Ellen Noble (Trek Factory Racing) extended her lead in the USA Cycling ProCX series, winning the UCI C1-ranked CincyCX race in Kingswood Park on Saturday.
The American rode away on the first lap and, although Katerina Nash (Clif Pro Cycling) stayed with her for two laps, Noble was superior in the slick, muddy conditions and soloed away to take the win.
"I didn't have a super crazy strategy today," Noble said. "Sometimes I think I plan more than others but I was able to find my pedal immediately at the start and I noticed that I had a little bit of a gap and I wasn't going to give that up. As a naturally strong starter, I let that play to my advantage.
"Once I got a gap, I tried to keep the pressure strong but I didn't want to go too deep in the red because that's when you start to make mistakes."
Noble was reminded of that on lap three, she says. "I think I realized that I started to lose focus on lap three and I completely forgot that this one section existed and I totally took the wrong line. So after that one point, I was like 'you just need to focus, just stop making mistakes'. I was going with the flow and I think I relaxed into the technicality of the course a lot. I was comfortable, I was control drifting rather than trying to fight it. I think with that, that was the change that I need to make."
Noble finished with a 37-second gap on Nash, with Kaitlin Keough (Cannondale p/b CyclocrossWorld) in third almost two minutes behind the winner.
"I had a good start, sliding in second I think. Ellen [Noble] just rode away on the first lap, and I just wasn't on that level today but trusting my process I guess and we have another day tomorrow," Keough stated.
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"I just traveled from Switzerland on Monday and I'm focusing on the World Cup Series, just a lot of traveling but that's what it is. Today was good. Again I wasn't on the level but third is good, podium is always good, right?"
