It's been a chilly start to Sea Otter, but the sun came out and the winds died down to make for a hot day on the XC course. Six laps for the women and 8 for the men made for a long day here in Monterey. Annika Langvad took her second Sea Otter win and Anton Cooper took the win for the men.
Chloe Woodruff calm and sort of cool on the start line.
Stay hydrated, fellas.
Women's start.
Clif's Catharine Pendel and Lea Davison laying down the watts.
Chloe Woodruff
Evie Richards leading Kate Courtney up the hill.
Kate and Annika working like a team for the first few laps.
Their tactic worked as they finished 1-2.
Evie Richards was on the wheel of the leaders nearly the entire race. Richards finished third.
Your women's podium when the dust settled.
Chloe Woodruff took an early lead but would finish 5th.
2 races, two wins for Langvad.
Emily Batty high fives a competitor at the end of the race.
Evie Richards gassed at the end of a hard day out.
Anton knew it was going to be a long day. He rode smart and stayed fresh until it was time to make his move.
Men's start.
Winding up.
Howard Grotts in the stars and stripes.
The chase pack
Geoff Kabush
Howard Grotts crossed the line in second.
Dusty corners.
Peter Disera makes his way out of the rocks on his way to fifth.
Nicola Rohrbach took an early lead, but 8 laps would take their toll.
Howard Grotts took second, some twenty seconds and change back from Cooper.
Sergio Mantecon took fourth on the day.
Nicola airing the rock section.
Alex Wild through the rocks.
Cooper got out in the lead on the final laps and never looked back.
Does Anton ever ride any other way than smart? The Commonwealth games proved it for us Kiwi's, Anton rides with his head, Sam rides with his heart.