2008 Toronto Cyclo-Cross Race Report

North America's best 'cross racers arrived in Toronto for a weekend of true Northern fun.

Saturday's course clover-leafed the park, bringing racers back and forth to the finish area where the spectators gathered. After a warm dry week, the temperature dropped, the sky opened up and the storm brought the weather we'd expect for an exciting 'cross race. The technical conditions weeded out those without skills and split the races up early.

The women's race had Ottawa's Natasha Elliott(Stevens/EMD Sorono) taking the lead and holding it throughout the race. The slippery conditions certainly came into the mix as riders crashed in the mud puddles and struggled to ride the short climbs. Victoria's Dawn Anderson(Oak Bay Bikes), who was 4th at Canadian Nationals in October, passed Kristin Wentworth(Planet Bike) to take 2nd place.

While the Canadian women took the top two steps of the podium, the men's race had the Americans dominating. With US National champion Tim Johnson and his teammate Jeremy Powers riding for cyclocrossworld.com strong favourites, the question seemed to be who would be on the bottom step. Mike Garrigan(Jet Power) tried to answer that question early, as he was first to the boards chasing the promised prime cash. The early effort hurt though as Mike fell back to Johnson's wheel, and a crash slipped him out of contention. Johnson continued to lead the first part of the race until a crash forced him to switch positions with his teammate Powers. Seattle's espoir Nick Weighall had what seemed to be a breakthrough performance as he used his Wet Coast skills to hold his position steadily for 3rd place. The remaining races for points and cash were hard fought, with the number of bike changes taxing the water supply.

Sunday's course shared none of the previous day's course and used the entire height of the Centennial Park ski hill to take the racers up a spectator friendly course where spectators could watch everything from the comfort of the Cameron's Brewing beer area.

Day 2 had Natasha Elliott double up with another win. Rebecca Wellons(Ridley) went out for the early lead, but Elliott caught her up quickly in lap 2. Dawn Anderson followed, but the trio didn't last long as Elliott kept the pressure to unattach the other riders. Kristin Wentworth(Planet Bike) came through to lead the chase and finish second, but couldn't put a dent in Elliott's lead.

The men's race had Syracuse New York's Dan Timmerman take the hole-shot and lead the race for the first few laps, though quickly accompanied by Tim Johnson who's technical confidence on the descents allowed him to ride away. Riders' lungs were worked out as they were sent up, down and around. Southern Ontario's Andrew Watson(Norco) pleased the locals with a sixth place finish, getting in the mix with the best of the riders, and using his climbing prowess to steadily hold his position as others fell back. Meanwhile, the group chasing Johnson had several riders including Andy Jacques-Maynes and Matt Shriver, followed closely by Saturday's winner, Jeremy Powers, who put in an impressive last lap attack to pass his fellow chasers and finish solidly in second place behind Johnson.