Early weather reports called for a second day of rain, but it came and went early, allowing for a bit of sun, though not a whole lot of warmth; a different type of cross weather. There was no run up today, but the racers were routed to a long, paved climb that later transitioned to gravel; a longer version of the previous day’s climb. The sun turned sections of the course that were slick on Saturday into tacky mud and grass, which made for higher speeds, to the amazement of spectators.
Katerina Nash (Luna Pro Team) again went bell to bell with what seemed like an effortless ride. And once again, it was Raleigh Clement’s Caroline Mani who took up a solo chase, Elle Anderson (SRAM/Strava) also left to chase the leaders ahead of her with no help, she would eventually finish third. Behind her Washington native Courtenay McFadden (Rock Lobster/American Classics) and Canadian national champ Mical Dyck battled for fourth place, which seemed to be the most contested places for the day. At the front of the race Nash crossed the line 24 seconds ahead of Mani.
In the men’s race Logan Owen (California giant/Specialized) once again set the pace. Saturday’s winner went out hard and soon reduced the men’s field to a group of three, which included Jonathan Page (Page/Fuji Racing) and Zach McDonald (Streamline Insurance). The trio took turns at the front, and seemed to take turns attacking each other, but no one was able to make a true separation. Half way through the hour and six minutes of racing McDonald suffered a mechanical taking him out of the group. A lap latter Owen had dispatched Page, and rode to the line alone. Page ran out of gas on the last lap, which allowed Jamey Driscoll to overtake the former national champ, making day two’s podium a traced image of day before.
Hunt, Scope, Roval, DT Swiss, plus some you may not be familiar with, all run through our protocol in the Silverstone Sports Engineering Hub wind tunnel
