FALMOUTH, Mass. (Nov. 3, 2019) – For a second day, racers and fans were treated to sunny and crisp New England weather on Sunday at the Really Rad Festival of Cyclocross in Falmouth, Mass. as competition continued at the two-day UCI event. After finishing second on Saturday in a close sprint, Rebecca Fahringer (Kona Maxxis Shimano) powered away to a solo victory. Curtis White (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com) captured his second win of the weekend with a dominant performance.
The event is a continuation of the Plymouth Festival of Cyclocross, which 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.
In the elite women’s race, thirty-eight racers set out on the more technical course of the two days of competition. Saturday’s winner, Katie Clouse (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com) would lead early, taking a large group of eight riders with her. But it would be Fahringer who would animate the race.
“I was not sure if I could out-ride Katie today, but I knew that I didn’t want to take it to a sprint after yesterday,” said Fahringer. “So I was weakest in the sand, so I wanted to make sure that I was leading into the sand and then I was going to make my move.”
Fahringer would finish fourteen seconds ahead of Clouse. “She (Fahringer) really was pushing on the power sections and I just didn’t have it today to hold onto her,” said Clouse.
Ellen Noble (Trek Factory Racing) would finish in third, fifty-three seconds behind Fahringer. After suffering a tire mishap on day one, Noble aimed for a strong start for day two. “It was really hard but I wanted to try and defend second wheel,” said Noble.
In the elite men’s race, Curtis White claimed his seventh UCI victory of the season. With Cannondale teammate Lane Maher leading the early laps, White was poised to launch another massive attack, and it simply became a matter of when.
“It was a fast day,” noted White. “Lane Maher and I had a good start and we kept the pace pretty high. Similar to yesterday, I got a gap early and started to extend it and I feel like I’m on good form coming into next weekend with Pan-Am Championships, hoping to defend the jersey. I’m really happy with the form, all the accelerations were really sharp and I was riding a really good technical race. I was just focused on bringing my best into every section and coming fast out of them.”
White’s teammate, Maher, would finish second, one minute and sixteen seconds back. Maher patiently waited for the right moment to attack the chase group and hold onto a small gap in the final turns to fend off Tobin Ortenblad (Santa Cruz/Donkey Label Racing) who would finish third.
“I backed off a few bike lengths heading into a straightaway with a half a lap to go,” explained Maher. “I wanted to attack before I got to them so I could just zip by them and I think I caught them off guard and that was pretty much it. I just had to put my head down and go.”
In the UCI Junior Men 17-18 division, Magnus Sheffield (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com) also swept the weekend, commanding wins on Saturday and Sunday, with close to a two minute advantage over the field.
The ProCX Calendar continues next weekend at the Verge Northampton International in Northampton, Mass., Nov. 9-10. It will kick off competition for the Vittoria Northeast Cyclocross Series.