Photo gallery: Thrills and spills as international CX season starts in Australia
It was a dry and dusty start to the season of mud and cowbells as one of the world’s most enthusiastic cyclocross newcomers, Australia, closed out its local season by opening up the international one.
The UCI C2-ranked Airport Toyota Melbourne Grand Prix of Cyclocross launched into its second year of international racing with a growing contingent of overseas riders. That contingent included the biggest name yet to race on Australian shores: 2016 junior world champion Jens Dekker.
The Dutch rider, with Australian family connections, may be just 19 and racing in the under 23s but there was no doubt he would be a powerful challenger. In the women’s race, Japanese national champion Miho Imai was in the mix, joining a contingent from the United States plus New Zealand’s unofficial national champion.
For the riders travelling from bigger cyclocross nations, racing CX in Australia is a chance to grab some valuable early-season points in the thinner fields. For locals — both fans and riders — it’s an opportunity to finish off a season that is out of sync with the heavy-hitting nations, with an entree into the bigger world of cyclocross.
“I learnt a lot from last year and then took that experience and really built on it in the States,” said New Zealand’s leading female rider Kim Hurst, who made it onto the podium both days. “To realise I’ve stepped up that bit is just fantastic and you can’t really do that without exposure to the depth and getting that experience racing women of equal caliber.”
In this gallery we bring you all the action from the steep descents, tight corners, steps, and sand of the Essendon Fields course, from behind the lens of the Melbourne Grand Prix of Cyclocross’ official race photographer, Ernesto Arriagada.
Saturday Elite Women: A speedy squid
The locals may have been incredibly accomodating to their international guests off the course, but they certainly weren’t going to give up any ground on it. South Australia’s Natalie Redmond (Ozriders-Cannondale-SRAM) hit the front early, seeming determined to make up for a less-than-ideal national championships two weeks earlier when she was knocked out of contention with a mechanical only moments into the race. Again, though, things weren’t running her way, with an unfortunate flip into the sandpit setting her back.
There was no stopping American Sammi Runnels (Squid), who knew she had it in her to take victory on this course after winning at the Essendon Fields venue last year. Runnels dug in early, pulling out a gap that just seemed to keep stretching. Imai (CO2 Bicycle) was on the chase but the Japanese champ couldn’t bridge the gap. In the meantime, the determined Kiwi Hurst was closing in to set up a scorching sprint for second place.
- Australia’s new national cyclocross champion April McDonough (Flanders-health.com.au) got to take the green and gold jersey out for a spin.
- It was a flying start for the local riders but Redmond took an early tumble, and then it was all about the international riders in the top three positions.
- Japanese champion Imai tried to chase down a charging Runnels.
- The rest of the field, including Runnels’ Squid teammate Emily Kachorek, were engaged in their own battles as they took on the steep climbs of the hillside course.
- But the gap was clear and no one could catch a charging Runnels.
- The battle was on for second though. New Zealand’s Hurst caught Imai right near the very end and then managed to overpower her with a scorching sprint.
- That fierce rivalry in the run to the line evaporated as soon as they crossed it. After the crowd-pleasing elation of an exciting battle, the pair fell together, exhausted, in a smiling heap.
- 1. Sammi Runnels, 2. Kim Hurst, 3. Miho Imai, 4. Natalie Redmond, 5. April McDonough
Saturday Elite Men: A flying lesson
At the start line, on an uncharacteristically dry and sunny Melbourne winter day, all eyes were on the two young Dutch riders in the field: 19-year-old Dekker and 23-year-old Gosse van der Meer. They may have been close to half the age of some of the top competitors, but no one was foolish enough to disregard the riders coming from a nation so steeped in generations of cyclocross history. Dekker made his mark early and just kept stretching out the lead thanks to his smooth lines, impressive acceleration, and clean runs through the obstacles. That was until he crashed.
To be fair, his gap was so big by that point that even a tumble wasn’t enough to look like threatening his lead. He rolled on to take a dominant win, while van der Meer powered his way into second. The green-and-gold-clad Chris Jongewaard (Flanders-health.com.au), who won his fourth national cyclocross title two weeks ago, was, fittingly, the first Australian rider across the line.
- Four-time Australian champion Chris Jongewaard went out the front early, determined to deliver a good race. “I was pretty motivated leading into it,” Jongewaard told CyclingTips. “I knew that the Euros were coming out. I wanted to give them a good run and the legs were pretty good up until Friday where I had a bit of a mishap, banged my leg and corked it.”
- It was a clean ride up the dusty climb out the front, but things got a little messier up the back.
- It wasn’t long before Dekker had stamped his authority on the race, with a gap that just seemed to keep growing as he smoothly worked his way around the course.
- But then things weren’t so smooth.
- Dekker was quick to grab his bike and get going again, and even as he rode on with a broken shifter the mishap barely seemed to make a dent in his gap on the rest of the field.
- There were plenty on the chase, including van der Meer, Jongewaard and a group that was being lead by U.S. rider Anthony Clark (Squid).
