Freeman wins Subaru Cup

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Judy Freeman (Crank Brothers) kicked off a weekend of racing at the Subaru Cup, a round in both the Wisconsin Off Road Series (WORS) and the US Pro XCT, with a victory in the women's cross country event. She finished ahead of Amanda Sin (Scott-3Rox Racing) and Pua Mata (Sho-Air Specialized). It was Freeman's first-ever cross country national series win.

"I'm really excited to have won my first ProXCT race," said Freeman to Cyclingnews. "It's a great way to end the season and head into training for 2013. I had a great start to this season followed by a bit of a rough middle, so I'm pretty stoked to bookend 2012 with a win."

Mata's third place finish put her ahead of all other US Pro XCT top contenders other than Freeman on the day and secured her the win in the overall series.  Freeman was third overall in the series, just after Heather Irmiger (Subaru-Trek), who was second overall.

Irmiger finished fourth on the day while Chloe Woodruff (Crank Brothers) rounded out the top five.

Sin started the race at the front, but Freeman was clearly the strongest rider of the day. She blazed to the front on the second lap. and never relinquished her lead. After the first lap, Mata, who finished third at last weekend's Leadville 100, also passed Sin and chased Freeman fairly closely.

"Pua was on my wheel at some points, but then I'd gain some time in the climbs," said Freeman. "The course looped back on itself in a number of places so you could see who was behind you. Sometimes I'd see Pua but sometimes not."

Irmiger was missing from the front after an early race crash meant she dropped back to eighth place. She spent the rest of the race chasing and regaining spots one by one..

By lap four of the five-lap race, Freeman's gap over Mata was widening and victory looked likely. The Crank Brothers rider kept out of trouble on the final lap and raced to the line 16 seconds ahead of Mata, who finished up 40 seconds after Freeman.

On the final lap, Sin caught up to Mata at the top of the final descent and passed her, taking the second place finish with Mata in third.

Racers enjoyed beautiful weather, with temperatures in the 70s, and drier than usual course conditions. The race is usually held earlier in the year and with the late summer timing, the course was quite dry and dusty, especially with the amateurs having raced part of it earlier in the day.

Abby Strigel (Honey Stinger/Bontrager/Pat's) put in the best performance by a "local" to finish in eighth place.

All Luna team riders were absent from this race after competing in the Olympic Games last weekend, including Georgia Gould, who earned the bronze medal last weekend. Emily Batty (Subaru-Trek) also sat on the sidelines following her broken collarbone.

Editorial assistance provided by Claire Gehling.

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