Steve Tilford

Cyclo-X Photos-Providence Nationals, Portland Nationals, UCI Kansas City

December 20, 2005 by Vincent 95 views

Providence Nationals 2006

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Portland Nationals

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UCI KLM Kansas City
Tilford wins with last lap surge

By Sean Weide

Steve Tilford (Verge/Shimano) pulled away from Alan Factory’s Matt Kelly on the second-to-last lap to win the elite men’s race at the inaugural KLM Marketing Solutions UCI Cyclo-Cross Race Saturday.

Kelly and Tilford traded the lead early on in the 60-minute event through a tree-lined course at Wyandotte County Park. But with four laps remaining, Kelly spun out and went down on a fast left-hand bend just before the straightaway that took competitors through spectator tents and some barriers. “Steve had 10 seconds or so on me so I thought I would take a risk to close it down,” Kelly said. “There were plenty of people watching, so I thought bunny-hopping the barriers would certainly give them something to see.”

Leading by 14 seconds with a lap to go, Tilford didn’t let up, pushing his lead over Kelly to a 1:22 advantage by the finish. The 45-year-old, five-time masters mountain bike world champion consistently averaged seven minute laps on the 2.7-kilometer course. “There was a lot of pedaling and not a lot of resting on this course, especially with the wind,” Tilford said. “Once Matt and I had a gap, he wasn’t in any rush to lead. But I needed some UCI points for nationals, so I decided to push the tempo.”

A biting north wind, which dropped the wind chill into single digits, took its toll on the rest of the 15-rider elite men’s field. Third-place finisher Brian Jensen of MaClaren-Bike Source, finished 2:42 behind Tilford. Jay Thomas of LBC/Highgear was fourth at 2:57.

“These two-day weekends when it’s only 30 degrees out really take a toll on old guys,” Tilford said. “I’ve got to race five races on Friday Saturday, Sunday, so it’s five cyclo-cross races in eight or nine days. So I’ve got to conserve my energy when I can.”

Kelly, the 1999 junior world cyclo-cross champion, said the race’s fast start wasn’t exactly to his liking. “I was praying for snow on the drive down here,” the Madison, WI, native said. “The course was good. The laps were really long, but I made the best of it.”