Curtis White makes late attack from chase group for third
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Lander Loockx celebrates victory at OZ Cross 2022(Image credit: Snowy Mountain Photography)
Men's Podium: winner Lander Loockx (Deschacht - Hens - Maes) in centre, Timon Ruegg (Cross Team Legendre / Vc Steinmaur) 2nd, Curtis White (Steve Tilford Foundation Racing) 3rd(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Curtis White (Steve Tilford Foundation Racing) outfoxed the chase group jumping early to take advantage of a headwind through parts of Stonehenge and coasted across the line to take 3rd place.(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
A final attack by Timon Ruegg (Cross Team Legendre / Vc Steinmaur) and Lander Loockx (Deschacht - Hens - Maes) ended up being the move of the day.(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Pan American and US National Champion Eric Brunner (Blue Competition Cycles p/b Build) opened up a small gap on rest of the lead group.(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
The strong winds broke the race apart into echelons working together to try to close the gap to the next group, here Marcis Shelton (Bear CX) tries to catch back on(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Riders in the lead group make their way up the massive flight of stairs(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
The course was dry and dusty, here Caleb Swartz (Giant/Enve) makes his way down the steep descent kicking up clouds of dust.(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
It took a few laps for the wind and the hill to break up the leaders of the race(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Remi Lelandais (Cross Team Legendre) was the first to the steps in the Oz Cross Men's UCI C1 race on Friday.(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Lander Loockx (Deschacht - Hens - Maes) used a final acceleration to out-kick Timon Rüegg (Cross Team Legendre / Vc Steinmaur) and win the elite men’s C1 OZ Cross race in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The final surge allowed the Belgian rider to score the second C1 victory of his career.
The Belgian-Swiss duo created a 25-second advantage on a trailing group of four, from which Curtis White (Steve Tilford Foundation Racing) exploded across the finish line to take the final podium spot.
“It was quite fast. The first laps were very tactical. I was always in second or third position, just being in the front because I know after some laps we’ll get some gaps,” Loockx said. “There were some mistakes from other riders after me, and with Timon Ruëgg we got a gap. And we did work well together.
“On the last lap, we fight with each other. On the uphill I tried to drop him, but he keeps holding on, so I had to do it in the sprint.”
On the first pass of the towering stairs feature at Centennial Park, Remi Lelandais (Cross Team Legendre) led the 42-rider field across the top. The 10-lap race was full of dust and speed, only 25 reaching the finish line.
It took a few laps for a front group to form, battling the strong wind and the enormous ascent of the stairs. Nine riders were strung out headed to the half-way point, led by Loockx, Michael Boros (Elkov Kasper Czech Cycling Team), and Niels Vandeputte (Alpecin-Deceuninck).
Then Pan American and US National Champion Eric Brunner (Blue Competition Cycles p/b Build) opened up a small gap on the front. Brunner's move did not stick, but the next attack did, made by the Rüegg-Loockx duo.
From a chasing group of four riders, White jumped early in the headwind after the Stonehenge feature and grabbed third place.
“It was very hot, it was very windy, it's a very fast track, and it was gonna be a lot of tactics involved. So I wanted to be near the front, but not on the front, to watch the wheels and to really save as much energy as I could for the final lap,” White said.
“We were coming into a strong headwind in the start-finish straight. I just started my sprint earlier than I think everyone expected. And I wanted to come into that with a little bit of a gap. And then with the second to last corner, I hit it as hard as I could. And there it created a bit of separation, perhaps they didn't expect me to go there. But that was the card I played.”
Following closest behind was Vandeputte in fourth, then Boros for fifth and Lelandais in sixth.
Jackie has been involved in professional sports for more than 30 years in news reporting, sports marketing and public relations. She founded Peloton Sports in 1998, a sports marketing and public relations agency, which managed projects for Tour de Georgia, Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah and USA Cycling. She also founded Bike Alpharetta Inc, a Georgia non-profit to promote safe cycling. She is proud to have worked in professional baseball for six years - from selling advertising to pulling the tarp for several minor league teams. She has climbed l'Alpe d'Huez three times (not fast). Her favorite road and gravel rides are around horse farms in north Georgia (USA) and around lavender fields in Provence (France), and some mtb rides in Park City, Utah (USA).
