Gran Prix of Gloucester/
ECV Cyclocross History

The First Year - 1999

Host club ECV has a strong cross tradition influenced by Stu Thorne who had been racing cross in the 80's with the likes of Paul Curley and Tom Stevens. ECV cross practice sessions have going on annually since about 1996. After tossing around the idea of a cross race at Stage Fort Park for about two years, ECV got the City of Gloucester's blessing and decided to hold the race in early October. While New England was known as a hotbed of American cross, attendence at races peaked sharply in October. With the exceptions of classic races such as Palmer, UMASS and Putney, November and December saw a sharp decrease in riders. With the city prefering an October race and ECV hoping for good spectator turnout, we set up for an early October race.

On 16 October 1999, the first edition of the Gloucester ECV Cyclocross Race was held on a bright, warm day with blustery winds. Two hundred and twenty-two racers competed with local favorite Tim Johnson taking the elite men's race over second place Tobias Nestle of Germany. Jen Dial won the women's event.

1999 Race Results
1999 Photos by Mark Abramson

Johnson Repeats - 2000

The second edition, held on 15 October 2000 on a mild fall day, saw a slight increase in the number of racers (265). This race was also the start of a trend that saw riders from outside of New England compete. Tim Johnson (in his first season with Saturn) took the Elite men's race (and is so far the only rider to win this event twice). Tim's teammate Mark McCormack and the 1999 silver medalist Tobias Nestle rounded out the podium. Anne Grande took the women's race over Carmen Richardson and Emily Thorne (racing for the host club ECV).

2000 Race Results
2000 Photos (on J. McElvery's site)

Continued Growth and Visit by the World Champ - 2001

This year, the ECV Cyclocross became part of the newly formed Verge New England Cyclocross Series which Tom Stevens started with help from Adam Myerson. We saw another steady increase of competitors (312).

With the Boston-area Super-Cup race held on the previous day, then-World Champion Erwin Vervecken of Belgium stayed stateside and lined up at Gloucester. Vervecken took the win though a tenatious Tim Johnson would not let him just walk away with it, even attacking the World Champ at one point (see video by Henry Jurenka, 2.7MB MPEG). In the end, Vervecken would have a five second lead over second placed Johnson. Mark McCormack took the last podium spot 1:47 back. In the women's race, Lyne Bessette (whose first time on a cross bike was at an ECV cross practice) motored to a convincing win over Anne Grande with Carmen Richardson taking third.

2001 Race Results
2001 Photos (on J. McElvery's site)

Quality not Quantity - 2002

While the Elite men's and women's races had slightly lower turnouts due to the fact that all New England series races required UCI licenses, fields were the most competitive short of the National Championships. Overall race turnout was 291 riders. This year, the ECV Cyclocross really was a national event with the best cross riders from Washington, California, Colorado lining up. Colorado's Marc Gullickson beat out Todd and Mark McCormack for the men's race while Carmen D'Alusio edged out Mary McConneloug and Gina Halll for the women's event.

2002 Race Results (HTML)
2002 Race Results (PDF)
2002 Photos (on J. McElvery's site)

Wells & Dunlap Victors - 2003

2003 saw the largest fields yet with 442 racers. The growing prestige of the Verge New England Cyclocross Championship Series and being held the day after Worcester, the most competitive fields outside of Nationals converged on Stage Fort Park. Todd Wells took the day while Jackson Stewart outsprinted Mark McCormack to round out the top three. Alison Dunlap won the women's event over Carmen D'Aluisio and Mary McConnelong.

2003 Race Results (HTML)
2003 Race Results (PDF)
2003 Photos (on J. McElvery's site)

Gloucester Goes National - 2004

Designated by the Ride Magazine as the "New England Nationals", the Gran Prix of Gloucester, while remaining part of the Verge New England Cyclocross Championship Series, took the next step and became part of the newly formed US Gran Prix of Cyclocross. Of the six races comprising the Series, Gloucester made a weekend of it and became stops #4 and 5 of the USGP series. Despite the unlikey event of a Red Sox World Series victory parade on the same weekend, Gloucester broke all previous attendance records with 500 racers per day contesting the Michelob ULTRA Gran Prix of Gloucester with spectator estimates ranging from 1000-2000.

Saturday saw inclement weather but some intense racing as Anne Knapp rode away from the Women's field to take a convincing victory while Geoff Kabush took his first Gloucester win.

Sunday's race saw sunnier skies and Ryan Trebon outsprint Geoff Kabush for the Elite Men's victory. Despite a bad start, the previous day's winner Anne Knapp made her way up and attacked furiously to shake the competition by splitting the lead pack in half and dropping mountain bike Olympian Mary McConneloug for the win.

2004 Race Results
Michelob ULTRA Gran Prix of Gloucester #1 Results (Adobe PDF)
Michelob ULTRA Gran Prix of Gloucester #1 Results (HTML)
Michelob ULTRA Gran Prix of Gloucester #2 Results (Adobe PDF)
Michelob ULTRA Gran Prix of Gloucester #2 Results (HTML)

2004 Race Photos
Michelob ULTRA Gran Prix of Gloucester #1 Photos (on J. McElvery's site)
Michelob ULTRA Gran Prix of Gloucester #2 Photos (on J. McElvery's site)

A Study in Contrasts - 2005

The two days of racing could not have been more different. Saturday's blizzard was followed by sun-baked 60 degree Sunday.

On Saturday the cyclocross husband/wife power duo of Tim Johnson & Lyne Bessette were victorious in the elite Men's & Women's races. On what he considers his home course, Johnson took the lead from lap 1 and was never seen again finishing almost two minutes ahead of second place. Bessette recovered from a first lap fall and by the third lap managed to gap her competition.

Sunday's conditions couldn't have been more different. With sunny skies and temps in the 60's, Ryan Trebon who had dropped out of Saturday's race, took the hole shot and stayed away the rest of the race. Showing that she can do well no matter the course conditions, Lyne Bessette took Sunday's event for the repeat by taking the lead in the first lap and never letting up.

2005 Race Results
Michelob ULTRA Gran Prix of Gloucester #1 Results (Adobe PDF)
Michelob ULTRA Gran Prix of Gloucester #2 Results (Adobe PDF)

2005 Race Photos
Michelob ULTRA Gran Prix of Gloucester #1 Photos (on J. McElvery's site)
Michelob ULTRA Gran Prix of Gloucester #2 Photos (on J. McElvery's site)