Charm City Elite Podium Interviews

The 2010 Charm City Cyclocross took place September 18 and 19 at Druid Hill Park in Baltimore, Maryland. Presented by C3-Athletes Serving Athletes, Charm City Cyclocross has grown from the regional Mid-Atlantic kickoff race to a full-blown two-day UCI Cyclocross event. Although the C3 men and women continue to grow this race every year, they have yet to bite off more than they can chew. The racing and atmosphere was once again spectacular and put everybody in the proper ‘cross mindset going forward.

Although many see this race as their season opener, it actually represented races 2 and 3 in the MAC series. Having the second day added to Charm City meant that the promoters were given the opportunity to try out a new course. What they came up with was a nice change of pace from the traditional power-friendly course that racers expect. The Sunday course did not stray too much from this traditional course, with only a couple new diversions along the way. The Saturday course, on the other hand, presented several new twists and turns and gave those racers that favor technical flair over raw power a chance to show their stuff on the Druid Hill Park grounds.

The men’s and women’s elite races featured strong fields and competitive racing. By the time these afternoon races rolled around, the heat and bone dry conditions started to take their toll on the fields. We caught up with the race winners for both days as well as the reigning MAC champion.

First up is Laura Van Gilder (C3-Athletes Serving Athletes) who is entering her second weekend of ‘cross after a long and successful road campaign. Laura won the MAC opener, Nittany Lion ‘Cross, and follows it up with back to back wins at Charm City. This is LVG’s third year securing victory at Charm City.

Our next interview is with Davide Frattini (Hudz-Subaru). Davide raced a full road season with Team Type One, lining up at The Tour of California, Tour of Utah and several trips overseas. Splitting time between his homes in Italy and Asheville, N.C., Davide is a returning Charm City champion and Druid Hill Park crowd favorite.

We were also able to catch up with reigning MAC champion, Valentin Scherz (Cyfac-Champion System Racing Team p/b Revolution Wheelworks). Valentin traveled from Switzerland with his countryman, Anthony Grand (Cyfac-Champion System Racing Team p/b Revolution Wheelworks) to take on the MAC series. Scherz finished 2nd behind Frattini each day and Grand slotted in at 3rd for both races.

A big thank you to Dan at www.cyclingreporter.com, Bruce Buckley and John Cutler for their help in producing these interviews. Thanks for watching. We will be back soon with video race footage.