Wells wipes the field clean

Todd Wells (Specialized-Cal Giant) captured his first cyclo-cross win of the season, the one that counted the most, at the UCI elite men's USA Cycling Cyclo-cross Championships held on Sunday in Bend, Oregon. The newly-crowned national champion outgunned the hometown favourite Ryan Trebon (Kona-FSA) who placed second and recent US Gran Prix of Cyclo-cross (USGP) overall winner Jeremy Powers (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com) in third.

Wells won the mountain bike cross-country and short track national championships earlier this year. He took some time off to recover from a successful summer of racing before diving into the cyclo-cross season this Fall with a goal of winning the national title. He is no stranger cyclo-cross stars and stripes jersey, having won the event on two previous occasions - in 2001 and 2005.

"All my jerseys are pretty special to me but it's always nice to get a title and this one is right up there with the others," Wells said.

Wells dedicated his victory to friend and former team manager, Jerry Hutchinson, who passed away this summer. "He passed away six weeks ago and I wanted to dedicate the race to him and get a victory," Wells said. "I was thinking about him the whole time and I felt like he was with me out there."

Wells caught the early race leader, Powers, on the second lap and the pair raced shoulder-to-shoulder until a crash before the circuit's fly over caused both riders to get tangled up. Wells was able to get himself up and going within several seconds; Powers was less fortunate, however. He was passed by Trebon and left to chase in third place.

"Jeremy crashed around one of the corners before the fly over and I ran into him," Wells said. "My foot got stuck in his wheel and I'm not sure if that screwed up his wheel or not. It took us a couple of seconds to come untangled."

Wells' flawless second half of the race allowed him to power through the sluggish mud and maintain a five to 10-second margin ahead of a charging Trebon. Powers, disappointed by his unfortunate crash, rode to the finish line in third place.

"I heard the time checks to Trebon but I knew that if I didn't make any mistakes then I could go through the corners faster than him," Wells said. "He was gaining on me in the power sections. I didn't want to go to deep because I knew at that point that it was mine to lose."

Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com stacked third, fourth and fifth place with Powers, who was the odds-on favourite to win the jersey after securing the USGP and North American Cyclo-cross Trophy (NACT) overall series, Jamey Driscoll, who recently won doubles at Jingle Cross and Tim Johnson, the defending title holder.

"I knew that just because you won every race previous doesn't mean you are going to win this one," Wells said. "That's the cool thing about national champs, the one day championships, everyone lines up with the same shot at winning."

Crashes reshuffle the top contenders

The UCI elite men's field lined up on a challenging course built throughout the Old Mill District outside of Bend, Oregon. The circuit had similarities to the previous year's design - however, race organisers made several changes that included various steep inclines, a fly over, a set of barriers located at the base of a lengthy climb and a set of stairs to run up right before the finishing straightaway.

"These guys are so good and the starts just keep getting faster and faster," said Wells. "I didn't have the best start because there were lots of crashes but I managed to avoid them and stay upright. I was taking risks in the corners that I felt like I could get through fast. There were some off-cambre wet sections that were tough."

Chris Jones (Rapha-Focus) pushed the pace on the first lap with Powers in tow. The pair gained a several seconds as their competitors behind fumbled to stay upright. Half a lap in, Powers moved ahead of Jones in a solo getaway. Many crashes marred the opening lap and one rider that went down early was Trebon. The crash caused Jones, who was back in the chase group, to go down as well.

"There was a course marker leaning over and I just hooked my bars and it spun me pretty hard on the bars," Trebon said. "Unfortunately, I took Chris Jones out too but I didn't see it there and I came around the turn and it was just in the course. It happens."

Powers muscled through the deep mud ahead of the charging field. Those chasing included Johnson, Trebon, Wells, Barry Wicks (Kona-FSA), Jesse Anthony (Cal Giant-Specialized), Adam Craig (Giant), Alex Candelario (World Bicycle Relief) and Driscoll.

Wells caught up to Powers on the second lap and the pair looked evenly matched on the circuit's difficult obstacles with both riders bunny hopping the barriers and powering neck-to-neck through the second, lower section of the course affectionately named the oatmeal bowl after event sponsor Bob's Red Mill.

However, Powers' race for first place was cut short when he crashed before the fly over. "Thanks guys, 100 emails, 131 replies on twitter," he tweeted following the race. "Appreciate ALL of your support. I wish I could have pulled that off today. I had great legs. There will be another chances. IF WINNING COMES EASY, YOU'LL NEVER APPRECIATE WHAT IT TAKES TO GET THERE!"

Trebon worked his way into second place, passing Powers as the former leader struggled to get his bike in order after the crash. Despite Trebon's biggest effort to claw back the slim 10-second gap to Wells he was not successful and forced to settle for second place ahead of Powers in third.

