Noble wins Gran Prix of Gloucester opener

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Maine’s Ellen Noble (Trek Factory Racing CX) took a commanding win for the Elite Women Saturday on the opening day of the Gran Prix of Gloucester, riding away solo for her seventh podium finish this ProCX season. Noble was victorious in dominant fashion, leading the race from start to finish. She finished the five-lap event in 46:28.

“Starting the race, it was still really slick,” Noble said. “It got super tacky by the end, but at the beginning it was really slippery. I wanted to be able to have my choice of lines and be able to dictate the pace, so I started hard. I was able to get a small lead and it felt good to just know that I had some wiggle room. I just wanted to leave it all out there.”

Erica Zaveta (Garneau-Easton p/b TLC), who was last on the ProCX podium as the winner both days at Nittany Lion Cross, raced to second place, 1:28 behind Noble. She had to whittle down a small group of riders later in the race.

“I feel like sometimes before the start it’s so nervous, that you have to get into the race before you can actually relax. So about two laps, I calmed down and then I just attacked the group and just rode good lines,” Zaveta said. “The key to this was not going too fast on just the fitness parts, so you are focused and smooth through all the technical parts. That’s what helped.”

Local favorite Crystal Anthony (Liv Cycling) fought hard in the 29-rider field to place third, 27 seconds behind Zaveta.

“I had a good start off the line, and then sort of got swarmed on the hill. My legs were not great today,” Anthony said. “Ellen had a really good jump on all of us. I was able to get a gap in the last lap, had enough of a gap to pull it off.”

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