened up again on the back straight. With a few less turns and chances for errors the straights seemed like the area for riders to hit it even harder on day two so the stronger racers could break away. Again, it was a numbers game but only the strong survived in the end.
Tim Johnson (Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com) leads through the barriers.
Photo © Kenneth Hill / Light & Shadows Photography
Elite Women
Sue Butler (River City Bicycles) grabbed the hole shot for the second day, then Julie Krazniak (Rapha-Focus) came around to take control on the first lap. The front of the race broke into four riders quickly as some riders were eager to make up for mishaps on day one. On the second lap, Nicole Duke (Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com) and the previous days winner, Meredith Miller (Cal Giant/Specialized), gained some ground on the others but it was still early.
The group was soon back together and continued to increase their gap on the field. Miller was riding smart and stayed in the group as Duke, Butler, and Krazniak again made their efforts to pull away. Then with two to go Miller attacked and Butler went with her. The two were close together then with one to go Miller gained ground on Butler. She was working hard and soloed in for her second win of the weekend. Butler stayed ahead of Duke for second and Krazniak rolled in a few seconds behind Duke for fourth.
The women's podium and winner Meredith Miller (Cal Giant/Specialized) celebrate Mariachi style.
Photo © SoCalCross/Jon Neuman
The women chasing behind were working hard all day. In the end it was Devon Gorry (Team Rambuski Law) who rode off the group to roll in for fifth and the final podium position.
Elite Men
Ben Berden (Ops Ale-Stoemper) took the hole shot and a big group of 13 riders that stayed together through lap one. By the end of lap two, the front separated into two groups of five. Steve Fischer (Revel Consulting/Rad Racing) was on the front leading Tim Johnson (Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com), Berden and others. The second group, much like day one, was Cody Kaiser (Cal Giant/Specialized) driving the pace with Allen Krughoff (Boulder Cycle Sport) and the rest in tow.
Photo © SoCalCross/Jon Neuman
The groups held their ground and changed with riders on the front. Fischer eventually dropped back to the second group as Berden, Johnson, Chris Jones (Rapha-Focus) and Chris Sheppard (Rocky Mountain/Shimano) stayed together. With five to go, Berden started to make his move. It was an epic effort and early in the race and by the start/finish stretch he had already opened a small gap on the group. Jones, Johnson, and Sheppard came through, but no one wanted to respond. Behind Kaiser kept driving the pace, but the group never got back on the front chasers.
With two to go, Berden had increased his lead. Sheppard was drilling it to get back up while Jones and Johnson stayed close. With one lap to go Johnson and Jones made their moves but never got back to Berden who soloed in for the win. Johnson was able to hold off Jones for second and Sheppard rolled in fourth. Kaiser who was strong all day, put in more late efforts to finish just ahead of his group for the final podium spot and the top U23 position.
