Jones Finds Podium Twice in Gloucester

October 15th, 2007

This past weekend the cross team took part in the Grand Prix of Gloucester.

Day 1 

Tim Johnson was the favorite as he clearly has the home course advantage; a first lap mechanical took him out of contention for the lead and Jeremy Powers won the race, with Multe Urban, Christopher Jones, and Jesse Anthony close behind for second through fourth. Adam Myerson followed Tim Johnson as he tried to return from his rolled tire, and ending up outsprinting him for 5th. Full results here.

Course Notes:
The course was noticeably less technical than previous incarnations, and the trademark serpentine descents were omitted today. The run up, sand pits, and paved uphill start section remained the same. The weather was very uncrosslike - warm, breezy, and not a cloud in the sky. The course was dry and VERY fast according to racers; this was by far the fastest variation of the Stage Fort park venue to date.

The race definitely worked to the advantage of power riders and didn’t offer any opportunities for technically skilled riders to show their stuff. Packs of riders working together were common sights in all of the races of the day, and sprint finishes for many of the top 10 places determined most outcomes.

Day 2

The cyclo-cross excitement continued during round two of the Gran Prix of Gloucester where the fans returned to see their two local talents, Jesse Anthony (Jamis) and Tim Johnson (Cannondale/Leer/Cyclocrossworld), along with newcomer Chris Jones (Nerac) battle for victory on the grassy speedway.

Rounding onto the pavement with two hundred metres to go, it looked like Johnson might have been able to sew up the win after his lengthy all-race chase to get back to the leaders from an accident on the first lap. But Anthony, who led the race from early on with Jones, held a sliver of a gap to the line, taking his first UCI cyclo-cross victory in front of his hometown support.

1 Jesse Anthony (Jamis)                                                   
2 Tim Johnson (cannondale/Leer/cyclocrossworld)                            
3 Christopher Jones (Nerac Pro Cycling)                                    

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