Berden with another victory at Gateway Cross Cup

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Ben Berden (Raleigh-Clement) attacked midway through Sunday's Gateway Cross Cup to win his second consecutive UCI race of the weekend. Berden's wins at both days of the Gateway Cross Cup will give him 70 points in the US Pro CX series, pulling him within 10 points of series leader Jeremy Powers (Rapha-Focus).

The men's peloton lined up in beautiful fall conditions for the second day of racing being held at Heman Park, located just outside St. Louis in University City, Missouri. Zach McDonald (Rapha-Focus) led early in the race, and proceeded to trade the lead with several other riders including Robert Marion (Carpediem Racing), Michael Van Den Ham (Cycle-Smart), and Berden. The large group of riders would stay together until Berden's attack several laps into the race.

Feeling confident after his victory Saturday night, Berden made the winning move with six laps to go. "At the start line I was the only one with file treads. I was surprised with that," said Berden. "I took it easy the first two or three laps, and then tried to push it a little bit, and then got a gap right away. I pushed for two or three laps, and Zach was like 15 or 20 seconds, and that's when I laid off the gas. It was enough to win. "

Behind Berden, the lead group started to disintegrate, and McDonald was the only rider to respond. McDonald was making progress on catching Berden when he was informed that he was being disqualified for going through, rather than over, an awkwardly set-up barrier.

"They left a gap by the barriers, so I was riding through the gap, and jumping the second barrier," said McDonald. "Apparently they didn't like that so they tried to DQ me from the race, but I just kept riding. And then Heenan (Rapha-Focus Team Manager Mike Heenan) argued, a lot of people were arguing, because I didn't break any rule that I'm aware of, and they decided to let me keep racing."

While McDonald was allowed to continue riding, he was forced to run the barriers twice the next lap as a penalty. The penalty disrupted his chase, and McDonald lost the momentum that was carrying him closer to Berden.

Berden rode in relative ease the next two laps as he cruised to his second consecutive win of the weekend. McDonald followed 34 seconds later in second place, and Cody Kaiser (California Giant-Specialized) rounded out the podium in third.

Berden's wins in St. Louis will move him within 10 points of Jeremy Powers in the US Pro CX series. "I'm trying to make Jeremy Powers sweat a little bit," joked Berden. "But C1s count for triple points. It's a big difference, but small points also help."