2017 Speed of Light WorldTour: #YOUTH Movement Dominates

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The future of TC cycling arrived in style last night, with the bulk of the top ten made up of Juniors, and Junior/miniSOL heating up! Even WorldTour leader John O’Hearn couldn’t wrangle all the rug rats Thursday night. On what became Cyclocross/Ladies/Vintage Night, it was more of a Kid’s Night than anything else. It was apparent early that the kids were feeling alright, and the first selection over the CC Climb was nearly all under 18. Here’s a quick list of things they could be doing so the old people don’t feel bad about themselves:

-Summer job
-Summer School
-Snapchatting
-Learning Mandarin
-Reading to the blind
-Reading to the elderly (like books on tape, but LIVE!)
-Hanging out at the mall
-Buying $1 coffees and bugging Kickbush at Brew

Tim Coffey was the first to make a move aboard his Kona Private Jake, with a flotilla of chasers breaking up in pursuit. On the last roller to the bench, Braiden Voss pounced, erasing the gap and bridging with Garrett Jenema doggedly attached to his wheel. Their styles are a study in contrast; Voss’ standing, bouncing, spirited climbing next to Jenema’s crouched and seating grind. They proved equally effective, however, pulling clear with Jason Johnson and O’Hearn and leaving a calm but distanced Tim Coffey just behind Cody Sovis, who looked a bit like lukewarm tuna on a night he would have expected to contend.

Sovis drew on his (relative) old man strength to drag himself and Coffey back into touch on the Power Section, and gamely went to the front to keep the pace steady. That was dumb, and when Voss coiled up and attacked again, it was Jenema and O’Hearn to make bridge, with Sovis and Coffey now relying on Jason Johnson to bring them back.

Voss and Jenema provided all of the firepower, with the CX mounted O’Hearn waiting in the wheels. He finally unleashed his WorldTour leading legs just before the chasers caught up, damning them to scrambling to the line solo.

Voss nipped it for a historic stage win, the youngest rider ever. He and Jenema also ensured O’Hearn has all but wrapped up the WorldTour title, barring some disaster. Now, he’ll turn his sights on taking the Giro-Tour double when Stage One takes off next week.

Lauri Brockmiller gets the Ladies’ Night win on the heels of a flying ride from Jon Zelinski. Brockmiller survived the early salvos to find a steady group to stick with, putting down a 40:24 for the night. Emma Schwab, Kasey Wierzba, and Shannon Kochis were next through for the women, all tightly packed in the 44 minute range.

Now, it’s all eyes for the biggest Grand Tour of the season. We’ll have a full Tour preview next week, including a look at each stage, the top favorites for overall glory, and a special look at the Queen Stage, the infamous two-lap SOL that happens just once a season.

And now, Peter Worden with the Junior/miniSOL write-up, in Comic Sans, just to bug me. 

Not one of the kiddos chose to ride a cyclo-cross bike or wear retro clothing to earn double points — not one.  Though, Porter Kochis came close to going sort-of retro with his older sister Sophia’s hand me down bike.  Otherwise it was all 29ers with disc brakes and the latest in spandex technology for the tiny set.  Why Moses Coco was even heard to ask “How many bikes does one person need, anyway?”  You just wait, Moses — you’ll learn soon enough.

The biggest buzz at the start line was the apparent defection of the Stuart brothers, Caden and Stuart, from Brick Wheels to Norte.  Caden lost no time in flying the flag for Team Orange, going from a DNF due to illness two weeks ago into a blistering first place performance — all the while wearing pajama pants.  We’re not kidding, pajama pants!  Liam Wierzba was not far behind in second, with his Sutton’s Bay Bikes teammate Hayden Murray just seconds behind in third place.  Their teammate Chick Cullen also put in a strong performance.  The SBB boys have been consistently among the strongest MSOL contenders this year, and the season is still young — they are only going to get faster.

