November 12, 2008 – North America’s best cyclocross racers arrived in Toronto for a weekend of true Northern fun. Saturday’s course clover leafed the park, bringing racers back and forth to the finish area. After a warm, dry week, the temperature dropped, the sky opened up, and a storm brought the weather we’d expect for an exciting ‘cross race. The technical conditions weeded out those without skills and split the races up early.

The women’s race had Ottawa’s Natasha Elliott (Stevens/EMD Sorono) taking the lead and holding it throughout the race. The slippery conditions certainly came into the mix as riders crashed in the mud puddles and struggled to ride the short climbs. Victoria, BC’s Dawn Anderson (Oak Bay Bikes), who was 4th at Canadian CX Nationals in October, passed Kristin Wentworth (Planet Bike) to take 2nd place.

While the Canadian women took the top two steps on the podium, the men’s race saw the Americans dominating. With US National champion Tim Johnson (Cyclocrossworld.com/Cannondale) and his teammate Jeremy Powers the strong favourites, the question seemed to be who would be on the bottom step. Mike Garrigan (Jet Power) tried to answer that question early as he was first to the boards chasing a cash prime. That early effort hurt though as Garrigan fell back to Johnson’s wheel, and a crash slipped him out of contention. Johnson continued to lead the first part of the race until a crash forced him to switch positions with his teammate Powers. Seattle’s espoir, Nick Weighall, had what seemed to be a breakthrough performance as he used his West Coast skills to hold his position steady for 3rd place. The remaining races for points and cash were hard fought, as the number of bike changes taxed the water supply.

Sunday’s races shared none of the previous day’s course and used the entire height of the Centennial Park ski hill to take the racers up a spectator-friendly course where fans could watch everything from the comfort of the Cameron’s Brewing beer area.

Day 2 had Elliott double up with another win. Rebecca Wellons (Ridley) went out for the early lead, but Elliott caught her quickly on lap 2. Anderson followed, but the trio didn’t last long as Elliott kept the pressure to pull away from the other riders. Kristin Wentworth (Planet Bike) came through to lead the chase and finish second, but couldn’t put a dent in Elliott’s lead.

The men’s race had Syracuse’s Dan Timmerman take the hole-shot and lead the race for the first few laps, though he was quickly accompanied by Johnson who’s technical confidence on the descents allowed him to ride away. Riders’ lungs were worked out as they were sent up, down and around. Southern Ontario’s Andrew Watson (Norco) pleased the locals with a sixth place finish, getting in the mix with the best of the riders, and using his climbing prowess to steadily hold his position as others fell back.

Meanwhile, the group chasing Johnson had several riders including Andy Jacques-Maynes and Matt Shriver, followed closely by Saturday’s winner, Powers, who put in an impressive last-lap attack to pass his fellow chasers and finish solidly in second place.

Natasha Elliott and Tim Johnson were the winners of the GNC weekend cash prizes for the overall results. The over-all prize purse meant nobody could take it easy on either day.

Day 1 full results here.
Day 2 full results and GC here.

Results

Saturday, Nov. 8/08

Elite Women – 10.4 km – Average Speed 16.8 km/h

1. Natasha Elliott (Emd Serono / Stevens, CWE.1) 37:02
2. Dawn Anderson (Oak Bay Bikes/ Everti, CWE.1) 00:47
3. Kristin Wentworth (Planet Bike, CWE.1) 01:23
4. Josie Jacques-Maynes (Specialized/Kmc Pb Cal Giant, CWE.1) 01:32
5. Anna Milkowski (Velo Bella-Kona, CWE.1) 01:45
6. Anna Young (Planet Bike, CWJ) 01:50
7. Rebecca Wellons (Ridley Factory Team, CWE.1) 02:10
8. Catherine Walberg (Trek, CWE.1) 02:37
9. Anne Schwartz (Independent, CWE.1) 02:53
10. Kaitlin Antonneau (Nova Cycle Sports Foundation, CWJ) 02:54

Elite Men – 18.2 km – Average Speed 17.5 km/h

1. Jeremy Powers (Cyclocrossworls.Com / Cannonda, CME.1) 1h 02:20
2. Tim Johnson (Cyclocrossworls.Com / Cannonda, CME.1) 00:51
3. Nicholas Weighall (Radracing Northwest / Hagens-B, CME.1) 02:03
4. Andy Jacques-Maynes (Specialized/Kmc Pb Cal Giant, CME.1) 02:51
5. Matt Shriver (Jittery Joe’S Pro Cycling Team, CME.1) 03:00
6. Steve Tilford (Trek, CME.1) 03:21
7. Molly Cameron (Vanilla Bicycles Cyclocross Te, CME.1) 04:10
8. Benoit Simard (Bluberi/Martin Swiss-Specializ, CME.1) 04:35
9. Matt White (Bikereg.Com, CME.1) 04:35
10. Osmond Bakker (Emd Serono / Stevens, CME.1) 04:48

Sunday, Nov. 9/08

Elite Women – 13 km – Average Speed 19.1 km/h

1. Natasha Elliott (Emd Serono / Stevens, CWE.1) 40:55
2. Kristin Wentworth (Planet Bike, CWE.1) 00:29
3. Rebecca Wellons (Ridley Factory Team, CWE.1) 00:56
4. Dawn Anderson (Oak Bay Bikes/ Everti, CWE.1) 01:20
5. Josie Jacques-Maynes (Specialized/Kmc Pb Cal Giant, CWE.1) 01:21
6. Anna Young (Planet Bike, CWJ) 02:20
7. Anna Milkowski (Velo Bella-Kona, CWE.1) 03:06
8. Kaitlin Antonneau (Nova Cycle Sports Foundation, CWJ) 03:18
9. Laura Bietola (3 Rox Racing, CWJ) 03:40
10. Anne Schwartz (Flying Rhino Cc, CWE.1) 04:06

Elite Men – 20.8 km – Average Speed 21.4 km/h

1. Tim Johnson (Cyclocrossworld.Com / Cannonda, CME.1) 58:27
2. Jeremy Powers (Cyclocrossworld.Com / Cannonda, CME.1) 00:59
3. Andy Jacques-Maynes (Specialized/Kmc Pb Cal Giant, CME.1) 01:09
4. DAN Timmerman (Reynolds, CME.1) 01:22
5. Matt Shriver (Jittery Joe’s Pro Cycling Team, CME.1) 01:34
6. Andrew Watson (Norco – Evolution Team, CME.1) 01:53
7. Matt White (Bikereg.Com / Joe’s Garage, CME.1) 02:36
8. Davide Frattini (Team Colavita/Sutter Home Pres, CME.1) 02:51
9. Molly Cameron (Vanilla Bicycles Cyclocross Te, CME.1) 03:01
10. Derrick St. John (Stevens Cross, CME.1) 03:28