Katie Clouse Claims Final Sprint, White Solos to Victory
FALMOUTH, Mass. (Nov. 2, 2019) – On a quintessential fall New England day, racers took on the fast and flowing course of the Really Rad Festival of Cyclocross Saturday at the Cape Cod Fairgrounds in Falmouth, Mass. Now in its second year as part of the USA Cycling Pro Cyclocross Calendar (ProCX), the event features two days of UCI Category 2 (C2) racing. Katie Clouse (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com) sprinted to the top step in the elite women’s race and teammate Curtis White escaped early on lap three for a dominating solo victory.
The event in Falmouth is a continuation of the Plymouth Festival of Cyclocross, which was started as the Plymouth Cyclo Cross in 1977 at the Plymouth-Carver High School. One of the first cyclocross races in the Northeast, the event was host to the 1984 and 1986 USCF Cyclocross National Championships. In 2015, it was rebranded as the Really Rad Festival of Cyclocross, with a focus to attract both beginners and seasoned professionals.
In the elite women’s race, Clouse took early control of the field, leading from the start with a large group of chasers behind her. Ellen Noble (Trek Factory Racing) started in second position but would suffer a tire mishap, leaving her to chase her way back through the field.
Rebecca Fahringer (Kona Maxxis Shimano) would consistently animate the race, with the help of Clouse, splintering down the group of riders to three competitors of Clouse, Fahringer, and Crystal Anthony (LIV Racing).
“We were kind of all playing cat and mouse the first couple of laps, kind of going back and forth,” said Clouse. “It was pretty windy so no one really wanted to go in front. I tried to go at the beginning but I didn’t really have the power to keep it. Then Rebecca went with two or three laps to go pretty hard. and finally last lap I was like I gotta go and it was the hardest lap ever trying to keep in front of her (Fahringer).”
Clouse who would reach the pavement first on the final lap and fend off a charging Fahringer to finish first with a time of forty-three minutes and thirty-seven seconds. Anthony would round out the podium finishers in third, thirty-five seconds behind Clouse.
For the elite men, the Cannondale squad would come out in force with Lane Maher leading the pack. White would quickly take over the pacemaking and strung out the field, shedding down the list of contenders. With five laps remaining, White attacked on the pavement of the finishing stretch and established a gap, which he would hold until the end of the nine lap competition.
“We kept the pace pretty high,” said White. “I hit the front second lap and kept a good pace and got a small gap, kept going on that. I’m feeling good, I’m feeling sharp coming into Pan-Ams, so that was the goal today to keep the momentum going. I’m happy.”
White crossed the line for a solo victory in fifty-seven minutes and fifty-five seconds. In a close sprint for second, Tobin Ortenblad (Santa Cruz/Donkey Label Racing) would just edge out Sam Noel (UVM Cycling/Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com) and Lane Maher (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com) with the group finishing thirty-one seconds behind White.
Racing will continue tomorrow, Sunday, Nov. 3. Follow live updates of the races on twitter from @reallyradcx.