New Zealander Josh Burnett (MitoQ-NZ Cycling Project) and USA’s Lauren De Crescenzo (Factor/The Feed/Maxxis/Castelli) both took victories in the elite divisions at the Belgian Waffle Ride North Carolina on Saturday.
Burnett stamped his authority with a rode away from a group of five with 35 miles to go and got a gap of up to five minutes at one point and was able to roll in for a solo victory. The 2023 winner Adam Roberge (Felt UN1TD) finished 3:27 back in second place, while Ian Lopez de San Roman (Aevolo) sprinted ahead of Kieran Haug (CS Velo Racing) for third place. Australia’s Dylan Johnson (Felt UN1TD) rode solo for fifth place.
“We started off with quite a big group. It split a little bit on the first climb, but it then pretty much came back together and nothing much happened. There was a steep road climb, five of us got away and we worked quite well together until the long, big climb of the day. I was trying to put pressure on and then ended up getting a bit of a gap and it was still like 70k to go,” Burnett said about what turned into a winning move.
He said he kept the pressure as he continued to extend his gap, which moved out to five minutes ahead of the chasers, and he then just had to have a clean finish.
“After that it was just all about looking after my tyres and not crashing,” he said. “I’m pretty stoked to win it.”
Burnett came to the North Carolina mountains after winning one stage and the GC at Tour de Beauce. He also had a road win early this season at the Tar and Gravel Classic, followed by top 10s in both the criterium and road race at New Zealand National Championships. In between road appearances, he finished sixth at The Traka 200.
Like Burnett, De Crescenzo continued to mix in road racing with gravel conquests. On the road she won the inaugural Growler at Levi's Gran Fondo and finished fifth in the elite women's road race at US Pro Road Nationals. Across gravel events, she won The MidSouth a third time and finished ninth at Unbound Gravel 200.
This was De Crescenzo's first-ever win in a BWR event and said it was a fast race from the beginning. Haley Preen finished 10 minutes back in second place while Siera Sims (FasCat) was third, another 25:50 back.
“The race exploded on the first climb,” she noted about riding away with Preen. “I dug a little deeper,, made a faster group going up that [second] climb, and then rolled with that group for basically the next three hours on the road. I made it through all the singletrack unscathed, no crashing.
She said that the race exploded again on the descent of Pinnacle, a long stretch with chunky gravel that appeared to have been freshly spread, which she called “ crazy but I stayed upright”.
This was the fourth edition of BWR North Carolina, which took place from Kanuga Resort near Asheville on a 116-mile ‘waffle’ route through the Blue Ridge Mountains. The event is separate from the BWR Tripel Crown series, and leads into two international stops, BWR British Columbia in September and BWR Mexico in November.
Last year the route was 15 miles longer and had 13,000 feet of elevation gain, with a mix of paved roads and dirt singletrack. This year with a slightly shorter distance with 50% gravel, there were also 2,000 fewer feet of climbing.
