US short track national champion Lea Davison (Specialized) made it two victories in a row at the Catamount Classic in Vermont on Sunday when she followed up the previous day's cross country win with a short track win. Catharine Pendrel (Luna) finished second ahead of Chloe Woodruff (Crankbrothers) in third.
Racers enjoyed perfect weather - relatively cool for August and sunny. They did, however, race an unusual short track course. Between 50 percent and two-thirds of the course was on grass. The lap started with one significant climb, and each lap riders climbed to the top of the hill on grass, then ducked into the woods onto a mostly singletrack downhill with minimal passing options. The downhill featured three separate launch points, and racers were catching air all over. One launch point was a fairly wide bridge while the other two were effectively singletrack. The second third of the course was all downhill, and racers came out onto a grassy, mostly flat section to the finish. It was wide open, but slow going on the grass for sprint finishes, and both the hill and the wind were factors in the races.
Judy Freeman (Crankbrothers) took the hole shot and led the first lap.
Everyone was watching what favorites Davison and Pendrel were doing. Pendrel came to the front and did a majority of the work during the race, leading for much of the race. She tried to get Davison to come through and do some more work, especially when the two had a small gap, but Davison took a defensive approach and spent most of the race sitting in.
Amy Dombroski attacked on lap three and got a gap, but Pendrel chased her down.
Pendrel tried several attacks, but none were ultimately successful. Davison covered each attack, and Woodruff hung on until the last lap.
That's when Davison launched her attack. She went so fast, like a rocket ship, that it looked like Pendrel was going backward. Whoever got to the top of the climb first had a definite advantage for the finish, and Davison obviously had figured that out on her home course.
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Davison raced in, uncontested, for the win. Pendrel followed in second place while Woodruff was third. Teal Stetson-Lee and Maghalie Rochette rounded out the top five.
Sue George is an editor at Cyclingnews. She coordinates all of the site's mountain bike race coverage and assists with the road, 'cross and track coverage.
