North Carolina GP clean sweep for Ruby West

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Canadian Ruby West (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com) sealed a second consecutive win in the elite women's race. The podium was the same as the previous day with Lily Williams second and Hannah Arensman third.

A second day of racing at Jackson Park in western N.C. provided a change in surroundings and in course conditions. Early races at the Hunter Subaru North Carolina Grand Prix (NCGP) turned the frozen tundra into rutty mud for the elite riders vying for final points on the USA Cycling Professional Cyclocross (ProCX) calendar. The brown track provided a stark contrast to the white snow blanketing the trees and hills.

West was ranked 15th in the ProCX standings for elite women coming to NC, while top points would help her move into the top-12 for the year, or higher, she was focused on just beating Lily Williams (Pony Shop CX Team) to the line for a second day in a row.

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"It was a really strong battle with Lily (Williams)," said 18-year-old West, who would pick up her fourth consecutive win on Sunday. "It was a hard race for sure. I know I got a bit of a gap with one lap to go, and then I had a bit of a bobble on the 'W' part. I was trying to ride it, and I really screwed that up. So she came back to me. And as soon as she saw the gap closing I think that was her motivation. It was a bit of a hunt on the last lap. I’m really glad I could pull it off."

West and Williams would ride in tandem around the course for a second day. Williams, who is from nearby Asheville, would finish second for a second day, five seconds behind West. Third place was taken by 19-year-old N.C. rider Hannah Arensman (.A. King P/B BR’c), 14 seconds behind Williams. Her older sister, Allison, would finish fourth.

"I think the course was a little bit different than yesterday for sure," West noted. "The conditions throughout the race were changing. So it was one of those days when as soon as you started to get comfortable with the line, it was changing all around you. It was hard to find a groove out there. I think it was thawing as the race went on, and people were sliding more and more. It was just deteriorating as the race went on, and got more slippery."

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