Van Gilder makes it a perfect double in Baystate

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Laura Van Gilder (C3 p/b Mellow Mushroom) made a final lap attack to distance Sally Annis (crossresults.com p/b JRA Cycles) and claim the second race of the Baystate series, making it two from two for the American.

How it unfolded

The women’s race started with an extremely fast pace, headed immediately by Van Gilder. Knowing that the first few course features would be decisive, she took to the front and led the field up the first set of stairs.

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Thanks to a pileup on the off-camber, the selection came very early in the day. At the front, the group was Van Gilder, Sally Annis (crossresults.com p/b JRA Cycles) and the trio from LadiesFirst, Andrea Smith, Crystal Anthony and Elle Anderson.

The group of five worked well together, with Van Gilder either driving the pace or sitting second wheel, to ensure that she was not taken by any team action from the LadiesFirst racers. Crystal Anthony spent a good portion of the race on the front, trying for payback from Saturday’s intense disappointment where a broken fork cost her a chance at the podium.

At the back of the group, it seemed like Sally Annis was in constant trouble, yo-yoing off the back, often sitting three or four bike lengths off the end.

The decision came in two parts, first, Smith missed a technical remount with a lap and a half left and was hung up on a fence for a moment, at which point, the pace picked up and Annis rejoined – sitting directly behind Van Gilder. Anthony launched an attack that was quickly covered and countered by Van Gilder, with a half lap to go. Van Gilder put together a few seconds advantage and was able to raise her hands alone in victory.

Behind, Annis outsprinted Anthony for second. Smith crossed the line fourth after recovering and passing Anderson, who came fifth.