Johnson, Bessette skate to Gearworks victories
- By VeloNews.com
- Published Nov. 27, 2005
Tim Johnson knows he’s living right because his decision to come back to cyclo-cross after a three-year absence has Mother Nature’s seal of approval.
Johnson (Cyclocrossworld.com-Louis Garneau) is famous for an uncanny knack to ride at a whole other level when the conditions include snow and ice, and that’s just what the 2000 U.S. elite national champion found Saturday at the Gearworks Bay State Cyclo-cross in Sterling, Massachusetts, round four of the 2005 Verge New England Championships Cyclo-Cross Series.
With four inches of cold, dry snow covering the tricky course, Johnson was in hog heaven as he sprinted off the front of the 60-rider elite men’s field. Johnson and Jesse Anthony (Team Clif Bar) grabbed the early lead, opening a gap over a field full of top regional racers looking to hit top form in the run-up to December’s national championships in Rhode Island.
Johnson’s pace proved too hot for Anthony, who dropped back to teammate Mark McCormack on the second lap. McCormack bobbled in the slippery conditions on lap one, allowing Johnson to open what proved to be the decisive gap.
McCormack and Anthony tried to put in a team effort to chase down Johnson, but the course’s twists and turns, rendered treacherous by the compacted snow, were better suited to soloists. Still, Johnson’s lead never got much above 25 seconds, and with two laps to go McCormack had whittled it down to just six seconds. But riding flawlessly, Johnson gave McCormack no opportunities to make contact and with a lap to go the four-time defending New England champion conceded. Anthony held on for third.
“Tim had some really hot laps in there,” said McCormack. “I was riding much better in the slick stuff than in the past, and I was waiting, thinking that if Tim made any kind of mistake I’d be right there. But he didn’t make any and I couldn’t close that gap without it.”
“I was definitely hurting there for a few laps,” said Johnson. “Obviously I love this kind of riding and racing, it’s a lot of fun and I seem to be able to go fast in it. I saved a little bit because I know Mark likes to come back at the end of races, so when he got to within six seconds I just put my head down and concentrated on riding clean and going fast. I hope the weather’s like this for nationals, because I think it’s the only way I can beat guys like Ryan Trebon and Jonathan Page.”
With her first World Cup race less than two weeks away, Lyne Bessette (Cyclocrossworld.com-Louis Garneau) figured she could use all the challenges she can get in preparation.
Bessette chose to warm up for the elite women’s race in Sterling by taking on the B men’s race just before it. After leading for a couple laps, Bessette eventually finished third against the B men before toweling off and taking the start of the women’s race. Not missing a beat, the Canadian national champion led the women’s tilt from wire to wire, having enough time in hand to take a last-lap crash and suffer no visible deterioration to her winning margin.
“It was really good to race with the men,” said Bessette, who leaves next Thursday for the unveiling of her new road team, the T-Mobile Pro Women’s Team, in Munich. “I can go through corners about the same as they can, but they have much more power on the straightaways, so keeping up with take a lot for me and that’s good. I don’t always get that challenge in the women’s race so this was a good experiment.”
The 2005 Verge New England Championship Cyclo-Cross Series concludes December 3-4 in Rhode Island.
2005 Verge New England Championship Cyclo-Cross Series #4
Gearworks Bay State Cyclocross, Sterling, MA
Elite men
1. Tim Johnson (Cyclocrossworld.com-Louis Garneau)
2. Mark McCormack (Team Clif Bar)
3. Jesse Anthony (Team Clif Bar)
Elite women
1. Lyne Bessette (Cyclocrossworld.com-Louis Garneau)
2. Maureen Bruno Roy (Independent Fabrication)
3. Mackenzie Dickey (Team Bicycle Alley)
Photo Gallery
FILED UNDER: Cyclocross