Tanguy wins Fool's Good with record-setting time

Christian Tanguy (Fraser Cycling) and Betsy Shogren (Cannondale) won round six of the National Ultra Endurance (NUE) series at the Fool's Gold 100 in Georgia.

Tanguy blazed to his win in seven hours and 37 minutes, beating the course record of Jeremiah Bishop by two minutes. Cesar Grajales (Rock Racing) and Chris Eatough (Trek Co-op) finished second and third respectively.

Shogren defeated Brenda Simril (Motor Mile) and co-promoter Namrita O'Dea (Topeak-Ergon) in the women's race.

Racers rode a fast and dry course. Most racers clocked faster times than last year.

Men's race

Chris Eatough, Cesar Grajales, and Christian Tanguy emerged as leaders early in the men's race. On the first of two 50-mile laps, Eatough attacked.

"I wanted to make the race happen," said Eatough, "so I led alot on the first lap. I was trying to take advantage of my strength in the singletrack." He not only lead but also broke away from Tanguy and Grajales.

"I thought it was one of the tougher NUE courses. It's a continuous course, with no real easy sections for resting. It has lots of singletrack and climbing."

Grajales and Tanguy pulled back Eatough and the three approached the second and final lap together. Grajales was fastest through the 50-mile mark, where he took a handoff to re-stock his supplies, while Eatough and Tanguy stopped briefly to dig in their coolers.

Grajales led into the second lap with a 20-second gap, as the trio set in for a long, 10-mile climb.

"Both those guys are excellent climbers and used their strength to get away from me," said Eatough. "I started feeling the heat on that climb and had to settle in. Those two were off and out of sight."

Tanguy climbed well and eventually caught and passed Grajales and rode solo to the finish for a win and a record-setting time. Grajales was second. Eatough came in third.

Jeff Schalk sat out the race after some knagging knee pain following the Wilderness 101. Schalk presently leads the NUE series with three wins and a second place. Two more races remain, and the best for results for each racer are tallied for the overall standings.

Women's race

Betsy Shogren took off from the start and stayed ahead, riding alone, for the entire time. Behind her, Brenda Simril and Namrita O'dea and a few other women were initially together chasing in second place.

Eventually Simril proved stronger, assuming second spot in the race as she got away from O'Dea in third.

Shogren rode strongly throughout, and although Simril gained a bit on the second of two 50-mile laps, it wasn't enough to change the final standings.

"I was with her up until the first aid station. I kept her in sight until aid station 2," said O'Dea, who was co-promoting the event with her partner Eddie O'Dea in addition to chasing Simril in the race. "Then I came across two crashed riders and I stopped with both of them. I couldn't have just ridden past."

O'Dea also suffered a few mechanicals, but rode nonetheless into third place.

Results

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Christian Tanguy7:37:00
2Cesar Grajales0:09:00
3Chris Eatough0:19:00
4Jafer Beizer0:29:00
5Andy Gorski0:55:00
6Rob Lichtenwalner1:07:00
7Jason Murrell1:08:00
8Aaron Oakes1:26:00
9Andy Applegate1:27:00
10Ryan Heerschap2:01:00
11Steve Schwarz2:14:00
12Kristofer Karwisch2:34:00
13Lee Simril2:35:00
14Jon Dalman3:27:00
15Charley Rome3:42:00
16Jamie Ingalls3:49:00
17Scott Fast3:57:00
18Christian Baks3:58:00
19Corey Hubbard4:02:00
20Robert Toledano4:19:00
21Mike Pierce5:15:00
22Chris Guy5:48:00
DNFTodd HenneRow 22 - Cell 2
DNFDavid CookRow 23 - Cell 2
DNFAlan CanfieldRow 24 - Cell 2
DNFJonathan BrightwellRow 25 - Cell 2
DNFMark DonaghyRow 26 - Cell 2
DNFScott HodgesRow 27 - Cell 2
DNFMichael HoptonRow 28 - Cell 2
DNFMichael JamesRow 29 - Cell 2
DNFJason KinserRow 30 - Cell 2
DNFTed MatherRow 31 - Cell 2
DNFCharles MyrickRow 32 - Cell 2
DNFTrace NaborsRow 33 - Cell 2
DNFBarnaby PrendergastRow 34 - Cell 2
DNFPeter RajcaniRow 35 - Cell 2
DNFBob SimpsonRow 36 - Cell 2
DNFChristopher StanleyRow 37 - Cell 2
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Betsy Shogren9:51:00
2Brenda Simril0:21:00
3Namrita O'dea1:38:00
4Cynthia Fowler1:53:00
5Laureen Coffelt2:36:00
6Colleen Paine3:04:00
7Leah Ranney3:51:00
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Singlespeed
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Gerry Pflug8:20:00
2Gunnar Shogren0:26:00
3Roger Masse0:47:00
4Jason Morgan0:49:00
5David Hall0:52:00
6Rich Dillen1:05:00
7Mark Elsasser1:19:00
8Shane Schreihart1:23:00
9Dave Holmes1:30:00
10Russel Henderson2:08:00
11Alex Flood2:54:00
12Lee Neal3:11:00
13Tim Winters3:12:00
14Robi Johnston3:49:00
15Franklin Paine4:35:00
16Russell Sandidge4:52:00
DNFDavid BrophyRow 16 - Cell 2
DNFJonathan RobbinsRow 17 - Cell 2
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Master Men 50+
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Randy Kerr9:46:00
2John Williams0:57:00
3David Kelnberger1:12:00
DNFRobert McdonaldRow 3 - Cell 2
DNFJames WilsonRow 4 - Cell 2
DNFEd MccalleyRow 5 - Cell 2

Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*

Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets

After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59

Join now for unlimited access

Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Sue George is an editor at Cyclingnews.  She coordinates all of the site's mountain bike race coverage and assists with the road, 'cross and track coverage.

Latest on Cyclingnews