Hélène Clauzel took her second consecutive victory at the Virginia’s Blue Ridge Go Cross Cyclocross, winning Sunday’s C2 event with a 25-second lead. Held in Fallon Park, Roanoke, the French rider’s dominance mirrored her win from the previous day’s C1 race, as she built an early lead and never looked back.
From the start, reports showed that Clauzel surged ahead, putting a 12-second gap between herself and the chase group by the fourth lap. Sidney McGill and Caroline Mani, the same riders who finished second and third the previous day, attempted to close the gap, but it was Clauzel’s day once again. McGill, riding for Cervelo-Orange Living, couldn’t reel her in, finishing 25 seconds behind, while Mani, a further 54 seconds back, settled for third.
The French rider’s victory was sealed with a consistent pace over the final laps, her lead holding firm, leaving the rest of the field with no chance to respond. Clauzel’s back-to-back wins now extend her advantage in the USCX series.
Photo Credit: GettyOver in the men’s event, Andrew Strohmeyer also made it two wins from two, securing victory by 21 seconds in Sunday’s C2 race. Just as in the women’s race, the same podium from Saturday’s C1 race was repeated, with Strohmeyer holding off Kerry Werner and Marcis Shelton to extend his USCX lead.
The race saw an early attack from Scott Funston, who managed a slender one-second lead by the end of the second lap. This move sparked an immediate response from the main contenders, with Strohmeyer, Werner, Curtis White, and Jules Van Kempen all closing in. The group caught Funston by the end of the fourth lap, but Strohmeyer soon made his decisive move.
With a gap of 18 seconds over Werner, Strohmeyer looked secure, while the chasing group of Owen Brenneman, Shelton, and Funston were left further behind. By the time Strohmeyer crossed the line, he had stretched his lead to 21 seconds, marking a second win of the weekend for the CXD Trek Bikes rider.
2024 Women’s Virginia’s Blue Ridge Go Cross C2 result
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2024 Men’s Virginia’s Blue Ridge Go Cross C2 result
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Main photo credit: Getty
