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KLM Marketing Solutions GP - C2
Wyandotte County Park, Kansas, December 4, 2005
Tilford wins with last lap surge
By Sean Weide
Steve Tilford (Verge/Shimano) pulled away from Alan Factory's Matt Kelly on the second-to-last lap to win the elite men's race at the inaugural KLM Marketing Solutions UCI Cyclo-Cross Race Saturday.
Kelly and Tilford traded the lead early on in the 60-minute event through a tree-lined course at Wyandotte County Park. But with four laps remaining, Kelly spun out and went down on a fast left-hand bend just before the straightaway that took competitors through spectator tents and some barriers. "Steve had 10 seconds or so on me so I thought I would take a risk to close it down," Kelly said. "There were plenty of people watching, so I thought bunny-hopping the barriers would certainly give them something to see."
Leading by 14 seconds with a lap to go, Tilford didn't let up, pushing his lead over Kelly to a 1:22 advantage by the finish. The 45-year-old, five-time masters mountain bike world champion consistently averaged seven minute laps on the 2.7-kilometer course. "There was a lot of pedaling and not a lot of resting on this course, especially with the wind," Tilford said. "Once Matt and I had a gap, he wasn't in any rush to lead. But I needed some UCI points for nationals, so I decided to push the tempo."
A biting north wind, which dropped the wind chill into single digits, took its toll on the rest of the 15-rider elite men's field. Third-place finisher Brian Jensen of MaClaren-Bike Source, finished 2:42 behind Tilford. Jay Thomas of LBC/Highgear was fourth at 2:57.
"These two-day weekends when it's only 30 degrees out really take a toll on old guys," Tilford said. "I've got to race five races on Friday Saturday, Sunday, so it's five cyclo-cross races in eight or nine days. So I've got to conserve my energy when I can."
Kelly, the 1999 junior world cyclo-cross champion, said the race's fast start wasn't exactly to his liking. "I was praying for snow on the drive down here," the Madison, WI, native said. "The course was good. The laps were really long, but I made the best of it."
In the 45-minute elite women's race, Catherine Walberg of Team Kenda Tire breezed to the victory over teammate, Jennnifer Tilley. Walberg, 43, had a 15-second gap after the opening lap and was never challenged. Other category winners at the KLM UCI Cyclo-Cross race were Mark Murawski (Men's B), Joseph Wasikowski (Men's C), Ethan Froese (Masters 35+), Masters 45+ (Tom Price) and Bjorn Selander (Juniors U19).
The Wyandotte County Park course will play host to the Kansas and Missouri State Cyclo-Cross Championship races Sunday.
Results
Elite men 1 Steve Tilford (Verge/Shimano) 2 Matt Kelly (Alan Factory) 3 Brian Jensen (Bikesource/Specialized/HRRC) 4 Jay Thomas (LBC/Highgear) 5 Tony Wilhelm (LBC/Highgear) 6 Whitey DeBroux (Primus Mootry) 7 Aaron Pool (Lincoln Plating Lemond) 8 Shadd Smith (Bikesource/Specialized/HRRC) 9 James Holmes (All9yards.com) 10 Joshua Johnson (Big Shark Racing) 11 Doug Plumer (Team X) 12 Bill Stolte (HRRC/Maclaren) 13 Sean Noonan (Irwin's/Toyota) 14 Kurt Refsnider (All9Yards.com) 15 Adam Mills (HRRC/Maclaren) Elite women 1 Catherine Walberg (Kenda Tires) 2 Jennifer Tilley (Free State Racing) 3 Trudi Rebsamen (Wheatland Cycling) 4 Pam Hinton (Columbia Bike Club) 5 Amy Strahan (Big Shark Racing) 6 Stacy Hallman (TREK Store of KC) 7 Theresa Jarzemkoski (Slimen Und Grossen) Tammy Meehan (Iowa City Cycling Club) Men B 1 Mark Murawski (Gateway Cycling Club) 2 Matt Tillinghast (LBC/Highgear) 3 Mark Nagy (Dogfish Racing Team) 4 Scot Van Asten (Alan Factory Team) 5 Chad Carpenter (Monkey Wrench Cycles) 6 Sam Rosenau (LBC/Highgear) 7 Cale McAninch (Ozark Cycling Club) 8 Thaddeus Neil (Team 14/Pedro's) 9 Scott Rendall (Mesa Cycles) 10 Jesse Petersen (Monkey Wrench Cycles) 11 Joseph Fox (Alan Factory Team) 12 Matthew Dawson (St. Louis Cycling Club) 13 Matt McKillip (EC Sunflower) 14 Lawrence Simonson (unattached) 15 Todd Davis (KCOI-Boulevard) 16 Mark Carey (unattached) 17 Derek Goerke (GP Velotek) 18 TJ Carmichael (LBC/Highgear) 19 David Grenda (St Louis Cycling Club) 20 Matt Gilhousen (unattached) 21 David Pitt (Slimenundgrossen) 22 Emery Dawson (Ozark Cycling Club) 23 Dennis Koscielski (Dogfish) 24 Tony Stanislav (Team X Cycling) 25 Ted Moore (Slimenundgrossen) Richard Breininger (MACK Paper Company Ltd.) Men C 1 Joseph Wasikowski (KU Cycling) 2 Matthew Speer (Ozark Cycling Club) 3 Sean Jackson (Team X Cycling) 4 Paul Mickelbart (unattached) 5 Todd Nelson (unattached) 6 Karl Jackson (unattached) 7 Jeremy Haynes (Cowtown Cycling) 8 Steve Culver (River Market Cyclery) Masters 35+ 1 Ethan Froese (Columbia Bike Club Race Team) 2 David Hejduk (Sycip Racing) 3 Mark Studnicki (Cow Town) 4 Stephen Songer (Team X) 5 Troy Krause (Cycling Club of Nebraska) 6 David White (KCOI/ Boulevard) 7 Keith Walberg (Velotek) 8 John Jones (Ozark Cycling Club) 9 Don Raskey (LBC/Highgear) 10 Jeff Unruh (Slimen und Grossen) 11 Darrell Bratton (Team Mack Racing) 12 Brian Williams (Team X) 13 Greg Rupp (KCOI/ Boulevard) 14 Craig Harding (BillyGoat Midwest) Junior U19 1 Bjorn Selander (Alan Factory) 2 John Purvis (Johnson Mechanical) 3 Adam Lang (Team X) 4 Nolan Froese (Columbia Bike Club Race Team) 5 Chase Williams (Team X) Masters 45+ 1 Thomas Price (CCN / Trek Store of Kansas City) 2 Kris Tilford (Wheatland) 3 Dag Selander (Alan Factory Team) 4 Dean Parker (Team X Cycling) 5 Mark Thomas (Slimen Und Grossen) 6 Randall Crist (Benson Bike Club) 7 Thom Leonard (KCBC) 8 Dan Hanson 9 Pedro Silva (Velo force) 10 Mike Berning (KCOI/Boulevard) Masters overall 1 Ethan Froese 2 Tom Price 3 David Hejduk 4 Mark Studnicki 5 Steve Songer 6 Kris Tilford 7 Day Salander 8 Dean Parker 9 Troy Krause 10 David White 11 Keith Walberg 12 John Jones 13 Don Raskey 14 Jeff Unruh 15 Mark Thomas
