Canadians Isabella Holmgren (Lidl-Trek) and Ian Ackert (Trek Future Racing) captured C2 sprint victories in respective elite women’s and elite men’s races at Thunder Cross in Missoula, Montana on Saturday.
Holmgren accelerated away from compatriot Sidney McGill to win the women’s six-lap race at Big Sky Park.
The Canadian duo took the top two spots while the US duo of Katie Clouse (Steve Tilford Foundation Racing) and Natalie Quinn (CCB p/b Levine Law Group) battled 30 seconds back on the final lap for the remaining spot on the podium. Clouse distanced Quinn by seven seconds on the twisting course to take third.
Ackert went head-to-head with Scott Funston (Cervelo Orange Living) for the majority of the eight-lap elite men’s race and narrowly defeated the US rider on the final stretch of pavement.
Curtis White (Steve Tilford Foundation Racing) used the final two laps to make inroads on Eric Brunner (Competitive Edge Racing) for third place, overtaking the four-time Pan-American champion by seconds at the finish line.
Overcast skies brought a little rain early on Saturday, with the sun and wind drying out the course for elite races in the afternoon, the opening day of a weekend doubleheader that brought an end to the Missoula Cyclocross Series. It was also the ninth stop on the USA Cycling Cyclocross National Series.
Thunder Cross C2 racing served as a tune-up for Sunday’s Pan-American Cyclocross Championships.
Results
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