Plaxton and Batty lead US Pro XCT overall after three rounds
By Sue George , Mountain Bike Editor published
Wells and Batty victorious at Sea Otter cross country
Todd Wells (Specialized Racing) and Emily Batty (Subaru-Trek) won the third round of the USA Cycling US Pro XCT at the Sea Otter Classic on Saturday in Monterey, California. Max Plaxton (Specialized) and Batty now lead the US Pro XCT series after three rounds.
Wells won Sea Otter by 53 seconds ahead of teammate Max Plaxton. Jeremiah Bishop (Cannondale Factory), Adam Craig (Rabobank-Giant Offroad) and Sam Schultz (Subrau-Trek) rounded out the top five finishers.
"It's my first win this year and I've never won the Sea Otter cross country," Wells told Cyclingnews, "although I've been coming here for about 15 years. I'm glad to finally get a win."
After his performance in Monterey, California, Plaxton has a 10-point lead over Bishop in the US Pro XCT Standings. Wells, Schultz and Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Subaru-Trek) fill out the top five positions. Stephen Ettinger (BMC Mountain Bike Development) is the top Under 23 rider, sitting in eighth place, 240 points behind Plaxton.
In the women's race at Sea Otter, Batty edged Catharine Pendrel (Luna Pro) by one second at the finish line. Katerina Nash (Luna Pro) was third, completing the course two minutes and 46 seconds behind Pendrel. Lea Davison (Specialized Racing USA) and Heather Irmiger (Subaru-Trek) filled out the top five finishers.
Despite being even in overall points, Batty has taken the overall lead in the US Pro XCT standings in a tie breaker over Davison by virtue of owning a first-place finish this season. Gould sits in third place 20 points behind the leaders. Pendrel and Chloe Forsman (BMC Mountain Bike Development) round out the top five women riders.
In the team standings, Specialized Racing USA has a 10-point lead on Subaru-Trek after each team earned 46 points at the Sea Otter Classic. Luna Pro trails the leader by 23 points. BMC Mountain Bike Development has a 32-point margin on Specialized Factory Racing in fourth and fifth places, respectively.
Both Batty and Wells will be heading to the World Cup opener in Pietermartizburg, South Africa this weekend while Plaxton will skip it.
"It's a long season and the World Cup starts next week. Hopefully I'll keep improving," Batty told Cyclingnews.
"It's a whole new story next week. You have to get your elbows out, there's a lot more of us. But this win helps mentally. It's an honor to be able to race with these women here - these girls are getting top five in World Cups. It's a big confidence boost."
"It's nice to get a victory and it's good for the confidence," Wells told Cyclingnews, "but the World Cup is a whole other ball game. We'll just have to wait and see until next weekend."
"I will go to the second and third World Cups, but not the first one in South Africa," Plaxton told Cyclingnews. "I go home after this and rest up until the fourth round of the US Pro XCT at Mellow Johnny's in Texas."
See Cyclingnews' complete coverage of the Sea Otter Classic.
The next US Pro XCT event will be the Mellow Johnny's Classic in Dripping Springs, Texas on Saturday, April 30.
US Pro XCT Standings
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Max Plaxton (Can) Specialized Racing USA | 570 | pts |
2 | Jeremiah Bishop (USA) Cannondale | 560 | |
3 | Todd Wells (USA) Specialized Racing | 540 | |
4 | Sam Schultz (USA) Subaru-Trek | 460 | |
5 | Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (USA) Subaru-Trek | 440 | |
6 | Adam Craig (USA) Rabobank-Giant | 390 | |
7 | Sid Taberlay (Aus) H20 Overdrive | 370 | |
8 | Stephen Ettinger (USA) BMC MTB Development Team | 330 | |
9 | Geoff Kabush (Can) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain | 290 | |
10 | Raphael Gagne (Can) | 250 | |
11 | Rotem Ishay (Isr) | 220 | |
12 | Spencer Paxson (USA) Kona | 205 | |
13 | Adam Morka (Can) | 190 | |
14 | Troy Wells (USA) | 161 | |
15 | Barry Wicks (USA) Kona | 160 | |
