Day One

STAGE Fort Park in Gloucester, Massachusetts is home to one of the most historic and epic cyclocross races in the United States. Every year, crowds flock to the scenic park located right on the coast in the heart of town. This year, mother nature delivered a scorcher. With temperatures hovering around 80 degrees and not a drop of rain for weeks, riders battled the heat and the dusty conditions in addition to the stacked fields.

Saturday's lineup was strong, on the women's side there was CrossVegas winner Meredith Miller (Noosa Professional Cyclocross), British Champion Helen Wyman (Kona Factory Team), and former French national champion Caroline Mani (Raleigh/Clement) to name just a few. The dry, dusty course made for very fast racing and tactics often seen in road racing. A very unfortunate crash in the final lap took out Meredith Miller and Crystal Anthony. The race resulted in an exciting sprint finish.

For the Elite Men, on the start line was current US national champion Jeremy Powers (Rapha Focus), former national champions Jonathan Page (XcelLED) and Tim Johnson (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com) and promising up and comers like Stephen Hyde (JAM Fund/NCC) and Curtis White (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com). The men's race was full gas off the line and never let up, with attacks flying throughout, the first coming from Allen Krughoff (Noosa Professional Cyclocross). Jeremy Powers kept the pressure on throughout and came away with the win, leaving an exciting battle for the last two steps on the podium.

Day Two

THE Elite women's lineup was unfortunately missing Meredith Miller (Noosa Professional Cyclocross) after a bad crash Saturday which required stitches. Once again, the race played out fast and furious, with road race tactics often coming into play. Arley Kemmerer (PB2 Pro Cycling) showcased incredible racing, dominating the field most of the race. Within the final two laps, Caroline Mani (Raleigh/Clement) attacked and caught Kemmerer, resulting in an entirely different podium from Day one.

The Elite Men's race began again with Lukas Winterberg (MG-Cycling Team) attacking the field off the line and leaving the field to chase flat out behind. Jeremy Powers (Rapha Focus) caught and passed Winterberg, and held his lead to the finish line. The ride of the day went to Jamie Driscoll (Raleigh/Clement) who shattered the chase group with about three laps to go and powered through Winterberg to claim the second step on the podium.