Boulder Cup CX

Story and Photos by Shawn Lortie

(October 30, 2011) Boulder Colo.- The Halloween weekend was capped off with a fantastic day of racing at the new Valmont Bike Park with world class CX racing in the form of the Boulder Cup, which brought many of the biggest names in US Cyclocross to town. As a UCI C1 event, valuable points were up for grabs and it showed in the intensity of racing throughout the day.

The course at Valmont could not have proved to be a better venue for the big race, as all reports from the racers were very positive. Tim Johnson (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld) had this to say about the course. “The course was awesome, it was up and down, twisting around with a huge section for fans that was packed full of people. There was mud and tight corners and so many things going against the group. It was an amazing park and lots of crowds.”

With a good amount of snow deposited earlier in the week, and cool temperatures later in the week, parts of the course were still a bit muddy, with a long straight section along the back side remaining thick and slick throughout the day. A fairly long climb after the start/finish line, the grueling 5280 stairs, and a sizeable sand pit rounded out the major features of the course, but there was no time to relax, as the course never let up with relentless turning, accelerations, and off camber terrain.

In Women’s Pro race, Katie Compton (Rabobank/Giant) continued her domination. On the first lap, Compton hit the long mud section with a few seconds gap on Nicole Duke (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld) and Caroline Mani (SRAM). Compton was able to keep her speed up through the mud while Mani and Duke got a bit bogged down.  This was all it took, as Compton hit the pavement and dropped the hammer.

After a poor start, Georgia Gould (Luna Pro Team) worked her way up to Caroline Mani for an excellent battle for second place. “It took me a little bit to catch up through the field.” Said Gould after the race. “On the second lap I caught up to Caroline and made a move, but she closed it down. On the second to last lap she bobbled in the mud and I was able to ride it cleanly and got a few seconds.”  Gould was able to stay away from Mani and take second behind Compton, with Mani hanging on for third.

In the Men’s Pro race, it was a nail biter until the very last lap.  A lead group including Ryan Trebon (Kona), Tim Johnson (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld), Todd Wells (Specialized), Ben Berden (Ops Ale/Stoemper), Geoff Kabush (Maxxis/Rocky Mountain), Jamie Driscoll (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld), Danny Summerhill (Garmin/Cervelo), and Tristan Schouten (Cyclocrossracing.com p/b Blue Bicycles). The lead continually changed throughout the race, with attacks being thrown down left and right. 

Eventually it was Ben Berden, who put in a slew of attacks on the last two laps, who was able to get a small gap on the group. On the last lap, Berden used his impeccable mudding skills to blast through the long bog on the back side of the course and grow his few second gap into a race winning effort as he came across the line just ahead of the sprinting chase group. Trebon held on for second, with Johnson nipping Kabush on the line for third.

With a huge crowd on hand to witness the spectacular racing, a world class course and venue, mud for the racers and sun for the spectators, The Valmont Bike Park truly lived up to it’s quickly growing reputation as a top notch place to race CX.  Huge thanks to Chris Grealish for putting on such a well-run event, and to The Boulder Mountain Bike Alliance, and all the folks who lended a helping hand in making the park happen!