Charm City Cross, day two: Noble doubles up, Driscoll powers to men's win

Jamey Driscoll (Pivot Cycles/Maxxis p/b Stan’s/DNA Cycling) and Ellen Noble (Trek Factory Racing CX) came away with victories on the second day of racing at Charm City Cross in Baltimore, Maryland.

After a muddy UCI C1-rated race on Saturday, the C2 event on day two was a hot affair with temperatures in the mid-80s Fahrenheit. That didn’t stop Ellen Noble from powering to her second win of the weekend.

Noble attacked early, with only Kaitie Keough (Cannondale p/b CyclocrossWorld) able to follow at first. By lap two, however, Noble had a small gap, and there was no looking back after that. Keough made a committed effort in pursuit of the lone leader, but Noble’s advantage only grew over the remainder of the race.

She took the win 13 seconds ahead of Keough.

“I’m really happy. I don’t remember the last time I have won two days in a row at a race,” Noble said. “So, this is really exciting to put together [wins] on two pretty different race conditions and race strategies. I’m feeling really good.”

Rebecca Fahringer (Kona Maxxis Shimano) bested Sunny Gilbert (Van Dessel Factory Team) for the final spot on the podium.

On the men’s side, Driscoll showed off both his engine and his patience en route to the win. Saturday’s winner Kerry Werner (Kona Maxxis Shimano) and Michael van den Ham (Garneau-Easton p/b Transitions) rode off the front after three of the eight total laps with various chasing groups behind. Curtis White (Cannondale p/b CyclocrossWorld) and Matthieu Boulo (Team Pays de Dinan) then joined them in the lead.

An attack by White put pressure on the the group, and with three and a half laps to go, it was just White and Werner at the head of the race. Van den Ham would drop back and eventually pull out of the race. Boulo continued to chase.

“Meanwhile, this whole time, Jamey was charging from about 10th place,” Werner said later.

Driscoll caught and passed Boulo with three to go, and continued to gain time on the two leaders. Werner attacked and left White behind with two laps to go. Half a lap later, Driscoll passed White, and then caught Werner on the last lap — and then dropped him too.

Driscoll went on to win with an 11-second margin over Werner, with White taking third 20 seconds back.

“Obviously, I’m very, very excited to take home the victory today,” Driscoll said. “I was just pleasantly surprised to see that I was close enough to Kerry and Curtis, who were leading all day. When I was actually able to make contact, I thought it was that mental edge going into the last lap or two.”