MASON, Ohio (VN) — Luna and BKCP-Powerplus both went one-two on Saturday at the Cincinnati Kings International Cyclocross.
In the women’s race, Katerina Nash took the win by 35 seconds over teammate Georgia Gould with Jasmin Achermann (Rapha-Focus) third at 55 seconds.
The men’s race saw a similar finale, with world champion Niels Albert taking the flowers nine seconds ahead of teammate Wietse Bosmans with Jeremy Powers (Rapha-Focus) third at 16 seconds.
Nash the flash
In the absence of Helen Wyman (Kona) and Katie Compton (Trek Cyclocross Collective), Nash took charge early, taking a five-second gap on the first lap and padding it throughout the race.
A chase group never materialized — Gould remained in second as Achermann clung to third.
Behind, Canadian Pepper Harlton (Juventus Cycling Club) and Meredith Miller (California Giant-Specialized) battled for fourth, a fight Harlton won.
All Albert, all the time
Like Nash, Albert took the front from the gun, forging a lead group with Bosmans, Vojtech Nipl (Czech National Team) and U.S. national champion Jonathan Page (ENGVT).
Within two laps, however, Albert rode away from the group, taking a nine-second advantage. At the halfway point, Powers — who found himself stuck in traffic early on —closed to within a few seconds of the three-man pursuit.
Nipl was first to fade, and Bosmans and Page dug hard. Behind, with three laps to go, Ryan Trebon (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) and Powers found Nipl and worked together on the soft climb to the pit.
A lap later, Bosmons shed Page, and Powers broke free of Trebon, slipping past Page to take the final step on the podium.