Ryan Trebon signs with Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com for 2012-13 'cross season

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Two-time US elite cyclo-cross champion Ryan Trebon has signed with the Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com for the upcoming 2012-13 cyclo-cross season, the team announced today. The 31-year-old Trebon joins fellow Americans Tim Johnson, Jamey Driscoll and Kaitlin Antonneau on the roster.

"Stu [Thorne] asked me if I wanted to race for the team, and I asked him ‘why do you want me to race for you?' He said ‘because we want to win races' and that's pretty much all it took to convince me," said Trebon via team press release. "It was kind of an offer I couldn't refuse to pass up. I'm really looking forward to not having to worry about anything else besides just racing. I know those guys will take care of it all and it's a good opportunity for me to just concentrate 100 percent on what happens in the races."

In the past 'cross season Trebon was the highest placed American at the world championships in Koksijde, Belgium (18th place) and he finished the season ranked 15th on the UCI 'cross standings, with only Jeremy Powers ranked higher among Americans in 12th.

Trebon won eight UCI races in the US during the 2011-2012 season despite missing six weeks of racing due to a knee injury sustained at the Louisville, Kentucky-hosted round of the US Gran Prix of Cyclocross (USGP) in mid-November. After winning six races prior to his injury he returned to competition over New Year's weekend where he won both races, followed by a silver-medal performance at 'cross Nationals in Madison, Wisconsin one week later on January 8.

Trebon raced on the LTS-Felt squad the previous season, which was a two-man operation with Trebon and long-time friend and mechanic Dusty LaBarr (the LTS in LTS-Felt stood for LaBarr Trebon Sports). LaBarr, too, will join the Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com for 2012-2013.

Trebon's goals for the season remain the same as previous years, however the world championships take on a special significance as they'll be contested in on home soil Louisville, Kentucky, the first time 'cross Worlds have ever been held outside of Europe. The Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com team will enable Trebon to focus solely on training and racing in the upcoming season, relieving him of the logistical details he also had to undertake for his LTS-Felt squad.

"My goals are the same as I assume everyone else's are: I want to do well at the USGPs and I'm pretty keen on Nationals, but having Worlds in Louisville is important and I think I'm going to try and arrive there with the best fitness possible. I think that the structure behind the team is going to help me get there with the fitness that I need and with the least amount of stress. That was one of the deciding factors in the direction I took myself this year."