North Carolina GP clean sweep for Ruby West
Williams second, Hannah Arensman third
Canadian Ruby West (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com) sealed a second consecutive win in the elite women's race. The podium was the same as the previous day with Lily Williams second and Hannah Arensman third.
A second day of racing at Jackson Park in western N.C. provided a change in surroundings and in course conditions. Early races at the Hunter Subaru North Carolina Grand Prix (NCGP) turned the frozen tundra into rutty mud for the elite riders vying for final points on the USA Cycling Professional Cyclocross (ProCX) calendar. The brown track provided a stark contrast to the white snow blanketing the trees and hills.
West was ranked 15th in the ProCX standings for elite women coming to NC, while top points would help her move into the top-12 for the year, or higher, she was focused on just beating Lily Williams (Pony Shop CX Team) to the line for a second day in a row.
"It was a really strong battle with Lily (Williams)," said 18-year-old West, who would pick up her fourth consecutive win on Sunday. "It was a hard race for sure. I know I got a bit of a gap with one lap to go, and then I had a bit of a bobble on the 'W' part. I was trying to ride it, and I really screwed that up. So she came back to me. And as soon as she saw the gap closing I think that was her motivation. It was a bit of a hunt on the last lap. I’m really glad I could pull it off."
West and Williams would ride in tandem around the course for a second day. Williams, who is from nearby Asheville, would finish second for a second day, five seconds behind West. Third place was taken by 19-year-old N.C. rider Hannah Arensman (.A. King P/B BR’c), 14 seconds behind Williams. Her older sister, Allison, would finish fourth.
"I think the course was a little bit different than yesterday for sure," West noted. "The conditions throughout the race were changing. So it was one of those days when as soon as you started to get comfortable with the line, it was changing all around you. It was hard to find a groove out there. I think it was thawing as the race went on, and people were sliding more and more. It was just deteriorating as the race went on, and got more slippery."
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Ruby West (Can) | 0:43:43 |
2 | Lily Williams (USA) | 0:00:05 |
3 | Hannah Arensman (USA) | 0:00:19 |
4 | Allison Arensman (USA) | 0:00:48 |
5 | Emma Swartz (USA) | 0:01:15 |
6 | Cassandra Maximenko (USA) | 0:01:33 |
7 | Jennifer Malik (USA) | 0:01:53 |
8 | Emily Shields (USA) | 0:02:57 |
9 | Julie Wright (USA) | 0:04:16 |
10 | Erin Faccone (USA) | 0:04:56 |
11 | Philicia Marion (USA) | 0:05:22 |
12 | Leslie Lupien (USA) | 0:05:56 |
13 | Gabriella Sterne (USA) | 0:06:53 |
14 | Riley Gallagher (USA) | Row 13 - Cell 2 |
15 | Erica Allar (USA) | Row 14 - Cell 2 |
16 | Megan Heath (USA) | Row 15 - Cell 2 |
DNS | Katie Clouse (USA) | Row 16 - Cell 2 |
Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*
Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets
After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59
Join now for unlimited access
Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Most Popular
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
Liège-Bastogne-Liège Live - Pogacar and Van der Poel face-off
La Doyenne could deliver Van der Poel a sixth monument, as Pogacar returns with unfinished business from 2023 -
Tour of Turkey: Fabio Jakobsen takes first win of 2024 on stage 1
Cavendish distanced in final sprint -
Lefevere dismisses ‘pressure from the team’ in Julian Alaphilippe’s decision to race on fractured knee
‘Of course he had the final say,’ Soudal-Quickstep manager clarified in his weekly column -
UCI MTB World Cup Araxá - Haley Batten, Victor Koretzky victorious in short track openers
Series round two winners move into overall lead in respective men's and women's short track individual ranking