"Those guys were going hard and I caught Powers but I just couldn't get Todd," Trebon said. "I was digging as hard as I could with three laps to go. My hats off to Todd because he was riding a great race. I was pulling him back a little in the boggy section but he was pulling away from me in the middle area. It was a good race and the crowd was awesome."

Driscoll worked his way into a respectable fourth place ahead of his teammate Johnson in fifth, Wicks in sixth, Craig in seventh, Tristan Schouten (Nova Cycle Sports Foundation) in eighth, Candelario in ninth and Anthony rounding out the tenth place.

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Full Results
1Todd Wells (Specialized Factory Racing)1:00:49
2Ryan Trebon (Kona)0:00:25
3Jeremy Powers (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com)0:01:27
4James Driscoll (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com)0:02:03
5Timothy Johnson (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com)Row 4 - Cell 2
6Barry Wicks (Kona)0:02:14
7Adam Craig (Rabobank-Giant Off Road Team)0:02:40
8Tristan Schouten (cyclocrossracing.com/Blue/Rolf)0:03:17
9Alex Candelario (World Bicycle Relief)0:03:50
10Jesse Anthony (California Giant-Specialized)0:04:19
11Justin Lindine (BikeReg.com / Joe's Garage / Scott)0:04:37
12Spencer Paxson (Team S&M Young Guns)0:04:41
13Mitch Hoke (Clif Bar Development Team)0:05:02
14Sean Babcock (Kona)0:05:12
15Christopher Jones (Rapha Focus)0:05:28
16Erik Tonkin (Kona)0:05:33
17Joshua Dillon (Richard Sachs-RGM Watches-Radix)0:05:36
18Carl Decker (Giant)0:05:38
19Allen Krughoff (Boulder Cycle Sport)0:05:41
20Peter Webber (Boulder Cycle Sport)0:06:00
21Matt Pacocha (Hudz-Subaru)0:06:16
22Brady Kappius (Team Clif Bar)0:06:17
23Jake Wells (Hudz-Subaru)0:06:21
24Brandon Dwight (Boulder Cycle Sport)0:06:29
25Tyler Wren (Boo Bicycles)0:06:33
26Adam Mcgrath (Feedback Sports/Van Dessel)0:06:50
27Aaron Bradford (Specialized/Onsite Ultrasound)0:07:03
28Tim Allen (Niner)0:07:09
29Russell Stevenson (Cycling Northwest)0:07:21
30Frank Spiteri (Peninsula Velo Cycling Club/Pen)0:07:23
31Troy Wells (Team Clif Bar)0:07:45
32Ryan Knapp (BikeReg.com)0:08:08
33Adam Myerson (Cycle-Smart)0:08:13
34Ryan Iddings (Redline)0:08:36
35Stephen Tilford (Tradewind Energy/Trek)-2laps
36Jared Nieters (Haymarket Bicycles)Row 35 - Cell 2
37Benjamin ThompsonRow 36 - Cell 2
38Scott Chapin (Rocklobster!!!)Row 37 - Cell 2
39Weston Schempf (Charm City Cycling Llc)Row 38 - Cell 2
40John Curry (Gallatin Valley Bicycle Club/Gallatin Alpine Sports/Intrinsik Archite)Row 39 - Cell 2
41Joshua SneadRow 40 - Cell 2
42Brad Cole (Kccx Verge Elite Cyclocross Tea)Row 41 - Cell 2
43Justin Robinson (California Giant Cycling/Califo)Row 42 - Cell 2
44Molly Cameron (Portland Bicycle Studio)Row 43 - Cell 2
45Nathan Bannerman (Wheatland Wheelers)Row 44 - Cell 2
46Scott Frederick (Inland Construction)Row 45 - Cell 2
47Brue Syvertsen (Murder)Row 46 - Cell 2
48Troy Heithecker (Echelon Energy)Row 47 - Cell 2
49Ward Baker (Justin'S / Titus Mountain Bike)Row 48 - Cell 2
50Ian Brown (River City Bicycles / Tonic Fab)Row 49 - Cell 2
51Eric Rasmussen (Kuhl)Row 50 - Cell 2
52Michael Gallagher (Cyclocrossracing.Com P/B Blue)Row 51 - Cell 2
53John Behrens (Bailey Bikes)Row 52 - Cell 2
54Damian Schmitt-3laps
55Brett LuellingRow 54 - Cell 2
56Dan Chabanov (Century Road Club Association/J)Row 55 - Cell 2
57Kevin Smallman (Cannondale)Row 56 - Cell 2
58Krishna DoleRow 57 - Cell 2
59Brennan WodtliRow 58 - Cell 2
