Vincent Baestaens wins elite men's C1 opener at Charm City Cross

Vincent Baestaens (Spits CX Team) won the Charm City Cross C1 event in Baltimore, taking the win by three seconds over US champion Eric Brunner (Blue Competition Cycles) who slid out in the final corner to finish second. Curtis White (Steve Tilford Foundation) finished the race 19 seconds back in third.

"In the first lap I already felt that I wasn't having a good day and I struggled a lot," Baestaens said. "I was also riding with no mud tires today and that cost be one or two seconds in every corner. I think that was also a mistake and cost me in the effort to follow the other guys. Riding solo on this course would have been hard, they were tough competitors today, it was a nice race."

The race marked round three and race five of the USCX in Baltimore, Maryland and held on a 2.4km circuit with 32m of elevation. The circuit included stairs with a double-pass flyover, several technical and off-camber sections, a steep hill, and longer power straightaways.

Vincent Baestaens (Spits CX Team) opened an early lead on the first lap of the men's race but he was soon joined by Eric Brunner (Blue Competition Cycles), Kerry Werner (Kona Adventure), Curtis White (Steve Tilford Foundation), Scott McGill (Wildlife Generation), Michael van den Ham (Giant-Easton) and Tobin Ortenblad (Santa Cruz).

Ortenblad opened a small gap near the end of the second lap and he was joined by McGill as they raced through the finish line at the start of lap three. They were then joined by White, as Brunner, who had an untimely slip through a corner, was forced to try and close the gap.

The four leaders Ortenblad, McGill, White and Werner were just a second ahead of Baestaens, as Brunner continued to chase with van den Ham, and Scott Funston (Blue Competition) rounding out the top eight on the course.

With five laps to go, White attacked and opened a sliver of a lead. He was initially tracked by Ortenblad, Baestaens, Werner, Brunner, and McGill. 

The chasers weren't successful in shutting down the gap, however, as White pushed his lead out to 10 seconds with four laps to go.

White's gap dropped to eight seconds as Brunner gave chase with Baestaens on his wheel. Several seconds back Werner, Ortenblad and McGill formed a second chase group with three to go.

Baestaens and Brunner closed the distance to White on the long climb and then the trio were joined by McGill as the four riders raced through the finish with two to go and they held five seconds on chasers Ortenblad and Werner.

Brunner attacked to go solo forcing Baestaens to chase going into the final lap. He held four seconds on Baestaens, but the experienced Belgian reconnected with Brunner on the final climb.  

Baestaens worked his way into the lead through the technical section but Brunner passed him back on the straightaway. The Belgian surged through a corner and regained the lead on the last section of the circuit. 

Baestaens had a small lead over the flyover and onto the tarmac, and as Brunner sliding out, he took the victory in Baltimore. 

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