USGP Louisville weekend

Second weekend of USGP racing in Louisville had several Planet Bike riders making the trip to Kentucky. In attendance were Elites Mark LaLonde, Kaitie Antonneau, and Kristin Wentworth; Juniors Jordan Cullen, Sarah Huang, and Emma Swartz; and Masters Bob Downs and Greg Pautsch. Great racing by all! Tough competition faced the riders in all of the categories.

Most photos used in this post are thanks to the talented Lyne Lamoureux. Check out her website Podium in Sight for great coverage of cyclocross racing.

The course was flat and better suited to power riders with it's long straight stretches. Two days of rain leading up to the race made for a few muddy sections and soft ruts formed on several parts of the course. The rain stayed away for the weekend though and sun and seasonable temperatures greeted the riders both days.

On Saturday Emma was 1st in the Girls 10-14 and Sarah (who is 14!) was 3rd in the Womens 3/4. Jordan (not pictured - sorry!) easily won the Boys 15-16.

In the Mens 50+ Greg continued his USGP streak with another win. Bob, who had been out of the country for business all week, rode a strong race in the Mens 45+ and finished 9th.

In the Elite Womens race Kristin lost a sprint with Alison Sydor to take a solid 7th.

Kaitie picked off riders throughout the race and grabbed the last UCI point with a strong 10th.


In the Elite Mens race Mark battled on for 13th.


Saturday race reports - Podium in Sight, CX Magazine, Velonews

The Juniors again put on a strong show on Sunday with Jordan repeating his win.


Sarah moved up to win the womens 3/4 race.


And Emma racing strong to take 2nd.


In the Masters 55+ race Greg made it 4 USGP race wins in a row!

In the Elite Womens race Kristin was 8th


Kaitie took 10th after attacking a rider in the last quarter lap of the race.


In the Elite Mens race Mark improved on Saturday's performance and finished a strong 10th


Sunday race reports - Podium in Sight, CX Magazine, Velonews,

A great weekend of racing by all Planet Bike riders. Thanks to the support crew David Kohli and Jim Cullen!

Compton atop UCI rankings, Page in Europe

Katie Compton leads the UCI world rankings for Womens Elite Cyclocross racers. This is the first time an American (male or female) has ever led this prestigious competition. UCI rankings can be found here. Congrats to Katie on this huge accomplishment!

Jonathan Page has been racing the past few weeks in Europe and posting some solid results. Full reports can be found on his website

Results include:

10/17 Ardooie - 13th
10/18 Pizen World Cup - 13th
10/21 Nacht von Woerden - 7th
10/25 Koppenberg - 18th

Toronto UCI Races

Another great weekend of UCI racing for Team Planet Bike. James, Kaitie, Kristin, Linda, and Tristan headed up to Canada to participate in the C1 and C2 events in Toronto, Ontario. The races were well organized and unique courses greeted the riders each day. Sunny and cool weather kept conditions relatively clean and fast both days.

Saturday's course was situated on a ski hill and included a lot of elevation change each lap. In the womens race Natasha Elliot and Pepper Harlton shot off the front on the first lap with all three Planet Bike riders sitting in the top 10. Linda and Kristin both moved into the top 5 on the second lap as Elliot took the lead. photo thanks to Dave McElwaine photo thanks to Peter Kraiker

They both passed Harlton with just over a lap to go and went on to finish 2nd and 3rd, respectively. After battling some stomach issues Kaitie had a strong last lap and was able to pass 4 riders and finish an incredible 4th place. photo thanks to Peter Kraiker

photo thanks to Peter Kraiker

Womens Race Reports - Cyclingnews, Velonews, Cyclocross Magazine

Linda's postrace interview from Cyclingdirt

In the Mens event Tristan had a strong race and finished on the podium in 5th place. photo thanks to Dave McElwaine

A last row starting spot had James fighting through the field and he moved up to get both cash and UCI points by finishing 13th.