Sander Stuart came in 4th, and Moses Coco in his first ever miniSOL appearance broke loose with some of his Norte Ninja skills to round out the top 5.  The Kochis siblings also made their long-awaited return to the fold, along with Norte’s Rocco Elkins.  And Adrian Edson rode his first bike race ever!!

Liam remains in first place in season WorldTour points at 54, followed closely by his teammate Hayden with 50 points — proving that showing up every Thursday and staying consistent pays off in the long run.

Here are the full evening results and season points for MiniSOL:

 

June 29, 2017 miniSOL results — CX Night
           
Place Name Team Age Time Points
1 Caden Stuart Norte 12 0:29:34 20
2 Liam Wierzba Sutton’s Bay Bikes 8 0:32:31 18
3 Hayden Murray Sutton’s Bay Bikes 9 0:32:34 16
4 Sander Stuart Independent 10 0:34:15 14
5 Rocco Elkins Norte 9 0:40:12 12
6 Moses Coco Norte 10 0:40:17 10
7 Porter Kochis Independent 7 0:49:40 8
8 Cullen Chick Sutton’s Bay Bikes 6 0:51:47 6
9 Sophia Kochis Independent 9 0:59:50 4
10 Adrian Edson Independent 8 1:03:24 2
 

 

 

Name 6.8.17 6.15.17 6.29.17 Season Total
Wierzba Liam 17 19 18 54
Murray Hayden 16 18 16 50
Stuart Sander 14 17 14 45
Stuart Caden 15 0 20 35
Ellis Grady 18 14 32
Chick Cullen 15 6 21
Jordan Max 0 20 20
Miller Colin 20 0 20
Howard Gabe 19 19
O’Hearn Max 16 16
Jenema Riley 13 13
Reid Rachel 13 13
O’Hearn Jack 12 12
Elkins Rocco 12 12
O’Hearn Calvin 10 10
Coco Moses 10 10
Kochis Porter 8 8
Kochis Sophia 4 4
Edson Adrian 2 2
Cici 0


JuniorSOL

Norte’s Julian Hilt continued to dominate this event, again taking the W and assuming a commanding lead in the WorldTour points with a total of 40.  But Hagerty’s Griffin Schwab was again not far behind, this time taking second place and preventing a Norte sweep of the podium which was rounded out by Norte’s William Haapala in 3rd.  Hagerty’s Ashton Edson, the reigning miniSOL World Champion and riding the full junior course for the first time, and Peter “P3” Worden, III rode together to finish 4th and 5th respectively.

Full juniorSOL results and season points standing are below:

June 29 2017 JuniorSOL results — CX Night
           
Place Name Team Age Time Points
1 Julian Hilt Norte 14 0:50:14 20
2 Griffin Schwab Hagerty 11 0:51:12 18
3 William Haapala Norte 13 0:52:10 16
4 Ashton Edson Hagerty 14 0:52:14 14
5 Peter Worden, III Hagerty 14 0:52:15 12
6 Drew Humphrey Norte 13 0:58:40 10
7 Matthew Zoutendam McLain’s 12 1:03:10 8
8 Carter DeBruyn Norte 12 1:03:27 6
9 Max Jordan Hagerty 14 1:29:20 4


 

 

Name 6.15.17 6.29.17 Season Total
Hilt Julian 20 20 40
Schwab Griffin 18 18 36
Haapala William 15 16 31
Worden III Peter 14 12 26
Humphrey Drew 13 10 23
Madion Nate 19 19
Schmidt Carter 17 17
Unger Will 16 16
Bogard Fisher 12 12
Edson Ashton 14 14
Cummins Drew 11 11
Hochstetler Jonah 10 10
Zoutendam Matthew 8 8
DeBruyn Carter 6 6
Jordan Max 4 4

 

Many thanks to volunteers Laura Webb, Marie Voss, Heather Jordan, and Todd Vigland for all their help last night!

 

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