Nash heads Luna sweep in Portland finale

Czech champion Katerina Nash proved once again that she is the queen of the USGP Portland Cup by putting in a error-free ride to claim her sixth career victory there on Sunday afternoon.

Nash virtually led from start to finish in a Luna team podium sweep, beating USGP series winner Georgia Gould, while Amy Dombroski claimed the third spot with a sizable margin over the rest of the field.

"I didn't quite get the hole shot, I was second or third place, but I moved up to the front and wanted to make it a hard pace," said Nash. "Georgia was always close, so there was always the concern about not making mistakes, pushing the pace and accelerating out of corners."

In comparison with the previous day's slip and slide where everyone seemed to have numerous mishaps, today's race was nearly flawless for the Czech powerhouse, who decimated the field with her pace by the second lap.

"I had clean ride today, I didn't crash - a couple times I had to unclip in the super tight corners, and then I just realised it was better to slow down for the turns and go hard on the straightaways. It was a good ride, super clean today."

Gould, with her back-to-back second places, took home the white jersey of the USGP series winner by a huge margin. While she was happy to take home her second overall win, she said the absence of other riders like US champion Katie Compton left a bit of a hole in the competition for the series on the final weekend.

"It feels good," said Gould of her series win, "but at the same time there were a lot of people that didn't do all the races. But this was definitely one of my big goals for the season. The USGP is always a big goal, it's the best series and they do such a great job putting it on."

Nash, having only taken part in the final two weekends, earned enough points to knock Compton off the series podium to take third, while Meredith Miller (California Giant Berry-Specialized) held onto second overall with fourth place on the day.

Miller had to overcome a string of bad-luck races, where, she explained, just about every Saturday race had some major mishap in store for her while each Sunday race was a bit better. "That makes me really worried for next week's nationals, because there is no Saturday race," Miller said.

"Today was much drier and faster but I'm still not nearly as fast in the tight, twisty stuff as [Nash and Gould] are. It's just a matter of being a bit more confident, not slowing down so much and having to accelerate hard out of the turns."

While riders like Dombroski had hoped for rain and mud, the skies were blue and the temperatures cool for the Portland Cup finale. Brisk winds and bright sunshine had set up the mud into a peanut butter-like consistency, taking some of the technical nature from the course.

Saturday's third place finisher Sue Butler (Hudz-Subaru) claimed the hole shot, setting a brisk tempo through the open fields before being overtaken on the back side by the three Luna riders.

The trio opened up a gap to fourth placed Miller by the end of the first lap and, after establishing their pecking order, the four remained in the same positions through to the end.

Canadian Wendy Simms earned the most aggressive rider award after chasing back from a second lap incident to pull back into fifth place.

After keeping pace with Nash for much of Saturday's race, Gould had hoped to contend for the victory today, but a lapse of concentration at the start put her on the defensive.

"I had a good initial start, but then in the first couple corners somehow I ended up in like seventh. I thought this isn't very good! I was kind of stuck behind and I could see Katerina go to the front, and I told myself I have to get around these people.

"It took me a little while to get up there, but then I was up with Amy and Katerina and I crashed in one of the tight corners on the back side. I just couldn't get out of my own way out there.

"That was enough to give Katerina the initial gap and I couldn't close it down."

For Dombroski, the third place finish was a relief after a disastrous ride on Saturday. "I tried to put yesterday out of my mind. You can't really dwell on those things," she told Cyclingnews. "I've been struggling a lot with my starts this year, and yesterday the one good thing was that I had a good start, so I tried to do that again. I had a good start and was able to stay on [Nash and Gould's] wheel."

Results

Swipe to scroll horizontally
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Katerina Nash (Cze) Luna Pro Team0:40:32
2Georgia Gould (USA) Luna Pro Team0:00:19
3Amy Dombroski (USA) Luna Pro Team0:01:12
4Meredith Miller (USA) California Giant/Specialized0:01:39
5Wendy Simms (Can) Ridley - Fsa0:02:16
6Katherine Sherwin (USA) Hudz-Vista Subaru0:02:24
7Susan Butler (USA) Hudz Subaru0:02:28
8Kaitlin Antonneau (USA) Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.Com0:02:31
9Maureen Bruno Roy (USA) Mm Racing P/B Seven Cycles0:02:33
10Ashley James (USA) Team Kenda0:02:40
11Linnea Koons (USA) Embrocation Cycling Journal0:02:43
12Pepper Harlton (Can) Juventus Cycling Club0:03:00
13Katy Curtis (Can) Bow Cycle/Cyclemeisters0:03:02
14Barbara Howe (USA) Ibis And The Danger TwinsRow 13 - Cell 2
15Amanda Carey (USA) Kenda/Felt0:03:17
16Devon Haskell (USA) Bh Usa0:03:32
17Teal Stetson-Lee (USA) California Giant/Specialized0:03:56
18Alice Pennington (USA) S&M0:04:05
19Coryn Rivera (USA) Peanut Butter & Co.Twenty120:04:29
20Kari Studley (USA) Velo Bella0:04:51
21Rebecca Blatt (USA) Silverbull Centralwheel0:05:03
22Wendy Williams (USA) River City Bicycles0:05:13
23Linda Sone (USA) Planet Bike0:05:25
24Lisa Curry (USA) Gas/Intrinsik0:05:44
25Katrina Baumsteiger (USA) Team Rambuski Law0:05:51
26Serena Bishop (USA) Sunnyside SportsRow 25 - Cell 2
27Abby Watson (USA) Embrocation Cycling Journal0:06:12
28Anna Dingman (USA) Gas/Intrinsik Cycling Team0:06:22
29Shannon Gibson (USA) Velobella- Ellsworth0:06:41
30Corey Coogan (USA) Team Plan C Pb Stevens0:06:56
31Laura Winberry (USA) Elite Endurance/Cascade Couriers0:07:10
32Emily Thurston (USA) Missing Link/ 3Rd Rail0:07:18
33Becca Blay (USA) Mafia Racing0:07:30
34Annie Usher (USA) Bridgetown VeloRow 33 - Cell 2
35Carrie Cash (USA) Team Vera Bradley Foundation0:08:16
36 -1 lapMegan Chinburg (USA) VeloformaRow 35 - Cell 2
37 -1 lapBrigette Stoick (USA) River City BicyclesRow 36 - Cell 2
38 -1 lapMegan Elliott (USA) Black Mountain BicyclesRow 37 - Cell 2
39 -1 lapTina Brubaker (USA) The Vanilla Workshop/SpeedvagenRow 38 - Cell 2
DNFJoele Guynup (USA) Island Racing Club/Everti/ShimanoRow 39 - Cell 2
DNFTiffany Cromwell (Aus) Lotto Ladies TeamRow 40 - Cell 2

 

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Laura Weislo
Managing Editor

Laura Weislo has been with Cyclingnews since 2006 after making a switch from a career in science. As Managing Editor, she coordinates coverage for North American events and global news. As former elite-level road racer who dabbled in cyclo-cross and track, Laura has a passion for all three disciplines. When not working she likes to go camping and explore lesser traveled roads, paths and gravel tracks. Laura's specialises in covering doping, anti-doping, UCI governance and performing data analysis.

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