Annemarie Worst wins elite women's C1 opener at Charm City Cross

Annemarie Worst (777) won the opening day at Charm City Cross taking a solo victory on a wet and muddy course in Baltimore. The Dutchwoman steadily built her winning lead to 1:10 as Caroline Mani (Alpha Groove) finished second and Raylyn Nuss (Steve Tilford Foundation) third.

"It took the first lap to find my lines and then I got better and better on every lap, but it was a hard lap," Worst said in a post-race interview. "It's all about the World Cup, last year I had jet lag, which is why I'm here earlier now. It's also good for me to practice in the mudd conditions. It's nice to train and practice with the lines."

The first two rounds of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup are held in Waterloo on October 9 and Fayetteville on October 16.

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.

Worst led the race into the opening lap and she put some pressure on the field through the chicane and over the stairs. A small mishap while in the lead, Worst slipped through an uphill and off-camber section that saw Sidney McGill (OneBike) take the lead followed by Caroline Mani (Alpha Groove), Austin Killips (Nice Bikes) and Erica Zaveta (PSCX Team) for a five-rider lead group.

On the second lap, Worst opened a gap on the long uphill section as Killips, Mani and McGill desperately tried to reduce the time. Worst continued to gain time through the technical sections, powering away from her rivals through the muddy straight sections.

At the start of the third lap, Worst had built a sizeable lead of 11 seconds on a chasing Mani while McGill was 19 seconds back and Killips 28 seconds back. Further back on course were Raylyn Nuss (Steve Tilford Foundation) and Hannah Arensman (Ignition) were both about 30 seconds.

With three laps to go, Worst looked to have the day's victory sealed but the battle for the remaining podium places were open as Mani tried to hold her second place on the course, and Nuss steadily moved ahead of Killips and McGill into third.

Worst soloed to victory with a 1:10 lead as Mani secured second place and Nuss in third. In the race for fourth, Killips crossed the line just ahead of McGill in fifth.

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