August 19, 2012 (Morris, WI) – We caught up with Canada’s Derek Zandstra (Scott-3Rox Racing) for his take on making history as he added his name to the short list of Canucks who have travelled south of the border to win US National Series races. At round #5 of the US Pro XCT series which doubles as the  WORS #8 Subaru Cup, Zandstra bested Todd Wells (USA) Specialized Racing in second and Howard Grotts (USA) Specialized in third for the victory… here’s his take on how it unfolded – results here.

Congrats it was a great win yesterday for the big DZ…tell us about the race, how it unfolded and where/when you made your move… ?

Derek Zandstra: Thanks, the race went pretty good for me.  From the start I felt pretty strong, but wasn’t to sure how things would unfold. It was a super tight race. At the beginning of the 3rd lap, things started to spread out and the group split. I just stayed positive and knew I was gaining a bit of time each lap on Todd [Wells].

I caught him at the end of the second last lap. We rode through the start-finish area together, I sat on his wheel heading to the feed zone where the climb started. We both grabbed our bottle and then I did a push to see where he was at. I looked back and noticed a bit of a gap and pushed hard from there.

It was super tight the entire last lap and I was bit nervous, but held myself together.  I am pretty happy to win this being my first US victory.

Thanks
Derek