Curtis White's clinches solo win at men's Really Rad Festival of Cyclocross opener

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Jules van Kempen takes second in close-run sprint with Micheal van Den Ham

Men's elite podium on day 1 of the Really Rad Festival of Cyclocross: First Curtis White (Steve Tilford Foundation Racing), second Jules van Kempen (Cervelo / OrangeLiving), third Michael van den Ham (Giant-Easton)
Men's elite podium on day 1 of the Really Rad Festival of Cyclocross: First Curtis White (Steve Tilford Foundation Racing), second Jules van Kempen (Cervelo / OrangeLiving), third Michael van den Ham (Giant-Easton) (Image credit: Angela Dixon)
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Curtis White (Steve Tilford Foundation Racing) continued on with his winning form at the Really Rad Festival of Cyclocross, dropping the last of his rivals with a powerful acceleration halfway through the C1 race in Falmouth, Massachusetts.

The US national champion headed into the fourth round of the USCX Cyclocross Series without a win in the national series, but he was fresh from dual victories at Kings CX last weekend. He held that momentum, delivering a clear-cut solo victory again at the Cape Cod Fairgrounds in Falmouth, having plenty of time to celebrate before Jules van Kempen (Cervelo / OrangeLiving) claimed second in a tight sprint with Michael van den Ham (Giant-Easton).

White had been out the front of the race with Van den Ham up to the halfway point of the sandy race, but quickly created and held the gap as he put in a fierce acceleration that the Canadian cyclocross rider, who is in the final races of his professional career, just couldn't match.

"Mike had a good first couple of laps and we were able to get some separation and he helped drive the pace and help grow that gap to the riders behind," said White in the televised post-race interview with CXHAIRS Bill Schieken. "But I wanted to keep the pace high and I felt pretty good today so I just kept going with it."

Once away White's claim on the race never looked at risk, however, Van den Ham had a fight on his hands to maintain a podium spot. He was caught by a group including Van Kempen and Canadian U23 national champion Luke Valenti (Ecoflo Chronos). Valenti initially looked like he was going to put the other two into difficulty, but the fight for second ultimately came down to Van den Ham and Van Kempen.

“Last lap was the three of us and I was riding on the back and every corner I was trying to move up and they kept closing the door on me," said Van Kempen. "And then in the last wooded section, I got into second place, because I know from third you couldn’t really do much, and then was right on Van den Ham’s wheel coming into the finish and was just able to pip him on the line."

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Simone Giuliani
Simone Giuliani
Australia Editor

Simone is a degree-qualified journalist that has accumulated decades of wide-ranging experience while working across a variety of leading media organisations. She joined Cyclingnews as a Production Editor at the start of the 2021 season and has now moved into the role of Australia Editor. Previously she worked as a freelance writer, Australian Editor at Ella CyclingTips and as a correspondent for Reuters and Bloomberg. Cycling was initially purely a leisure pursuit for Simone, who started out as a business journalist, but in 2015 her career focus also shifted to the sport.

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