The Cyclo Stampede - C2

Burlington, Cincinnati, USA, October 10, 2008

Results

J-Pow and Compton stampede to wins

By Joe Bellante

The course at England-Idlewild park rattled bones and turned wheels to tacos at the Darkhorse Cyclo-Stampede UCI C-2 in Burlington. The Cincinnati area hasn’t seen a soaking in weeks and the victims of the pounding course lined up for post-race massages at the Wellington Orthopedic tent throughout the day. The 80-degree heat compounded the hurt.

In the men’s race, after a third-lap bike change which put Barry Wicks (Kona) on the defensive, Jeremy Powers (Cyclocrossworld.com) took advantage for the win. For the women, it wasn’t until lap five that National Champion Katie Compton (Spike Professional/Primus Mootry) put in a dig near the 'horseshoe' chicane and shook Olympian Georgia Gould (Luna) off her wheel and escape to the finish.

In the elite men's race, Powers and Danish National Champion Joachim Parbo (CCV Leopard Cycles) put the pedal to the metal at the gun and led to the holeshot, with Barry Wicks in tow and Vitamin Cottage’s Jonathan Baker not too far off the pace. When Wicks met Powers, it was game-on and Parbo paid the price.

That was just the beginning of Powers show of cross-power. On the same lap, Powers punched it, opening a gap on Wicks around a tight off-cambre corner around a tree, but it was a little too early. Wicks closed it quickly with a "nasty" effort through the start finish which had a domino drop effect on Baker and Trek’s Jeremiah Bishop.

Wicks' well of good fortune dried up on lap three when he took a bike change. J-Pow smelled blood and drilled it. Now away solo, he extended the lead by hopping a big log barrier to the cheers of the crowd. That move left Bishop, Baker and Wicks struggling to close it down and Powers in the lead for good. With Wicks dangling, it was Bishop who showed his short-track strength with a hard move that boosted him solidly into 2nd.

Powers lead increased to nearly a minute through laps 4-6. At this point, the battle was for third between Wicks and a sweaty-faced Baker. Before the barriers on lap four, Baker was rattled on a bumpy off campre uphill u-turn and Wicks blasted by to claim third. Parbo was still back and now closing on Baker. The Dane made contact and the duo worked together till the last lap, when Parbo punched the pedals of his new carbon Leopard Cycles rig just before the barriers. Baker couldn’t answer.

In the end it was all Powers, with a lead of nearly one minute. He and Bishop both celebrated early by hopping the last lap barriers to the hoots of the Cincinnati spectators.

As she watched the start of the 1/2/3 Masters Race, the always cheerful Katie Compton told her new hubby Mark Legg to have fun before his race, but it wasn’t all fun and games in the elite women's race. From the gun, Sue Butler (MonavieCannondale.com), Compton and Georgia Gould set a blazing pace through the chicane which put a big gap into a trio of Velo Bella women. With Gould leading the first lap, Compton went down in a wheel-eating dip just past the barriers. Wasting no time, Gould upshifted and dug hard. With a show of the strength to come Compton made the bridge before the end of the lap. The two were away for good.

With Sue Butler on her own in third, Devon Haskell of Chicagoland bike shop “The Pony Shop” in a Velo Bella was sandwiched between Barbara Howe and Deidre Winfield. Howe fell off the pace on lap four, leaving Winfield and Haskell to duel for fourth and fifth.

Back at the front, Gould and Compton traded barbs. Gould went first on lap two, attacking at the same awkward off-cambre tree that gave Jeremy Powers the win in the men’s race. Compton, however, had other plans and quickly shut that down. The two stayed together until Compton showed her technical prowess in the downhill chicane.

Gould tried to make up the ground but slightly bobbled on the same off cambre u-turn that rattled Jonathan Baker in the men’s race. Compton was gone. Behind, face flushed and sweat dripping from under her helmet, Sue Butler finished for a solid third. Winfield turned on the gas on the last lap, dropping Haskell to take fourth.

Results (provisional)

Elite men
 
1 Jeremy Powers (Cyclocrossworld.com)                 
2 Jeremiah Bishop (Trek Factory)                      
3 Barry Wicks (Kona)                                  
4 Joachim Parbo (CCV Leopard Cycles)                  
5 Jonathan Baker (Vitamin College)                    
6 Troy Wells (Team Clif Bar)                          
 
Elite women
 
1 Katie Compton (Spike Professional/Primus Mootry)    
2 Georgia Gould (Luna)                                
3 Sue Butler (MonavieCannondale.com)                  
4 Deidre Winfield (VeloBella/Kona)                    
5 Devon Haskell (The Pony Shop)