Grasshopper Series: Lamperti and Courtney take opening wins in California

California natives Kate Courtney and Luke Lamperti (Trinity Racing) claimed the opening victories for the 2022 Grasshopper Adventure Series at the Low Gap race on Saturday. 

The first round of the six-race adventure series in northern California covered 5,633 feet of climbing across 43 miles of mixed surfaces, the final 22 miles on dirt. 

Lamperti, the reigning US pro criterium national champion, completed his winning ride on his road bike, edging Brennan Wertz and Alex Wild at the downhill finish in a three-rider sprint.

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"Pretty hard at the first climb, then rode with a group of five until the dirt. From there, Alex [Wild] kind of took charge and just followed a bit and figured it out on the road tires," Lamperti said on the Grasshopper Series Instagram feed.

"The last descent it was two of us, and then Brennan [Wertz] came back at the end of the descent and there was a nice little sprint to the line."

On the women’s side, former mountain bike cross-country world champion Courtney finished in the top 20 overall for her women’s title. 

She sprinted across the finish line against Sandy Floren, who was third overall in the last Low Gap edition in 2020 and placed 17th this year. Maude Farrell finished second in the pro women’s category, 7:44 back, and Lauren Cantwell, who was second in 2020, was another seven minutes back for third.

"It was a blast. We had so much fun. It was just racing with all my friends, we had great groups all day. I like to finish hard," Courtney said about the push to the line against Floren.

The next round for the Grasshopper series will be February 27 in Maxwell, California, the longer route covering 88.8 miles and 4,800 feet of elevation gain.