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Natasha Elliot (EMD Serono/Stevents) and Jonathon Page (Planet Bike) both won again on the second day of racing at the UCI C2 level event in Madison, Wisconsin. While Elliot’s win was a mirror like performance to her dominating ride on Saturday, it was Page’s victory over US Olympian Todd Wells (GT) that was the talk of the day. Spectators were treated to a high stakes duel between two of the best riders in the country over the last few laps before a final showdown on last time through the barrier section and run-up that ultimately gave Page the win.

After missing out on the major move of the day on Saturday with an unfortunate rolled tubular, Wells was able to take the hole shot in convincing fashion before being joined by Adam Bergman (Texas Roadhouse), Molly Cameron (Vanilla), Troy Wells (Clif-Bar), Bjorn Selander (Ridley) and Page. Also making the opening selection was 2007 National Champion Tim Johnson (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) who sat out Saturday after a bout with food poisoning.

As this elite group pulled away from the field it was Bergman who was the first to attack. He was able to get a good gap as Page and Todd Wells settled into a hot tempo behind. Through the barriers and the run-up it was all Bergman, but a crash at the end of the lap spoiled the day for the Minnesotan as Page escaped with the likes of Todd and Troy Wells. With the Wells duo in tow Page set the early pace and the race was on.

With the trio up the road a chase group of Cameron, Johnson, Selander and Mikael Muehler (Planet Bike) took up chase. Johnson seemed to be battling bad luck all weekend and went into the pit no less than three times for bike changes. The new bikes were enough to keep Johnson in play for the podium, but he eventually lost out to Muehler and Selander for the final placings.

As the race continued it became clear that Troy was not going to help Page chase down his older brother as Todd attacked with 6 laps to go and quickly amassed at 15 second gap. Yet, as the laps counted down it was Page that dropped the younger Wells and caught the elder for a three lap battle that culminated in a final showdown on the run-up. As the duo came into the barriers it was all Wells, but a fumble into the pedals gave Page the edge that was needed and victory was certain through the last kicker up to the finish line.

The women’s race was an almost identical race to yesterdays with Elliot’s dominating performance. The biggest difference was a strong third place finish for Anna Young (Planet Bike) who was able to overtake Saturday’s fourth place finisher Devon Haskel (Pony shop) at the line. Sarah Kerlin (Rock Lobster) once again finished in 2nd place with Kathy Sherwin (Velo Bella) rounding out the podium.

The top Minnesota finishers on the day were Maria Stewart (Velo Bella) and Linda Sone (Ridley) who finished in 7th and 8th respectively. Bergman finished just inside the top 10 with a 9th place finish. Once again it was all Dewey Dickey (Flanders) in the 40+ race as he destroyed all takers and made up the 30second wave start to the 30+ race except for 2 riders. Jordan Cullen (LSC) took home top honors once again in the 10-14 category and 2nd overall in the entire Juniors race.

*Stay tuned for more information from the weekend and exciting interviews with racers, fans and the long-awaited Paul Schoening vs. Super Rookie death match. It is going to be rad!