Anthony claims gruelling Granogue Cross

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Jesse Anthony (Cal Giant-Specialized) soloed to his first UCI win of the season at the Granogue Cross Expo held in Wilmington, Delaware. Justin Lindine (Bikereg.com) won a two-man sprint to the line for second place ahead of Adam McGrath (Feedback-VanDessel) in third.

“This is the first time I felt like a real bike racer this cross season,” said Anthony who recently completed in a lengthy road racing season. “I wasn’t planning on racing here this weekend because I was feeling tired. I took last weekend off and felt recovered enough in training to try to get a few more UCI points here. It is such a great event too.” The Granogue Cross course wrapped its way around the Dupont Estate grounds, offering two days of back-to-back racing on some of the toughest terrain in the country.

“There were lots of hills but it had a few less turns than in the past,” Anthony said. “There was a big hill, off camber corners, lots of woods and that really technical descent after the tower. I was able to ride the barriers going up the hill today and work on my bunny hopping.”

Anthony launched his winning move at the start of the second lap over a steep hill through the wooded single track on the first section of the circuit. He opened his lead further on the pavement leading into the steepest uphill topped by the Granogue Tower.

“Valentin took the hole shot and had a good start,” Anthony said. “He came with me and when we hit the pavement Lindine came with us and there were three of us at the front for a bit. I gave it a bit of gas part way through the second lap. From then on it was go, go go. I settled into a nice rhythm and held it all the way to the end.”

A chase group formed that included McGrath, Lindine and Swizerland’s Valentin Scherz (Cyfac-Champion System), who fell off Anthony’s quick pace in the opening laps. As Anthony rode in for the win, Lindine manoeuvred his way into a second place finish after he outpaced McGrath in a sprint to the line.

“The race seemed to flow really well this year,” Anthony said. “There were faster and more flowing corners and I really liked that because it was using more consistent power. The climbs were tough but I was able to ride them. I like this type of course and it was nice to finally get into a rhythm.”

The Granogue Cross Expo UCI C2 two-day event is a member of the Champion System Mid Atlantic Cyclo-cross (MAC) Series and attracted many of the talented east-coast ‘cross specialists. In previous years, it was a single day race traditionally followed by Wissahickon Cross.