De Crescenzo and Burnett fastest at Belgian Waffle Ride North Carolina

American Lauren De Crescenzo and Kiwi Josh Burnett fastest in the Elite category at the fourth Annual Belgian Waffle Ride in Kanuga Resort near Asheville

USA’s Lauren De Crescenzo (Factor/The Feed/Maxxis/Castelli/PERC) and New Zealander Josh Burnett (MitoQ-NZ Cycling Project) both took victories in the elite divisions at the Belgian Waffle Ride North Carolina last Saturday on the 116-mile Waffle route through the Blue Ridge Mountains in beautiful weather.

In the men's race, 5 riders got into the breakaway after 50 miles of racing. Burnett attacked and rode away from his breakaway companions with around 35 miles to go and got a gap of nearly five minutes at one point and soloed to victory in a time of 5h 49m 40s.

Last year's winner Adam Roberge (Felt UN1TD) took second place over 3 minutes behind. Ian Lopez de San Roman (Aevolo) outpsrinted Kieran Haug (CS Velo Racing) to finish in third place.

Burnett recently finished sixth at the Traka 200 gravel race in Girona.

Photo: Men’s 2024 BWR North Carolina Belgian Waffle Ride Waffle podium

It was De Crescenzo's first-ever win at a BWR event in a time of 6h 41m 8s ahead of Haley Preen who finished in second 10 minutes behind. Siera Sims (FasCat) was third over 25 minutes behind. The women's race exploded on the first climb. She and Preen broke free, riding in the men's peloton and then she went solo on the second climb staying in a faster men's peloton for most of the race.

Photo: Women’s 2024 BWR North Carolina Belgian Waffle Ride Waffle podium

The BWR series continues with BWR British Columbia in September and BWR Mexico in November.

Link to 2023 Belgian Waffle Ride North Carolina Results: https://www.omnigoevents.com/events/bwr-nc-2024/results