Nash doubles up at Cycle-Smart International

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Katerina Nash (Luna Pro Team) soloed to her second consecutive win during round two of the Cycle Smart International held at Look Park in Northampton, Massachusetts. Laura Van Gilder (C3-Mellow Mushroom) dominated the sprint for second place ahead of Sally Annis (Crossresults.com-JRA Cycles) in third.

“It was good to do a few clinics here this weekend, give back and share some things that I have learned over the years,” said Nash who led several cyclo-cross clinics held in conjunction with the two UCI events this weekend. “To top it off with two wins is a really good weekend for me.”

The event marked round six of the Shimano New England Professional Cyclo-cross series. Van Gilder successfully maintained her lead in the overall series standings heading into the final weekend of racing at the NBX GP1 and 2 held from December 3-4 in Warwick, Rhode Island.

Race organizers revised the course slightly compared to the previous day with a double sand pit and one less run up. “We went opposite directions in some sections, it was broken down a little bit more,” Nash said. “I felt better on the course than yesterday and I was taking better lines today.”

“We were rerouted in a few places and we did a double sand pit,” Van Gilder said. “I think there were more turns today. There was one less run up and the course felt like it had a little more moisture on it.”

Nash showed no signs of weakness on course despite leading two Luna Pro Team cyclo-cross clinics and winning the previous day’s UCI Elite women’s race. Her competitors included Van Gilder, who led the race for the first lap, and Annis along with Andrea Smith and Crystal Anthony (LadiesFirst Racing), Nicole Thiemann and Carolyn Popovic (Team CF), Arley Kremmerer (C3-Athletes Serving Athletes) and Maureen Bruno Roy (Bob’s Red Mill), among others.

“We were all together and I led the first lap,” Van Gilder said. “She passed me in the sand pit and I was on her wheel. I had a slip and managed to get stuck in some of the fencing. She had about two seconds on me at that point, which grew into about eight seconds as we were chasing as a group and it never really came down after that.”

Nash opened up a sizable lead at the start of the second lap and rode flawlessly round the course on each subsequent lap, on her way to her second consecutive win at the finish line. “I felt better today,” Nash said. “I was a little more warmed up, but both days were really good. I came out of the sand pit in first place at the beginning of the second lap and increased my lead from there.”

In a similar fashion to the previous day, the race for second was between a chase group of four that included Van Gilder and Annis along with Smith and Bruno Roy. Van Gilder and Annis made it to the finish straightaway together in what turned out to be a heated two-up sprint to the line won by Van Gilder.

“Sally and I were working at the front to keep the gap to our chasers,” Van Gilder said. “We weren’t working as hard to bring Katerina back because not everyone was contributing. All four of us came to the sprint together. I attacked the group after the pits and took the lead. I led onto the pavement and pulled away from the group in the sprint.”