Lindine triumphs at NBX Gran Prix of Cyclocross

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Justin Lindine (Redline-NBX) returned to New England this weekend and won the UCI C2-rated Elite Men's event at the NBX Gran Prix of Cyclocross in Warwick, RI in dominant fashion. Curtis White (Cannondale p/b CyclocrossWorld.com) fought all the way to the line to narrowly beat Mike Garrigan (Van Dessel/Shimano) for the second step on the podium.

As his 16-year-old sister did in the Elite Women's event, White assumed the lead of the men's event soon after the start with only Lindine able to join him. Behind the lead duo, Garrigan, Dan Timmerman (House Industries – Richard Sachs), Shawn Milne (Keough Cyclocross), Raphael Gagne (Rocky Mountain Factory), and Christian Favata (TRT Bicycles p/b Stan's NoTubes) tried in vain to make their way to the front.

Lindine soon took over the lead of the race and White fought hard to stay on his wheel as Lindine pushed the pace out of every corner on the course. Halfway into the eight-lap event, after closing numerous, small gaps, White lost contact with Lindine for the last time.

Lindine continued to ride consistent laps on his own and with a few laps remaining, he maintained a 15-second gap over White who was now faced with the threat of a hard-charging Garrigan.

As Lindine soloed onto victory ahead, Garrigan connected with White with a little more than one lap left in the race. Garrigan immediately attacked the youngster but White fought back to his wheel and they took the bell lap together.

Coming into the stone steps before the finish, White made an aggressive pass on the inside of Garrigan and took control in the fight for 2nd place. White continued to push the pace for the remainder of the lap and was able to hold off Garrigan for the second step on the podium, finishing 19 seconds behind the race winner, Lindine.

"I had to choose between racing on the west coast and racing on the east coast this weekend, and I chose the NBX Gran Prix because I still think New England has the best cyclo-cross scene in America," said Lindine after his win. "I put a lot of pressure on myself to win today because I knew I had a good chance," he continued, "but nothing's guaranteed."

When asked about his battle for 2nd place, White said, "I almost crashed us both coming into the steps, which I didn't want to do, but I knew I needed to be in front for the last section of the course, so I went for it."