September 21, 2017 (Las Vegas, Nevada) – The third stop of the USA Cycling Professional Cyclocross Calendar (Pro CX) found its way to Las Vegas, Nevada for the popular Clif Bar CrossVegas Category 1 races on Sept. 20. The 11th edition on the grass surface of Desert Breeze Soccer Complex did not disappoint, like many of the boxing ring battles that have called Vegas home.

Team Clif Pro Team delivered a 1-2 punch in the women’s C1 race, with Katerina Nash (Prachatice, Czech Republic) taking the win over teammate Catharine Pendrel (Fredericton, Canada). In the men’s bout, Laurens Sweeck (Leuven, Belgium/ERA Real Estate-Circus) won in a knockout punch over the field of 34 riders. He never relented a huge lead that was built from the first lap, only slowing with his final pedal strokes at the finish to allow his brother and ERA Real Estate-Circus teammate Diether to cross close behind at the line in second place.

Aspire Racing’s Ellen Noble (Kennebunkport, Maine) Jeremy Powers (Southampton, Mass.) rounded out the podium spots for the women and the men, respectively.

Women’s Elite C1 Race
In the 11 years that Clif Bar CrossVegas has been staged, riders were greeted with the cool 70-degree temperatures in the desert setting. Caroline Mani (Besancon, France/Van Dessel) and Noble made the initial surge to the front of the pack of 34 riders. Cassandra Maximenko (Watertown, Conn./Van Dessel/Atom Composites) took a turn at the front. Midway through the contest, it was Nash and Pendrel surging to a significant lead, leaving a long line of chasers in their wake, including Noble, Mani, Maximenko, Crystal Anthony (Newbury Park, Calif./Maxxis-Shimano), Chloe Woodruff (Denver, Colo./Stan’s-Pivot Pro Team), Clara Honsinger (Portland, Ore./Team S&M CX) and Meredith Miller (Rapha Canyon).

“We worked together and could get more distance between us and them. As it got close to the end it was time to kindof duke it out between the two teammates. It was a good day,” Nash said about her duel with Pendrel, making her winning move in the long sand runup with a lap to go. She has won the UCI CrossVegas event five times, going back to 2010.

From a final chase group of four riders, Noble was able sprint to the line for third. Mani finished fourth, Woodruff in fifth and Honsinger in sixth. Noble is the highest-placed woman on the USA Cycling Professional Cyclocross calendar standings this week, in second place, while Mani is third. The ProCX leader, Kaitlin Keough (Racine, Wisc./Cannondale p/b CyclocrossWorld.com), did not compete Wednesday night.

Men’s Elite C1 Race
Belgian Laurens Sweeck wasted no time in grabbing a lead, and never looked back until the final 100 meters. A solid chase group did form after for laps for the men, which included his brother Diether, Powers, Michael van den Ham (Edmonton, Canada/Garneau-Easton pb Transitions), Bjorn Selander (Hudson, Wisc./Borah Teamwear powered by Bingh), and eventually, Geoff Kabush (Comox, Canada/SCOTT Sports-Maxxis). With two laps to go, it was down to Diether, Powers, with van den Ham still in sight. Then Sealander made a move on the final lap to contest Powers for a podium spot, but settled for fourth. Van den Ham finished fifth and Kabush settled for sixth.

“It looked easy, but it wasn’t easy because it wasn’t the plan to get in front the first lap. I was first in the descent, and then it was already a good gap. I kept pushing on the pedals. I was very happy at the finish line,” said Laurens Sweeck, who finished second at the Telenet UCI Cyclo-Cross World Cup at Jingle Cross in Iowa City, Iowa on Sept. 17.

Powers currently sits in the fifth position of ProCX standings. Points leader Stephen Hyde (Easthampton, Mass./Cannondale p/b Cyclocross-World.com) and second-place rider Rob Peeters (Dessel, Belgium/Pauwels Sauzen-Vastgoedservic) did not compete in Las Vegas.

Results

Pro Women
1. Katerina Nash (Clif Pro Team) 0:43:08
2. Catharine Pendrel (Clif Pro Team) 0:11
3. Ellen Noble (Aspire Racing) 0:44
4. Caroline Mani (Van Dessel/Atom Composites) 0:46
5. Chloe Woodruff (Stan’s-Pivot Pro Team)
6. Clara Honsinger (Team S&M CX) 0:49
7. Crystal Anthony (Maxxis-Shimano) 1:04
8. Meredith Miller (Rapha Canyon) 1:20
9. Cassandra Maximenko (Van Dessel/Atom Composites) 1:40
10. Heidi Franz (NWCX Project) 2:03

Pro Men
1. Laurens Sweeck (ERA REAL ESTATE – CIRCUS) 1:08:38
2. Diether Sweeck (ERA REAL ESTATE – CIRCUS)
3. Jeremy Powers (Aspire Racing) 0:15
4. Bjorn Selander (Borah Teamwear p/b Bingh) 0:17
5. Michael van den Ham (Garneau-Easton p/b Transitions) 0:54
6. Geoff Kabush (SCOTT Sports – Maxxis) 1:09
7. Travis Livermon (Maxxis-Shimano) 1:30
8. Hector Fernando Riveros Paez (Stan’s NoTubes p/b Maxxis / CZ) 1:43
9. Lance Haidet (Donnelly Sports) 1:53
10. Cody Kaiser (LangeTwins / Specialized) 1:58

14. Mark McConnell (Hot Sauce Cycling) 3:01
24. Isaac Niles (Garneau Easton p/b Transitions) -2 Laps
25. Timothy Rugg (Ride With Rendall) -3 Laps

Elite Women’s results here.
Elite Men’s results here.