Summerhill solos to stars-and-stripes

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Danny Summerhill (Garmin-Felt) won the Under 23 stars-and-stripes jersey at the US National Cyclo-Cross Championships held in Bend, Oregon. He claimed victory with a 23-second margin to second placed Chance Noble (California Giant Berry Farms) and nearly one minute ahead of third placed Luke Keough (Champion Systems).

Summerhill is a UCI Cyclo-cross Junior World Championships silver medallist, having finished second in 2007 in Hooglede-Gits, Belgium.

Chance Noble was pleased with his second place performance despite a mediocre third row start. “I really am pleased with this result,” Noble said. “I came in to this race with the expectation of a podium and I’m glad how it went. I’m glad that I could give Summerhill a run for his money.”

Some 50 young talents lined up to compete in the Under 23 race. Wintery temperatures glazed the tight cyclo-cross course with a layer of rain and ice just days prior the start of the championship event. However, the sun broke out on the morning of the Under 23 men’s race, creating damp and muddy conditions.

The list of front-row call ups included Summerhill, Zach McDonald (Stevens-Classic Cycles), Jerome Townsend (Bikereg.com-Joe’s Garage), Luke Keough (Champion Systems) and Dave Hackworthy (Plan C). Sitting further back in third row was runner-up Noble, who lacked the UCI points needed to secure a higher start position.

Noble admitted to being nervous about the impact his starting position could have on his performance. “Absolutely, but, I was able to push my way onto the second row a little before the start went off. I came through the front quickly,” he said.

Keough got the holeshot on to the slick grass with Summerhill and Noble in tow. The trio created a sizable lead following a first lap crash, when both McDonald and Eric Thompson went down, blocking the circuit’s opening technical corners while entangled with one another.

“Luke was driving it on the first lap, followed by Summerhill and me, and we had a gap right away,” Noble said. “We stayed together for a lap and half. There was gravel on the back stretch and Luke slid out and crashed pretty hard. From then on it was me and Summerhill.”

The two well-matched leaders completed the next four laps together. Summerhill was dominant over the long straights and Noble was savvy through the technical and muddy twists and turns.

“The whole course suited me well,” Noble said. “The conditions did too. I like that it was just muddy enough to make technical ability come into play. I didn’t have to change bikes today. The bikes weren’t clogging up at all because there was a lot of water spraying up from the ground.”

Summerhill increased his tempo through an off-camber corner, just fast enough to cause Noble to doubt his handling skills. He gained a slight advantage coming out of the turn and continued to power down the lengthy straights until his advantage grew to 25 seconds.

“With two laps to go he put the hammer down and I couldn’t quite hang,” Noble said. “My goal for the weekend to make podium and have a great start. After Luke crashed I felt I had the potential to win. Summerhill was the favorite so I was trying to make him do the more work and attack him through the technical sections.”

Noble pressed on hoping to gain some of the valuable seconds back before the finish line, however Summerhill proved to be the strongest man of the day winning by more than 20 seconds.

“In the last lap I was starting to pull him back a bit,” Noble said. “There was a lot of potential for mechanicals with the rocks out there. I kept the pressure on all the time and knew there were chances for him to fail because of the course. But he was strong.”

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