One day after winning her first UCI race at Beacon 'Cross, Nicole Thiemann (Team CF) repeated the feat at HPCX with another narrow victory over Laura Van Gilder (C3 p/b Mellow Mushroom). Thiemann's teammate finished alone in third place, 46 seconds behind the front duo.
Thiemann rode into the lead early on, having deftly avoided a bottle neck when racers first transitioned to the grass by running, a tactic that put her in front of the group where she remained until the final effort.
Van Gilder, however, would again provide stiff competition for Thiemann all the way through to the final turn onto the uphill finishing straight. "I led for most of the race and opened up a gap coming onto the pavement," said Thiemann. "I heard I had 8-10 bikes lengths coming onto the pavement for the finish, but Laura Van Gilder closed it down and almost got me. I think I won by a bike length or less."
