Plaxton and Batty lead US Pro XCT overall after three rounds

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Todd Wells (Specialized Racing) and Emily Batty (Subaru-Trek) won the third round of the USA Cycling US Pro XCT at the Sea Otter Classic on Saturday in Monterey, California.  Max Plaxton (Specialized) and Batty now lead the US Pro XCT series after three rounds.

Wells won Sea Otter by 53 seconds ahead of teammate Max Plaxton. Jeremiah Bishop (Cannondale Factory), Adam Craig (Rabobank-Giant Offroad) and Sam Schultz (Subrau-Trek) rounded out the top five finishers.

"It's my first win this year and I've never won the Sea Otter cross country," Wells told Cyclingnews, "although I've been coming here for about 15 years. I'm glad to finally get a win."

After his performance in Monterey, California, Plaxton has a 10-point lead over Bishop in the US Pro XCT Standings. Wells, Schultz and Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Subaru-Trek) fill out the top five positions. Stephen Ettinger (BMC Mountain Bike Development) is the top Under 23 rider, sitting in eighth place, 240 points behind Plaxton.

In the women's race at Sea Otter, Batty edged Catharine Pendrel (Luna Pro) by one second at the finish line. Katerina Nash (Luna Pro) was third, completing the course two minutes and 46 seconds behind Pendrel. Lea Davison (Specialized Racing USA) and Heather Irmiger (Subaru-Trek) filled out the top five finishers.

Despite being even in overall points, Batty has taken the overall lead in the US Pro XCT standings in a tie breaker over Davison by virtue of owning a first-place finish this season. Gould sits in third place 20 points behind the leaders. Pendrel and Chloe Forsman (BMC Mountain Bike Development) round out the top five women riders.

In the team standings, Specialized Racing USA has a 10-point lead on Subaru-Trek after each team earned 46 points at the Sea Otter Classic. Luna Pro trails the leader by 23 points. BMC Mountain Bike Development has a 32-point margin on Specialized Factory Racing in fourth and fifth places, respectively.

Both Batty and Wells will be heading to the World Cup opener in Pietermartizburg, South Africa this weekend while Plaxton will skip it.

"It's a long season and the World Cup starts next week. Hopefully I'll keep improving," Batty told Cyclingnews.

"It's a whole new story next week. You have to get your elbows out, there's a lot more of us. But this win helps mentally. It's an honor to be able to race with these women here - these girls are getting top five in World Cups. It's a big confidence boost."

"It's nice to get a victory and it's good for the confidence," Wells told Cyclingnews, "but the World Cup is a whole other ball game. We'll just have to wait and see until next weekend."

"I will go to the second and third World Cups, but not the first one in South Africa," Plaxton told Cyclingnews. "I go home after this and rest up until the fourth round of the US Pro XCT at Mellow Johnny's in Texas."

See Cyclingnews' complete coverage of the Sea Otter Classic.

The next US Pro XCT event will be the Mellow Johnny's Classic in Dripping Springs, Texas on Saturday, April 30.

US Pro XCT Standings