Day 1 of the Hunter Subaru North Carolina Grand Prix presented by Liberty Bicycles saw Ben Berden (Ops Ale – Stoemper) claim the win in a two-man sprint.
The crisp temperatures and dry ground created a fast course that included a run-up ‘wall’, barriers and very long climb in the woods.
Berden stands in fourth place in the USICX and won the Boulder Cup (C1) earlier in November. Brian Matter (Team Geargrinder) stayed with Berden throughout the race but yielded the final sprint to the Belgian. Berden and Matter used the long climb to get away and stayed just out in front of the chasing Travis Livermon (Smart Stop/Mock Orange pb Ridley). Livermon’s third place made him the top North Carolina finisher.
Article continues below“That hill was difficult but not difficult enough to make a gap [over Matter]. I have a good sprint, so I waited for the sprint,” Berden said.
| 1 | Ben Berden (Bel) Ops Ale-Stoemper | 0:59:00 |
| 2 | Brian Matter (USA) Gear Grinder - Clif Bar | 0:00:01 |
| 3 | Travis Livermon (USA) SmartStop-Mock Orange Bikes p/b Ridley | 0:00:17 |
| 4 | Mike Garrigan (Can) Lapierre Canada | 0:00:38 |
| 5 | Mitchell Kersting (USA) Bob's Red Mill Cyclocross | 0:00:58 |
| 6 | Joseph Welsh (USA) Raleigh All Stars | Row 5 - Cell 2 |
| 7 | Jonathan Hamblen (USA) SmartStop-Mock Orange Bikes p/b Ridley | 0:00:59 |
| 8 | Ryan Knapp (USA) Bob's Red Mill Cyclocross | 0:01:13 |
| 9 | Adam Myerson (USA) SmartStop-Mock Orange Bikes p/b Ridley | 0:01:45 |
| 10 | Travis Woodruff (USA) Trek-Boulder/MomentumEndurance | 0:01:49 |
| 11 | Thomas Turner (USA) Jamis Factory Team | 0:01:55 |
| 12 | Robert Marion (USA) American Classic - Blue | 0:02:00 |
| 13 | Eric Muehl (USA) Industry Nine/ Highland Brewery | 0:02:03 |
| 14 | Andrew Reardon (USA) Bob's Red Mill Cyclocross | 0:02:16 |
| 15 | Nathaniel Ward (USA) Ken's Bike Shop | 0:02:34 |
| 16 | Greg Wittwer (USA) Alan North America Cycling Team | 0:03:00 |
| 17 | Charlie Storm (USA) Storm Racing Team | 0:03:17 |
| 18 | Bradford Perley (USA) | 0:03:30 |
| 19 | Justin Crawford (USA) Virginia Tech Cycling | 0:03:41 |
| 20 | Lucas Livermon (USA) Smartstop-MockOrange Bikes/Ridley | 0:03:48 |
| 21 | Jared Nieters (USA) Haymarket-Seavs Racing | 0:04:04 |
| 22 | Andy Baker (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling | 0:04:13 |
| 23 | Nathan Wyatt (USA) Carolina Fatz Cycling Center p/b Industry Nine | 0:04:20 |
| 24 | Shaun Adamson (Can) Cycle-Smart | 0:04:26 |
| 25 | Andrew Bailey (USA) MSG Cyclocross | 0:04:33 |
| 26 | Sondre Thorbergsen (Nor) Geox-Fuji Test Team | 0:04:46 |
| 27 | Shawn Harshman (USA) Boulder Cycle Sport | 0:05:06 |
| 28 | Noah Niwinski (USA) Carroll Composites Factory | 0:05:21 |
| 29 | Joshua Stevens (USA) Garneau Custom p/b Tyler's Tap Room | 0:05:26 |
| 30 | Nathan Pfeifer (USA) | 0:05:29 |
| 31 | Michael Koballa (USA) Back to Dirt | 0:06:03 |
| 32 | Alex Ryan (USA) Champion System-Cannondale | 0:06:12 |
| 33 | Jake Wells (USA) Stan's NoTubes Elite Cyclocross Team | 0:06:18 |
| 34 | Peter Haile (USA) Lees-McRae Cycling Team | 0:06:55 |
| 35 | Rob Moran (USA) SmartStop MOB Cx p/b Ridley | 0:07:15 |
| 36 | David Sagat (USA) Nouveau Velo Cycling Team | 0:07:45 |
| 37 | Lewis Gaffney (USA) Team FITaos | 0:08:09 |
| 38 | Benjamin Turits (USA) Garneau Custom p/b Powerbar | Row 37 - Cell 2 |
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