Men - Cyclingnews, Velonews, Cyclocross Magazine

Sunday's course was on the opposite side of the park and included more technical twists, turns, and ditches in addition to several short steep climbs. 17 year old Kaitie was the talk of the race riding into 2nd place with 2 laps to go. Looking incredibly strong and fluid on the course she was making up time on Elliot who went on to win by only 15 seconds. photo thanks to Dave McElwaine

Linda finished 4th with Kristin in 6th. Another strong showing for the Planet Bike women who were able to gather lots of UCI points this weekend.

Womens reports - Cyclingnews, Velonews, Cyclocross Magazine

Kaitie's postrace interview from Cyclingdirt

The Planet Bike men again had strong races as they moved up within the field and settled into the same finishing positions as Saturday. Tristan on the podium in 5th and James was 13th.

photo thanks to Peter Kraiker


Men - Cyclingnews, Velonews, Cyclocross Magazine

Thanks to everyone associated with putting on these great races! Also thanks to the great photographers at the event Jon Safka, Peter Kraiker, and Dave McElwaine. We had a blast meeting some really nice folks in Toronto and they have a cool cross scene there. Big thanks to Dave from Minneapolis who served as our mechanic and helped us out throughout the weekend. As always thanks to all of our great sponsors for helping make things happen so we can travel and race at events like these! Thanks to Planet Bike, Edge, Lazer, Ridley, TRP!

Triple Win for Compton in Ohio, Lalonde on Podium

Several Planet Bike riders headed to the Cincinnati area this past weekend for a rare opportunity to race three consecutive days of UCI events. Nearly 48 hours of rain leading up to the races caused the course for Friday to be slick and muddy. Staying upright through the numerous off camber sections proved difficult. Katie Compton was conservative on the first lap but put the jets on the remainder of the race and easily took the win.

Linda Sone took advantage of her strong technical skills and was in the hunt for third. Unable to outsprint Winfield, Linda took an impressive 4th place.

Kaitie Antonneau was riding in a solid 6th place before a snapped derailleur hanger forced her to abandon the race.
Kristin struggled in the sloppy mud but finished 11th.

Mark Lalonde rode a very strong race and finished in 4th.


Day 1 Reports - Cyclocross Magazine, Podium In Sight

Day 2
Elite Women
1st - Katie Compton

6th - Kaitie Antonneau

7th - Linda Sone

8th - Kristin Wentworth


Elite Men

3rd - Mark Lalonde

Day 2 Reports - Cyclocross Magazine, Podium in Sight

Day 3
Elite Women
1st - Katie Compton

6th - Kristin Wentworth

7th - Katie Antonneau

8th - Linda Sone


Elite men

Mark Lalonde - 7th


Day 3 Reports - Cyclocross Magazine, Podium in Sight


All the photos here are thanks to the wonderfully talented Lyne Lamoureux. Her photography and race reports are some of the best out there. Check out her website Podium in Sight. Huge thanks to her for being out there!

Compton wins in Italy, Page takes Gloucester #1

Katie Compton won the first World Cup race in Treviso, Italy on Sunday by nearly 30 seconds over her closest competitor. Taking control on the first lap, Katie demonstrated her dominance the entire race. The win puts Compton in the World Cup leaders jersey. The next race will be November 11 in Nommay, France.

World Cup reports
CX Magazine
Cyclingnews

Meanwhile back in the US Jonathan Page was racing in Gloucester, MA. Day 1 treated the riders to wet, muddy conditions and Page capitalized on his technical skills to win the race by nearly 2 minutes on Saturday. Day 2 was a drier course and a group of 4 riders emerged with Page the odd man out against three Cyclocrossworld.com riders - Jamey Driscoll, Tim Johnson, and Jeremy Powers. An unfortunate crash between Page and Johnson caused Page to have to chase after Johnson for the remaining 2 laps and he was unable to make up the time. He finished a strong 2nd place.

Gloucester Day 1 reports
CX Magazine
Cyclingnews

Gloucester Day 2 reports
Cyclingnews