Caroline Mani wins second day at North Carolina Grand Prix

Caroline Mani (Alpha Bicycle Co-Groove Silverthorne) won day two of the elite women’s C2 races at Hunter Subaru North Carolina Grand Prix in Hendersonville. 

Lauren Zoerner (Alpha Alpha Bicycle Co-Groove Silverthorne) secured second place by outsprinting Hannah Arensman (Ignition p/b Rigd-Leitner), who moved onto the final step of the podium from a fourth-place finish on Saturday.

The weekend of UCI C2 races at Jackson Park were part of the North Carolina Cyclo-Cross Series, and the final events in USA Cycling’s Professional Cyclocross Calendar (ProCX). Mani came into the weekend as the ProCX women’s leader and the second place on Saturday combined with Sunday’s victory should secure the title for the French rider.

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Sunday’s contest saw riders drafting off one another to escape the winds on the open parts of the course at Jackson Park, which wound through the woods and onto sections of grass and dirt. Absent from the start line was Saturday’s winner Jolanda Neff (Trek Factory Racing), who traveled to South Carolina to compete in a mountain bike enduro event.

That left the three riders who followed Neff on Saturday to battle for podium spots on Sunday. The trio hit full speed right away and separated from the rest of the field after the first of five laps. It stayed close until the final circuit.

“Into the last lap Caroline just put in a dig and it kind of yo-yo’d me off. Lauren was behind me and we couldn’t bring that gap back,” Arensman explained afterwards. “And Lauren being Caroline’s teammate, I knew she wasn’t going to help me close down the gap. So I was left with one of two choices – drop Lauren or work with Lauren. And I couldn’t seem to drop her. She’s a really strong rider.”

On the grassy downhill on that final lap, Zoerner attacked and Arensman slid out during the chase losing control of her back wheel. “I came to a complete halt, had to get back on the bike.” She brought back some of the lost time and kept her adversary in sight, but could only close to two seconds so was left with the final podium position.