Parbo and Teal Solo to Victories Among their Fields

photo © Kenneth Hill / Light & Shadows Photography (all photos)

Focus Bicycles presents UCI Weekend – Kross-toberfest Day 1

Humid temperatures and morning rains brought some signs of mud to Southern California (SoCal) for the first UCI doubleheader weekend hosted there in two years. The mud was literally a giant pit along with a mixture of heavy grass that required a lot of power from racers. Day one brougth more than just exciting racing with a bike swap, morning trail run series and advocacy rides for cyclist.

Elite women:
Devon Haskell (Bike Station Aptos) went to the front from the start, along a long, left-curving road and into the grassy fields of Kross-toberfest. Previous SoCal resident Carolyn Popovich (PAValleys.com) was behind her. Popovich took the lead as Haskell crashed halfway through the first lap.

However, the women’s field was lined up and ready to attack as Teal Stetson-Lee (California Giant Berry Farms) and Barb Howe (Ibis) made their moves. Haskell was back on the bike quickly and back to the front group of five as they stayed together. This decisive early attack from Teal and Howe set a pace that separated the women’s peloton for good.

A chase group closely pursued the five leaders, but could not close the gap.

With two to go, Howe had a mishap in the mud and slipped, which caused her to lose contact with the front group while Stetson-Lee continued to smash the pace off the front and open her gap even more. In the end, it was Stetson-Lee to take the win with Haskel second, Sarah Maile (Ventana Bikes) third and Popovich fourth. Howe rounded out the top five.

Elite men;
It was tight racing from the start with some aggressive behavior as riders sprinted to the grassy fields elbow to elbow. Within the first quarter of a lap, multiple crashes caused tangles that created breaks in the peloton.

The first to take the lead was Chris Jones (Rapha-Focus) and by the end of lap one, his lead was almost 10 seconds. But, it wouldn’t stick as he unfortunately rolled his tire on lap two and dropped to around 15th. While the lead group took off, Jones rode his way back to the leaders to settle back in until the finish.

With two to go, the excitement grew as Joachim Parbo (Leopard Cycles) took the lead. He was racing smart – early on he sat in the group – but the week off from the USGP must have served his legs well, too, as Parbo opened a gap on the field.

It was close, but enough that the chase group of Sid Taberlay (Sho-Air), Tyler Wren (Boo Bicycles), Danny Summerhill (Garmin), Sean Babcock (kona) and Chris Shepard (Rocky Mountain) could not close.

Parbo took the final lap and relaxed a bit on his way to the line for the win. While Taberlay came hot out of the last barrier section, bunny-hopping his way off the group for second, Jones and Wren took third and fourth with an exciting sprint finish. Danny Summerhill, who unfortunately had a mishap in the last turn after the barriers, was able to hang on to round out the top five for the first day of Kross-toberfest racing.

Day two of racing is set for Sunday. It should be as exciting as day one with racing in cooler temperatures, drier conditions and a more technical course.