By Kirsten Robbins Jeremy Powers (Jelly Belly) returned to the Mid Atlantic Cyclo-cross series to...
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Jeremy Powers (Jelly Belly)(Image credit: Dennis Smith)
Maureen Bruno-Roy(Image credit: Konstantin Sergeyev)
Matt White (Fiordifrutta Cycling Team)(Image credit: Konstantin Sergeyev)
Powers and Winfield one step ahead
By Kirsten Robbins
Jeremy Powers (Jelly Belly) returned to the Mid Atlantic Cyclo-cross series to claim his first UCI win. Davide Frattini and Matt White came in biting at the heels for second place.
"I expected White, Frattini and I to get away together early," Powers said. "I live with Matt and I know how well he has been riding. So at the start I spent some time watching Davide and Matt put in a few good attacks. I tried to keep my distance and see how they were going to race."
White provoked the split with his blazing start, very similar to his winning performance last weekend. "The first couple of turns were hectic and it took a while to sort out the guys who were going to be on the podium. Half way through the first lap I went to blow things apart a little bit and Davide and Jeremy came with me - they were the group that I wanted to race with."
The trio began a series of attacks with four laps to go resulting in a perfect set up for Powers’ winning move. "Matt jumped, then I jumped and when it was Jeremy’s turn to jump next," Frattini said. "He came out of the technical section with a couple of bike lengths and just kept going. His jump was strong and he was able to keep a high speed for a few full laps. I tried to follow him but if I kept going it would have been really easy for me to have a heart attack. He was really strong today, one level above where I am at now and he just rode away - he deserved to win."
In the women's race, Deirdre Winfield (Velo Bella-Kona) rode away from her closest competition, Maureen Bruno Roy (Independent Fabrication), and soloed in for her win. Separations amongst the top riders in the field became larger as the race progressed. Bruno Roy limited her losses to approximately twenty seconds for second place and powerhouse Mandy Lozano one minute and half after that.
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"The time differences in a regional race appear to be bigger than they are," Bruno Roy said. "At a national level there would have been six other riders between our fifteen-second gap. You don’t see such big gaps through out the national level race because the race is much tighter."
The time gaps increased early on as Bruno Roy blasted out of the start leaving Winfield to catch up. "I have been working on my starts for the past couple of years and I have found it to be really effective. The girls that usually finish ahead of me in the Grand Prix series have even faster starts, so that is what I have had to work on to be in the top five a the national level."
White and Bruno-Roy take muddy Highland Park 'cross
By Kirsten Robbins
Maureen Bruno Roy (Independent Fabrications) showed the women’s field how to win in style by winning the race from the gun. Her main competitors were Deidre Winfield (Velo Bella-Kona) and Melanie Swartz (Velo Bella-Kona). "The first lap is always the hardest," Winfield said. "You go from standing at an almost resting heart rate to as high as your heart rate is going to do all day in the first thirty seconds. So it is easy to feel like you are struggling a little bit but after a few laps you get used to the lines you are taking and start to get into a rhythm. As the race went on I felt better and better.
The race began in much the same fashion as the day before, with Bruno Roy flying off the start line. The difference was that today no one could catch up to her." I was able to keep the gap I opened up in the beginning today," Bruno Roy said.
Matt White (Fiordifrutta) dazzled the crowds with his second stylish solo win. The soloist left Chris Horner (Specialized) tracing his tracks into second place and his teammate Jamey Driscoll (Fiordifrutta) in a battle for third. "It was a similar race to last weekend in that I just went out there and rode as hard as I could," White said. "But, rather than it being so tactical, I just went out there and slugged it in the mud and rain today."
Today marks White’s second UCI win this season. "It is unbelievable and I am so excited about winning another UCI event," White said. "Winning both races in the same style is a testament to my strength and not my tactical ability. I seem to be riding better when I can just ride my own race, go as hard as I can go and not think about tactics too much - I am not the smartest bike racer out there.
Kirsten Frattini is the Deputy Editor of Cyclingnews, overseeing the global racing content plan.
Kirsten has a background in Kinesiology and Health Science. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's biggest races, reporting on the WorldTour, Spring Classics, Tours de France, World Championships and Olympic Games.
She began her sports journalism career with Cyclingnews as a North American Correspondent in 2006. In 2018, Kirsten became Women's Editor – overseeing the content strategy, race coverage and growth of women's professional cycling – before becoming Deputy Editor in 2023.
