Short Track XC - Sea Otter 2016
Short Track is not a discipline that exists on the World Cup circuit, so for racer heads across the pond, it's a bit of a mystery. In short, it's 20 or so minutes deep in the pain cave as racers go full gas on a short track. Depending on the length of the track, racers go 9-12 laps, plus 3, in a knock down drag out, winner take all kind of fat tire battle. It's pretty cool to watch because one can see all the moves. But it's no walk in the park for the racers; it's means going to the redline for 20 minutes of what amounts to pure cardiovascular pain. Anyone eking out a win in a short track race is not only fit, but genuinely knows how to suffer.
The XC racing may be done for the day, but by no means is the XC racing at Sea Otter over: the main event for the lycra clad racers will be tomorrow, with Sea Otter's Elite XC races taking place on the hills surrounding Laguna Seca Speedway at 10:30 and 12:00 PST respectively. And there are some big XC guns here at Sea Otter, so expect a bit of a show.
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 Presott, Arizona's Chloe Woodruff came out swinging on the first lap, making a statement as the field charged into to singletrack by claiming the hole shot. |
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| By lap two, Georgia Gould had the front, followed closely by Specialized's Lea Davison.But Woodruff was never far away. |
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| Catharine Pendrel is still recovering from injury, but the Canadian Luna rider fought during the whole race, and finished just a hair off the podium. Look for Pendrel to be in form when the World Cup starts. |
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| Mid way through the race, the blue Luna train took charge but with big guns like Lea Davison, Chloe Woodruff, and Erin Huck in the mix, they couldn't control the field, despite their numerical advantage. |
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| Erin Huck with a bit of pain face. |
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| As the Women's race wound down, it would come to a battle between these two: Georgia Gould and Chloe Woodruff. |
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| The moment it turned: 30 meters from the finish Chloe Woodruff came around Georgia Gould to take the win. |
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| Pure pain and exultation on Woodruff's face says it all. |
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| The Pro Women's Short Track Podium, L-R: Erin Huck (4). Georgia Gould (2), Chloe Woodruff (1) , Katerina Nash (3), Eva Lechnar (5). |
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| Redbull doesn't exactly give away helmets. And Specialized's 19 year old phenom, Simon Andreasson showed from the start that he's a new breed of racer, taking the hole shot into the singletrack portions of the Men's Short Track race. |
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| Felt Rider Nicola Rohrbach casually throwing some XC steeze into one of the few features on the Short Track. |
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| Not to be outdone, Andreasson took his whip off the same feature a bit further. Not bad on a high post bike in the middle of a race. |
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| Specialized worked hard to control the men's race, with Todd Wells and Andreasson keeping the pace high. |
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| The chase group never really had a chance; the front group simply had too much horsepower for them to bridge back up. |
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| Andreasson on the rivet with 3 laps to go. |
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| Geoff Kabush quietly sat in the lead bunch and played the patience card, gunning it hard with half a lap to go, and holding off Andreasson for the win. |
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| The Pro men's STX podium, L-R: Todd Wells (4), Simon Andreasson (2), Geoff Kabush (1), Stepjhen Ettinger (3), and Nicola Rohrbach (5). |
The XC racing may be done for the day, but by no means is the XC racing at Sea Otter over: the main event for the lycra clad racers will be tomorrow, with Sea Otter's Elite XC races taking place on the hills surrounding Laguna Seca Speedway at 10:30 and 12:00 PST respectively. And there are some big XC guns here at Sea Otter, so expect a bit of a show.
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And they did not win anything.
No other teams/brands are mentioned except for Luna, 1 time.
Why?
Winners were on Pivot and Scott bikes.
Rio olympics.
Peter Sagan racing his Specialized™ S-Works© Epic® WC℗ 29™ at World Cup in Cech Republic and Austria.