Pan American cyclocross champion Lizzy Gunsalus (CCB p/b Levine Law Group) held off a charging Katherine Sarkisov (CXD-Trek Bikes) in a thrilling finale to win the elite women's title at USA Cycling Cyclocross Nationals in Fayetteville on Sunday afternoon.
Gunsalus accelerated away from a lead group at the end of the penultimate lap and the 22-year-old looked to be sailing to victory but Katherine Sarkisov, and her sister and teammate, Alyssa Sarkisov and Cassidy Hickey (Colorado Mesa University), were chasing hard, coming onto the pavement with only seconds separating them.
Katherine Sarkisov earned the silver medal, finishing five seconds ahead of her younger sister Alyssa, who took bronze. The 21-year-old and 18-year-old sisters had decided to race in the elite field rather than contest the U23 women’s race held yesterday.
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“Pretty amazing. I'm happy I was able to put it all together today,” Gunsalus told FloBikes announcers Brad Sohner and Ellen Noble after her win.
“I was capitalising on the sections that I could see that I was riding better than some of the other girls. I was listening for the braking, for the shifting, and I ultimately just felt smooth on most of the turns. And on that back section, right before pit two, there's that kind of off-camber section. And I was listening to the crowd and my family, and I heard that I was gapping just a little bit each lap there, and I knew that trying to go with four, three to go, was going to be really tall order, because of how strong all the girls are. But with that two to go time, I was like, it's now or never."
In a tactical race that saw a lead group of Gunsalus, Hickey and Alyssa Sarkisov take turns attacking in the first five laps, Katherine Sarkisov was happy to watch the action until Gunsalus made her move.
“It can be hard to race for the win in a group of four, especially because not only is everyone thinking about wanting to win, there’s that nervous, anxious thought in your brain of I could do all this work and not even get on the podium," said Gunsalas. "So I think that added a little bit more emotion and intensity to the race today.”
Hickey, reigning US criterium champion, finished fourth while Lauren Zoerner (Competitive Edge Racing) was fifth in northwest Arkansas.
How it unfolded
The elite women's field of 29 riders was the penultimate group to tackle the 2.1-mile course at Centennial Park, which featured long stairs and a few tricky off-cambers on a sunny and cold day.
Gunsalus took the front early on, pushing the pace with the field quickly splitting up behind her with four riders pulling away by the end of the first lap. Gunsalus, Zoerner, Hickey and Alyssa Sarkisov made the split, with Katherine Sarkisov joining the group one lap later.
Gunsalus made it clear that she wanted to not only set the pace, but tried to accelerate away, but first Hickey, and then Alyssa Sarkisov not only closed down any gaps, but took turns at the front, using different sections of the course that suited their skills, Hickey taking advantage on long power sections and Alyssa Sarkisov hopping the barriers.
The lead group lost Zoerner after two laps, leaving four riders to continue the fight at the front, with Gunsalus setting the pace for most of the first five laps before putting in a major acceleration in the twisty wooded section.
“That big dig that I had to put in, which I think it was on our two to go lap, I knew it was really risky but I also knew that it was now or never. So it was like, 'alright, I'm gonna go as hard as I possibly can do for 10 minutes and if I can hold it and win it, now's my chance. And if I can't, I can't, I'm gonna go down trying'.”
As she heard the bell, Gunsalus had a five-second lead to Hickey and the Sarkisov sisters but the chase was not giving up, closing the gap as Gunsalus had a small bobble on the barriers. It wasn't enough, however, to hand the victory to her rivals.
Results
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