16 | Kerry Werner (USA) BMC MTB Development Team | 145 | |
17 | Lachlan Norris (Aus) | 130 | |
17 | Derek Zandstra (Can) | 130 | |
19 | Peter Glassford (Can) | 100 | |
20 | Tj Woodruff (USA) | 94 | |
21 | Ryan Trebon (USA) | 90 | |
22 | Kris Sneddon (Can) Kona | 88 | |
23 | Benjamin Sonntag (Ger) | 85 | |
24 | Thomas Turner (USA) | 80 | |
25 | Bryson Perry (USA) | 72 | |
26 | Ryan Woodall (USA) | 60 | |
27 | Jason Sager (USA) | 55 | |
28 | Vincent Lombardi (USA) | 50 | |
29 | Jack Hinkens (USA) | 48 | |
30 | Emmanuel Valencia (Mex) | 45 | |
31 | Jesse Anthony (USA) | 40 | |
32 | Miguel Valadez (Mex) | 39 | |
33 | Kalan Beisel (USA) | 35 | |
34 | Juan Carlos Herndandez Fernan (Mex) | 30 | |
35 | Colin Cares (USA) | 28 | |
35 | Antoine Caron (Can) | 28 | |
37 | Kevin Fish (USA) | 26 | |
39 | Francis Morin (Can) | 24 | |
38 | Justin Lindine (USA) | 24 | |
40 | Lukas Buchli (Swi) | 22 | |
41 | Brian Van Ulden (USA) | 20 | |
41 | Ignacio Torres (Mex) | 20 | |
43 | Ben Bostrom (USA) | 18 | |
43 | Jeff Herrera (USA) | 18 | |
47 | Ryan Woodall (USA) | 16 | |
46 | Tyson Wagler (Can) | 16 | |
45 | Brady Kappius (USA) | 16 | |
48 | Sean Donovan (USA) | 14 | |
50 | Adam Snyder (USA) | 12 | |
49 | David Tinker Juarez (USA) | 12 | |
53 | Alejando Barajas (Mex) | 10 | |
52 | Marton Blazso (Hun) | 10 | |
51 | Carl Decker (USA) | 10 | |
55 | Aaron Bradford (USA) | 9 | |
54 | Eric Batty (Can) | 9 | |
57 | Kevin Smallman (USA) | 8 | |
56 | Joshua Carlson (Aus) | 8 | |
59 | Tim Allen (USA) | 6 | |
58 | Mitchell Hoke (USA) | 6 | |
60 | Ken Onodera (Jpn) | 5 | |
62 | Ned Overend (USA) | 4 | |
61 | Jason Siegle (USA) | 4 | |
64 | Menso De Jong (USA) | 3 | |
63 | Jim Hewett (USA) | 3 | |
66 | Dana Weber (USA) | 2 | |
65 | Colin Osborn (USA) Honey Stinger | 2 | |
67 | Zachary Valdez (USA) | 1 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Emily Batty (Can) Subaru-Trek | 530 | pts |
2 | Lea Davison (USA) Specialized Racing USA | 530 | |
3 | Georgia Gould (USA) Luna Pro Team | 510 | |
4 | Catherine Pendrel (Can) Luna Pro Team | 390 | |
5 | Chloe Forsman (USA) BMC MTB Development Team | 390 | |
6 | Heather Irmiger (USA) Subaru-Trek | 350 | |
7 | Amanda Carey (USA) | 340 | |
8 | Krista Park (USA) | 298 | |
9 | Judy Freeman (USA) | 295 | |
10 | Zephanie Blasi (USA) | 260 | |
11 | Sarah Kaufmann (USA) | 196 | |
12 | Katerina Nash (Cze) Luna Pro Team | 180 | |
13 | Lydia Tanner (USA) | 174 | |
14 | Erica Zaveta (USA) BMC MTB Development Team | 170 | |
15 | Carolyn Popovic (USA) | 168 | |
16 | Kelli Emmett (USA) | 160 | |
16 | Marie-Helen Premont (Can) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain | 160 | |
18 | Pua Mata (USA) | 140 | |
19 | Daniela Campuzano Chavez (Mex) | 130 | |
19 | Amanda Sin (Can) | 130 | |
21 | Mical Dyck (Can) | 120 | |
22 | Kelsy Bingham (USA) | 92 | |
23 | Kathy Sherwin (USA) | 90 | |
24 | Nina Baum (USA) | 85 | |
25 | Sarah Maile (USA) | 83 | |
26 | Teal Stetson-Lee (USA) | 80 | |
27 | Shannon Gibson (USA) | 75 | |
28 | Deyanira Guerrero (Mex) | 67 | |
29 | Erica Tingey (USA) | 65 | |
30 | Kaila Hart (USA) | 56 | |
31 | Laura Bietola (Can) | 50 | |
31 | Rebecca Rusch (USA) | 50 | |
33 | Catherine Vipond (Can) | 45 | |
34 | Aleksandra Mooradian (Pol) | 30 | |
35 | Danelle Kabush (Can) Luna Pro Team | 26 | |
36 | Kristina Laforge (Can) | 24 | |
37 | Alice Pennington (USA) | 24 | |
38 | Brandi Heisterman (Can) | 20 | |
39 | Rebecca Beaumont (Can) | 18 | |
40 | Linnea Koons (USA) | 16 | |
41 | Caroline Mani (Fra) | 12 | |
42 | Anna Fortner (USA) | 10 | |
43 | Caley Brooks (Can) | 9 | |
44 | Laura Winberry (USA) | 8 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Specialized Racing USA | 142 | pts |
2 | Subaru-Trek | 132 | |
3 | Luna Pro Team | 119 | |
4 | BMC MTB Development Team | 104 | |
5 | Specialized Racing | 72 | |
6 | Kona Bikes | 64 | |
7 | Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain | 52 | |
8 | Honey Stinger/Trek | 1 |

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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.