60Greg Wittwer (Alan North America Cycling)Row 59 - Cell 2
61Logan Wetzel (Cbtinc/Cyclingnorthwest)Row 60 - Cell 2
62Lawrence Leonard (Successful Living)Row 61 - Cell 2
63Chris JacksonRow 62 - Cell 2
64Kevin Mullervy (Escalera Racing Club/Team Exerg)Row 63 - Cell 2
65Jason Siegle (Bike Religion)Row 64 - Cell 2
66Davy Yeater (River City Bicycles / Cannondal)Row 65 - Cell 2
67Shawn Harshman (Pm Racing Team)Row 66 - Cell 2
68Jesse RientsRow 67 - Cell 2
69Alex Ryan (Champion System/ Cannondale)Row 68 - Cell 2
70Aaron Bouplon (Rockymounts~Izze Racing)Row 69 - Cell 2
71Frederick Bottger (Pasadena Athletic Association)Row 70 - Cell 2
72Brandon Gritters (Rock N Road)Row 71 - Cell 2
73Matthew Fox-4laps
74Evan PlewsRow 73 - Cell 2
75Patrick JacksonRow 74 - Cell 2
76Conor Mullervy (Team Exergy)Row 75 - Cell 2
77Dave Weaver (Alan N. America Cycling Team)Row 76 - Cell 2
78Kevin Bradford-Parish (Emde Sports/Emdesports.Com/Fitn)Row 77 - Cell 2
79David Wilcox (Pedro'S Grassroots Cycling Club)Row 78 - Cell 2
80Kenny Wehn (Colavita Racing Inc./Colavita R)Row 79 - Cell 2
81Anastasio FloresRow 80 - Cell 2
82John Frey (Hutch'S Westside Bend Or)Row 81 - Cell 2
83Michael Kennedy (Fetzer)Row 82 - Cell 2
84Joshua Whitmore (Globalbike Racing/Team Globalbi)Row 83 - Cell 2
85Benjamin Dodge (Los Gatos Bicycle Racing Club)Row 84 - Cell 2
86Eric Colton (The Team)Row 85 - Cell 2
87Lucas Livermon (Mock Orange Bikes)Row 86 - Cell 2
88David SheekRow 87 - Cell 2
89Derek Yarra (Murder)Row 88 - Cell 2
90Alan Adams (Lake Washington Velo/Hagens Ber)Row 89 - Cell 2
91Chad Cheeney (Durango Devo)Row 90 - Cell 2
92Ben Popper-5laps
93Bobby Langin (Platinum Performance Cycling Te)Row 92 - Cell 2
94Collin Samaan (Kingsnorth International Wheele)Row 93 - Cell 2
95Skip Spaude (Nova Cycle Sports Foundation Inc.)Row 94 - Cell 2
96Jim Gentes (Team Rambuski Law)Row 95 - Cell 2
97Garrett Mcallister (Team Wisconsin/Team Wisconsin /)Row 96 - Cell 2
98Michael NixonRow 97 - Cell 2
99Kendal JohnsonRow 98 - Cell 2
100Dean PoshardRow 99 - Cell 2
101Michael Birner (Ben'S Performance Bicycles Inc)Row 100 - Cell 2
102Gregg Shanefelt (Zephyr Wheel Sports)Row 101 - Cell 2
103Juozas MartynaitisRow 102 - Cell 2
104Scott McclaveRow 103 - Cell 2
105Lane MillerRow 104 - Cell 2
106Christopher Hamlin-6laps
107John Flack (Cbc Racing/Olympia Orthopaedic)Row 106 - Cell 2
DNFBrian Matter (Team Geargrinder/Team Geargrinder)Row 107 - Cell 2
DNFTravis Livermon (Mock Orange Racing)Row 108 - Cell 2
DNFJonathan Baker (Hudz-Subaru)Row 109 - Cell 2
DNFNathanael Wyatt (Carolina Fatz Pb Santa Cruz Bic)Row 110 - Cell 2
DNFAnton Petrov (Bike Religion)Row 111 - Cell 2
DSQNicholas Weighall (California Giant Cycling/California Giant Berry Farms/Specialized)Row 112 - Cell 2

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Kirsten Frattini
Deputy Editor

Kirsten Frattini is the Deputy Editor of Cyclingnews, overseeing the global racing content plan.

Kirsten has a background in Kinesiology and Health Science. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's biggest races, reporting on the WorldTour, Spring Classics, Tours de France, World Championships and Olympic Games.

She began her sports journalism career with Cyclingnews as a North American Correspondent in 2006. In 2018, Kirsten became Women's Editor – overseeing the content strategy, race coverage and growth of women's professional cycling – before becoming Deputy Editor in 2023.

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