Nuss retains UCI Pan-American Cyclo-cross Championships Elite Women’s title
McGill claims second, Rochette rounds out podium.
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Raylyn Nuss (Steve Tilford Foundation Racing) dominated the Pan-American Cyclo-cross Championships for the second year in a row in Falmouth, Massachusetts this Friday, claiming the Pan-Am jersey ahead of multi-time Canadian cyclocross champion Sidney McGill (OneBike Racing) and former Pan-Am winner Maghalie Rochette (Specialized/Feedback Sports).
Greeted by warm weather and partly sunny skies, the coastal weather at Cape Cod cooperated for the UCI Pan-American Championships, which saw 23 elite women take the start of the opening championship event to the Really Rad Festival of Cyclocross weekend, part of the USCX Series.
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After the pop of the starting gun, McGill immediately took the holeshot ahead of Rochette, Nuss and Caitlin Bernstein (nice bikes), with teammate Austin Killips (nice bikes) not far behind.
On lap 2, Nuss launched the first attack, and quickly gained an advantage of almost 10 seconds on rivals McGill and Rochette. The 31-year-old reigning Pan-Am champion continued to hold her lead over her two chasers until lap 4, when McGill and Killips bridged across while Rochette faded behind by 15 seconds.
Nuss once again powered off the front on the technical course, gaining a small advantage on the same chasers, while Rochette crawled back into contention a lap later, joining a small chase group that included Killips and McGill. The chasers lost contact with each other in the finale, with each rider crossing the line several seconds apart.
Nuss claimed victory for the second year in a row with a time of 48:02 over six laps. The Steve Tilford Foundation rider finished 13 seconds ahead of McGill, while Rochette came across the line 26 seconds back.