Van Gilder sprints to Gloucester win

Image 1 of 37

Laura van Gilder (C3-Athletes Serving Athletes) used her savvy road skills to win the opening round of Grand Prix of Gloucester on Saturday. The legendary American sprinter took the late-race lead through a technical run-in toward the finish line and outpaced her breakaway companion Meredith Miller (Cal Giant-Specialized) who placed second.

"There was a little bit of wind today, and I wanted to make the most of everything," Van Gilder said. "Meredith has stepped up her game so much that I knew I couldn't make a single mistake and I had to use everything I could to stay with her and maybe beat her. I used that card, I had to do it and she was going to used every card she could to get rid of me."

"I'm thrilled and I've been waiting a long time to fight it out with these girls and I was happy to do so today," she said. "It was a great course, a great venue and I'm thrilled to have that giant glass of beer."

Canadian National Champion, Natasha Elliott (Garneau Club Chaussure Ogilvy), rounded out the podium in third place. The talented 'crosser is the 2009 North American Cyclo-cross Trophy (NACT) overall series winner, of which the Grand Prix of Gloucester's doubleheader marks rounds three and four of this year's series.

Noticeably absent from the start line was Katerina Nash (Luna Pro), who is currently leading the series having won the two opening rounds at StarCrossed and Rad Racing Grand Prix held in Washington in September.

The 18-year-old Kaitlin Antonneau (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com) earned the day's top Under 23 rider award for her seventh place finish.

Roadies hone in on 'cross skills

It was truly a day for the road riders who capitalized off the dry and dusty conditions, long straightaways and criterium-esque cornering that highlighted day one of the Grand Prix of Gloucester held on the ocean's edge at Stage Fork Park.

Amy Dombroski (Luna Pro) rode out of the gates throwing one punchy attack after another until she opened a small lead on a well attended chase group. She is a young and fierce competitor who is decorated with American Under 23 medals in road, mountain bike and cyclo-cross disciplines.

Those in the chase group included former US National Road Champion Meredith Miller (Cal Giant-Specialized), Laura Van Gilder (CS-Athletes Serving Athletes), Maureen Bruno Roy (Bob's Red Mill-Seven Cycles) and Andrea Smith (Ladies First Racing). However, Dombroski's solo attempt was short lived and the chasers caught up to her by the end of the first lap.

The leaders were later joined by Canadians Natasha Elliott (Garneau Club Chaussure Ogilvy) and Wendy Simms (Kona-FSA). The pair spent the majority of lap three working their way up from a smaller chase group that included Sally Annis (Crossresults.com p/b JRA Cycles) and Kaitlin Antonneau (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com).

"Amy was riding very strong and Meredith and Mo were fighting me for positions and I was able to hold third wheel," Van Gilder said. "Meredith put in a couple of really good digs. There were some fumbles from other riders, mostly in second wheel, that may have helped me to advance. I'm not sure if that was what happened to Amy but I kept following the front wheels. I really did have to bide my time because I wasn't certain what I was capable of. Every dig that Meredith put in I was able to hold on to and I thought that if I could do this until the end..."

Miller used her powerful pedaling to lead much of the race in particularly over the barriers located on a hillside run up mid-lap. She went on to open a gap to her competitors on one of the lengthy straightaways, bringing Van Gilder with her.

"I made a couple of mistakes today," Miller said. "My goal was to stay with Amy today because she has been riding strong. I had a few bobbles and had to catch back up a few times. I got out of the sand and caught back up and thought that I had to do something then. I put the hammer down and Laura was on my wheel. I knew they were pretty close behind us so I didn't want to do that cat and mouse thing because it was going to be hard enough sprinting against her and I didn't want the rest to catch up. I sat at the front and hoped that I could hold her off or keep her from coming around me in the last bit but it didn't work. She's a smart rider."

The savvy road sprinter did not wait until the pavement to use her sprint but rather played a safer card by jumping ahead of Miller through the technical and narrow twists and turns in the last portion of the circuit. She rounded the final 180 degree turn and hit the pavement out front holding her first place position all the way to the line.

"It was very tactical and I have not been with this group for any longer than a half a lap in the last two seasons so I felt like I needed to bide my time," Van Gilder said. "I didn't know what they were going to throw at me and I didn't know if I could hang on."

Elliott muscled her way around the course and secured third place ahead of her compatriot Simms in fourth, Dombroski in fifth and Antonneau in sixth.

Full Results