Anderson wins Gateway Cross Cup Sunday edition

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Elle Anderson (California Giant-Specialized) out-foxed her breakaway companions on the second day of racing at the Gateway Cross Cup in St. Louis, Missouri, to win her fifth UCI race of the 2013-14 cyclo-cross season. After suffering several mishaps her last three races, including a flat at Saturday's race, Anderson was relieved to get the proverbial monkey off her back.

"When things happen like a flat tire, or a mechanical, or a crash, it definitely makes it not quite as fun," said Anderson about her recent streak of bad luck. "I was so excited to have a good race today, and have a blast doing it."

Gateway Cross Cup racers returned to Heman Park, located in St. Louis suburb University City, for their second event in less than 24 hours. As the temperatures climbed into the 60s, the dry conditions ensured another fast course, despite several new twists and turns that were added for the second day of racing.

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Amanda Miller (Team TIBCO), Elle Anderson, and Courtenay McFadden (Bicycle Blue Book-Rocklobster), separated from the field shortly into first lap. The trio formed at 16-second gap over the main chase group, which consisted of Mical Dyck (Stan's No Tubes) and Nicole Duke (Marin-Spy.) Anderson, Miller, and McFadden all spent time at the front driving the pace, testing each others limits, and distancing themselves from the chasers.

"In the middle of the race I felt like we sat up a little bit, and Mical Dyck and Nicole Duke where charging hard," Courtenay McFadden told Cyclingnews. "I decided to go to the front and push the pace a bit to get a bigger gap between us and them. I decided it was better to burn some matches, than it would be to get caught and have to battle with five women. I knew it would potentially hurt me in the end, which it did, but oh well."

McFadden dropped out of the lead group with under two laps to go, leaving it to Anderson and Miller to battle it out for the win. Going into the last lap Anderson washed out in one of the gravelly corners, and the foible enabled Miller to get a gap heading into the finish. Anderson was forced to chase after yet another untimely mishap.

"The last half a lap was really intense, because not only did I need to chase back onto Amanda's wheel, but I had to figure out how to win the race too," said Anderson. "The flyover was towards the end of the lap, and the finish line was about four turns away. I did a little crafty positioning to make sure I was first over the flyover. As soon as I got to the other side I pinned it, and sprinted as hard as I could."

Anderson held Miller off for the win, to take her fifth UCI race of the season. McFadden grabbed third, followed by Dyck in fourth, and Nicole Duke rounded out the podium in fifth.