- Others were taking a moment to entertain the vocal and appreciative crowds.
- No need to look back for Dekker as he approached the line — no one else was even close.
- A Dutch one-two with van der Meer a comfortable second.
- Podium. 1. Jens Dekker, 2. Gosse van der Meer, 3. Chris Jongewaard, 4. Ben Walkerden, 5. Adrian Jackson.
Sunday Elite Women: A local on the chase
It was another flying start for Redmond, but again it wasn’t long before Runnels was out front with Imai on the chase. This time, though, Redmond didn’t have any mishaps to slow her down so before long she had pulled herself back to Imai and the pair jockeyed for position lap after lap until finally the elastic snapped.
Redmond was in second, and as she pulled away from the Japanese rider the gap to Runnels seemed to be closing in. It was a long shot, but the crowd and Redmond were fired up by the chance of a local win. With half a lap to go it looked like she be in with a chance of not only her best international result yet, but a victory as well.
- Another fast start for Redmond, with Hurst on her heels.
- Runnels wasn’t going to let Redmond get away. “I chased up to her and decided to attack early, because sometimes it’s a little easier early,” the U.S. based rider told CyclingTips. “People aren’t warmed up enough and you can get a gap and hold it.”
- Hurst was making the most of her mountain biking skills on the tricky downhill with a tight turn at the end. The New Zealander had delivered an impromptu master-class to nervous support riders in practice that morning, so she joked that she had no choice but to ride it well.
- Imai had also slipped past Redmond in the early stages, but the Australian kept playing to her strengths and caught back on. After laps of riding together Redmond got the upper hand and streaked away in pursuit of Runnels. “I wanted to keep going,” Redmond told CyclingTips. “We are racing for the win, we are not racing for second. Cross races aren’t over till the finish line … you can never sit up because anything could happen down to the last corner.”
- “I definitely saw and heard that the gap was closing a little and I was really trying to stay on the pedals because eight seconds is kind of a lot, but not that much,” said Runnels after claiming her second victory for the weekend. “You never know what’s going to happen especially on a slippery course.”
- Redmond was overjoyed to take second — her best international result — and secure Australia’s national cyclocross series in the process.
- Redmond and Hurst, regular rivals enjoying the last blast of the local season.
- 1. Sammi Runnels, 2. Natalie Redmond, 3. Miho Imai, 4. Kim Hurst, 5. Emily Kachorek
Sunday Men’s Elite: Double Dutch
As the men lined up again on Sunday to take on the course in reverse, there was no doubt that Dekker would be the rider to beat. Australia’s Jongewaard started hard, and was dicing with the Dutch rider but all it took was one little mistake and off Dekker went to build his formidable lead. But the tight competition wasn’t over for the Australian champion, first getting the upper hand in a battle with familiar rival Chris Aitken (Focus-Attaquer) and then taking on a charging van der Meer.
- Another determined start, with a strong push from Dekker and Jongewaard, but it wasn’t long until Dekker leapt out to the front again.
- “I didn’t really feel great today in pre-riding,” Dekker told CyclingTips. “I just tried to settle into a tempo but then I think Chris made a mistake somewhere and I just got a little bit of a gap and I just kept going. You can wait around and try to take in the last few laps but it is always safer to just be out front and be sure that you’re going to win even if you get a flat tyre.”
- Jongewaar dicing with regular rival Aitken, before pulling away.
- The mountain bike skills, experience and home town knowledge make Jongewaard a tough foe and he certainly wasn’t going to give ground easily. “I was trying to convince myself that I still had some form and that my leg was going to still work and that I still could produce some power out of my left leg,” he said.
- But van der Meer was on the charge using his finesse and form to recover from a less-than-ideal start and catch Jongewaard. With a wary eye on his experienced opponent, he eventually managed to pass and drop Jongewaard but it was far from easy. “He has a shitload of experience,” said van der Meer. “So there’s like a saying in the Netherlands and in Belgium, that they are like an old fox, he may lose his hair but not his [cunning] streak,” He’s won so many big races … those guys know every trick in the book.”
- Another clear win for Dekker.
- Two second places for van der Meer in two days. He had achieved his aim of getting big early season points to claw back ranking places after a hard crash at the Namur World Cup last season. “I came here for a lot of points and it went well,” he said. “I made a quick calculation yesterday and now I’m back in the top 100 UCI rankings,. Now I fly to China next week, because you can’t have enough points!”
- One of the crow favourites, Clark, squeezes onto the podium.
- 1. Jens Dekker, 2. Gosse van der Meer, 3. Chris Jongewaard, 4. Christopher Aitken, 5. Anthony Clark
The Melbourne Grand Prix of Cyclocross also counted as the final two rounds of Australia’s 2018 National Cyclocross Series, with overall honours going to Natalie Redmond and Chris Jongewaard.
You can find full results from the weekend’s racing here. For more information, head to the Melbourne Grand Prix of Cyclocross website.