Wyman completes sweep in Gloucester

Image 1 of 58

Helen Wyman (Kona) made it look easy today as she powered away from virtually the entire women's field to win even more impressively than she did on Saturday. Only Nicole Duke (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com) could keep Wyman in sight for most of the race, but had to settle for second place. Gabby Day (Renner Custom Cyclocross) bested the rest of the chasers to end her USA campaign with a third place finish.

The weather and a new course design played a major factor in today's racing. Rain had been off and on for 24 hours preceding the race, and started moderately in the middle of the women's race. Corners were slick, so pre-race choices about tires and tire pressures became critical.

Tom Stevens, legendary New England course designer, laid out a course that was quite different from Saturday's event. There was a new beach section and a completely new set of wooden steps was built up from the beach to an adjoining hillside. Racers reported that there were longer straight-aways and less sharp cornering.

Wyman got off to a reasonable start but both Andrea Smith (LadiesFirst Racing) and Laura Van Gilder (C3 p/b Mellow Mushroom) nosed her out. But within the first half lap, however, Wyman took the lead and never relinquished it.

At the first run-up Wyman took a ten-meter lead followed by Duke, Day and Smith. Smith and Day would spend much of the race locked in battle until an unfortunate crash by Smith cost her precious seconds. Day was noticeably faster on some of the turns. She commented after the race, "I'm all about cornering."

Wyman seemed thrilled with her victory. "It was good…far fewer corners, much more straights…much more to my liking," Wyman said. "There were places where you could just put the power down and the corners were more sweeping."

Throughout the weekend's racing Duke seemed faster than Wyman in the technical sections, while Wyman was clearly stronger on the straight-aways. Wyman admitted as much, remarking, "Nicole is awesome technically. The way she rode the side of that bank was unreal. Every time I hit a section longer than ten meters I just tried to go as hard as possible."

Wyman added, "I'm a roadie at heart and I'm rubbish at mountain biking so the more European the course the better."

Laura Van Gilder, French Champion Caroline Mani (CC Etupes), and Sally Annis (Crossresults.com) actively chased the leaders but could never really close down the sizeable gap.

Nicole Duke has been a brilliant off-season signing by the Cannondale team. While she has not yet won a major race, she is racking up a large number of podium appearances. The US Masters 35-39 national champion was impressive at times last year, but this season is racing at a noticeably higher level. She credits her new team for much of her success.

Most of the top American racers will now turn their attention to the USGP race in Fort Collins next weekend where Katie Compton (Rabobank-Giant) is expected to make her season debut. The race between her and Katerina Nash (Luna Pro Team) has been highly anticipated all season.

Full Results