Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Niewiadoma, Roed cycle to Big Sugar victories
BENTONVILLE — A world champion dominated the elite women’s field and it took a photo finish to determine the elite men’s winner at Saturday’s Big Sugar Gravel cycling race.
Kasia Niewiadoma of Poland, who won the UCI world gravel title Oct. 8, attacked the field around 38 miles into the 104-mile race just past the first feed zone in Pineville, Mo. She quickly built a 40 second lead and never looked back, soloing to victory by 8 minutes, 47 seconds.
“I could definitely feel that I was climbing a lot today,” Niewiadoma said. “I didn’t expect that. The course was very relentless because I feel like there was never a time to rest.
“I felt that after the first half I was just climbing and descending, so I definitely had a mental breakdown like, ‘I just want to stop pedaling for one second.’ But there was always something. Anytime we would go down, it was quite technical, so I felt like I was kind of tense and it was still hard to relax. Definitely very brutal.
“To be honest, the last five kilometers, I was like, ‘Never again.’ It’s super hard, but I feel like always after winning and after a big sufferfest, it feels so satisfying that you want more.”
Lauren De Crescenzo, who closed the gap to around two minutes with 30 miles to go, finished second. Anna Hicks finished third after pulling away from defending Big Sugar champion Paige Onweller after the final climb.
In the men’s race, Torbjorn Roed nipped Brendan Johnston at the line in a sprint finish.
John Borstelmann spent the majority of the day off the front of the field. He was caught by a group of six with 20 miles to go and ended up finishing sixth.
Alexey Vermeulen, who found himself chasing after a flat tire at mile 55, eventually caught on with former WorldTour pros Alex Howes and Lachlan Morton.
“It was the best possible group to roll with,” Vermeulen said. “They were smooth and on it all day, and I knew those guys might play games up front.”
The three riders latched back onto the front group when it slowed heading into the final few miles.
Big Sugar also serves as the finale of the year-long Life Time Grand Prix. Winners of the Grand Prix were already locked in prior to the race. The winners just had to start the race to claim their victories.
Keegan Swenson won the men’s Grand Prix behind four victories to start the series.
Vermeulen finished second after two wins in the series. Cole Paton finished third despite no Grand Prix wins, but consistent results.
Sofia Gomez Villafane is the women’s Grand Prix winner, also winning the first four races of the season. She was in the front group of Big Sugar early on, but after two hours of racing, decided to enjoy the rest of the ride with the Grand Prix win in the bag.
Alexis Skarda, who was seventh in Big Sugar, finished second in the Grand Prix. She didn’t win any races this season, but finished second three times. Haley Smith wrapped up third place in the Grand Prix with a couple third place finishes throughout the season. She finished sixth in Big Sugar.