Eric Brunner (Competitive Edge Racing) dominated the elite men’s race, taking a solo victory in the final race of the US Cyclocross National Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The win was Brunner’s third elite title. adding to gold medals in 2021 and 2023, after he finished second last year.
In his final cyclocross race of the season, before turning his attention to road racing in 2026, Brunner powered away from the field on the first lap and rode flawlessly to the finish eight laps later with a 36-second lead on his closest competitor.
“You know, [winning a title] never gets old,” Brunner told FloBikes announcers Brad Sohner and Ellen Noble after his win. “I think the first one was really unexpected and I almost get more nervous now, because I have more expectations for myself and [it's] just a little easier to get in my head, so it’s never easy.”
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Still, he didn't let a slipped pedal at the start disrupt his run.
“I was a little annoyed, said Brunner. “I could barely think about it, I just knew I had a job to do and it didn't really matter what place I was in. Just wanted to get to the front and yeah, wanted to go as hard as I could, whether that was from 10th or from first, and got up there as quickly as I could, and just started punching it.”
The battle for the silver medal raged between two collegiate riders, with Ivan Sippy (Colorado Mesa University) putting in a decisive attack on the penultimate lap to claim the silver medal, seven seconds ahead of Brody McDonald (Milligan University). The same two riders battled it out in the Collegiate Varsity race, where Sippy took the win ahead of McDonald.
Over a minute after the winner, Marcis Shelton (Bear CX) finished fourth, with a retiring Kerry Werner (Velo Mafia Racing p/b Bikeflights) taking fifth. At 51 years young, racing legend Todd Wells (TWL) finished ninth, 3:32 behind the 27-year-old winner.
How it unfolded
The final race of the day saw 28 riders take on the 2.1-mile course at Centennial Park, which featured long stairs, a few tricky off-camber sections on sandy loam soil. The same venue hosted the 2022 UCI Cyclocross World Championships on a course that is basically reversed.
After a slow start, Brunner moved up the line of riders and passed teammate Dylan Zakrajsek who had taken the holeshot.
“I felt great on the course today,” Brunner said. “My goal is just to go out fast, and unfortunately pulled out my pedal. Was able to get up to the front quickly, and yeah, I just wanted to scare everybody from the beginning, and I was able to do it.”
Two laps later, Brunner had a 13-second lead on Sippy and McDonald, and 34 seconds on Shelton and Werner.
Behind the leader, the battle raged for the remaining podium spots, McDonald attacked Sippy at the end of the fifth lap, getting a small gap, only to be together again with two laps to go.
Brunner had a solid 38-second lead as the bell rang for the eighth and final lap, while Sippy had three seconds on McDonald after putting in a strong attack before riding the barriers while his rival chose to run the feature. Crossing the line 50 seconds behind Brunner, Shelton was in fourth place, 19 seconds ahead of Werner.
Results
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