Driscoll tops Johnson in Chi-cross day 2

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Jamie Driscoll (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld) took advantage of a mid-race lull to win the Chicago Cyclocross Cup's New Years Resolution race, the last UCI event going into US Cyclocross Championships. Unpredictable mid-west weather provided faster race conditions after the previous day's snow disappeared and the golf course tundra hardened overnight. Lap times dropped significantly with the new conditions and course adjustments, which removed one of two small hills that appeared in the first day of racing.

Jamie Driscoll, who came in second to Jeremy Powers (Rapha-Focus) in the first day of racing, took the lead after Robert Marion (Carpediem Racing) boldly attacked the lead group of eight riders during a brief lull in the action. "Warming up I didn't feel very good, but in the race it seemed like I was the most aggressive rider out there," said Driscoll. "When things were reshuffling I was worried I burned to many matches early, but the aggressive attitude paid off."

Powers skipped day two of racing in order to prepare for nationals back on the east coast

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Cody Kaiser (California Giant Berry Farms/Specialized) grabbed the hole shot at the gun but quickly ceded the lead to Tim Johnson (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld) as the pack rounded the first lap. A group of riders led by Driscoll established a solid lead four laps into the race and proceeded to set the tempo for the next several laps.

The lead group, consisting of Johnson, Driscoll, Jonathan Page, Robert Marion, Troy Wells (Team Clif Bar Cycling), Yannick Eckmann (California Giant Berry Farms/Specialized), Brian Matter (Racers Against Childhood Cancer), Kerry Werner (BMC U23 MTB Team), and Isaac Neff (Trek Cyclocross Collective), traded jabs for several laps with nothing sticking. Marion and Neff struggled to stay with the leaders, and though Neff eventually became unglued, Marion never let the leaders get to far out of sight.

Wells, Matter, and Werner all put in attacks at the front but nothing stuck as Johnson, Page, and Driscoll responded to each surge with ease. At the start of the seventh lap the lead group sat up going through the start/finish area, the brief lull gave Marion, a former 260 lb. lineman for Guilford College, a chance to catch up after losing contact with the group earlier in the lap.

Rather than latch on Marion attacked the group, a move that only Driscoll responded too. "I preach to my teammates, and all the amateur guys that we race with, if you are hurting, and you are about to tag onto the back of the group, don't sit there. The accordion will just kill you so just pull on through," said Marion, who parlayed his gamble into his best UCI result to date. "That’s what I did, I went right to the front and they let me go."

Driscoll and Marion proceeded to put time into the chase group, but with two laps to go Johnson made his move and began to reel Marion back. Confident that Driscoll would take the win, Johnson shot into second place, and towed Marion in for third. "The way he was racing all day I was sure he was going win," said Johnson about Driscoll’s effort. "As soon as he got a little gap no one was ever going to be able to chase him down. He had that thing covered."

For Page, who landed stateside on Friday with one race on his mind, the US National Championship, a fourth place finish was not completely unexpected. "This is my third race week this week, and it's on a different continent," said Page after whose European results have recently been on the upswing. "I didn't expect much today."

Johnson, Powers, Page and Driscoll will next meet on Sunday, January 13 at Elite US Cyclocross nationals in Verona Wisconsin.

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