Johnson beats teammate Powers to victory

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The sun emerged over Fort Collins for the second round of the USGP New Belgium Cup, and while the course was made much faster by the drier conditions, it was no less treacherous, and the higher speed proved problematic for some of the race's top contenders.

Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld's Tim Johnson had no problems with the tricky descents or the long, grinding climbs and was able to capitalise on the misfortune of others to solo to a commanding victory.

After coming in fifth on the previous day's race, Johnson, the new USGP series leader, said he came into the day wanting to improve.

"I said, 'I am going to have a better race'... that's what I told myself," explained Johnson after his win.

His closest competitor, Kona-FSA's Ryan Trebon, was on the other side of lady luck's favour. Trebon rode an aggressive first two laps, trading attacks with Johnson's teammate Jeremy Powers until Powers flatted, leaving just Johnson and Trebon up front.

"The first couple of laps I was letting Ryan and Jeremy [Powers] just keep smashing each other," said Johnson, who chose to take the start of the race a bit more conservatively.

"You kind of forget it's altitude, but it is, and it does hurt. Even if you don't pay for it with how hard you can pedal, you pay by making mistakes. So I tried to stay as patient as possible."

Cannondale kickstarts the day

Powers took the hole shot, and showed he was having a much better day than Saturday as he attacked the first lap savagely, pulling away a select group containing Johnson, the previous day's winner Geoff Kabush (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain), Todd Wells (Specialized) and Ryan Trebon (Kona-FSA).

Trebon was equally aggressive, attacking Powers on the climbs, but taking more care on the still greasy descents. His efforts managed to dislodge Kabush and Wells, before an untimely flat tyre for Powers made the race a two-man affair on the second lap.

With the lanky Oregonian clearly on a strong ride, Johnson admitted he was worried that he might not be able to win. "Ryan's got this strength that comes out - we were talking about it yesterday - he hits the gas and keeps going and going. Today's course was a bit better for him, the hardest parts were longer and there was enough traction so he could hit the gas and string it out each time."

Johnson and Trebon appeared equally matched, trading attack after attack until a critical mistake by Trebon on the back side of the course sent him off the track and into the tape. While Johnson stormed away, Trebon would never re-find his groove and eventually faded to 10th.

Trebon said that he got knocked off his line by the bumpy, muddy section on the back side of the course, and went into the tape and over the bars.

"It was a frustrating moment because I was on such a good day. I just couldn't get myself back into it mentally," Trebon explained. "I took a pit bike, but then I wasn't comfortable with the set up and the tyre pressure, and it threw me for a loop. One mistake turned into four, and while sometimes you can push through those issues, other times it defeats you."

With Trebon vanquished, Johnson unleashed an energetic performance for the remainder of the race, putting in the day's first sub-seven minute lap time to pull out an unbeatable lead.

"After I heard Trebon was on the ground, I tried to put together as fast a lap as possible," said Johnson.

Behind him, the attack had the unfortunate effect of distancing his own teammate Powers, who was trying to bluff his way out of one of two flat tyres he had on the day.

"The same thing happened to me in Boulder and I kind of soft pedaled because I didn't want to ruin the wheel," Powers said. He explained his predicament to his teammates and they replied 'ruin the wheel'. "So this time I rode as hard as I could to get to the pit, and I'm glad it worked out."

Powers was able push through the problem to stay in the group with Wells, while Kabush was distanced mid-way through the race. Powers and Wells spent several laps trading pulls in the race for second.

Both riders took the risk to bunny-hop the barriers to save time, but the choice proved unlucky for Wells, who crashed while hopping the barriers with three laps to go and was unable to continue the race.

Even after Wells crashed, Powers said he continued to bunny-hop, despite the obvious risk and his own sizeable margin over Kabush. "It was nicer to not get off; I wasn't running them very quickly so to jump them was just as good," Powers said.

"Todd was actually the one who jumped them in front of me, and I felt I had to jump them if he was, because he was actually putting time into me. Even two seconds on a day like today is enough, and I didn't want that to happen. It was better to take that risk."

Johnson, on the other hand, chose to run the barriers. "I don't think it was faster to bunny hop at all. We all make choices as to what we can do or not do, and I definitely keep it safe by not jumping."

Once Wells was out, it was every man for himself, with Johnson's large lead not threatened by Powers in the run to the line, while Kabush could not close the gap and remained in third to become the only rider to stand on the podium on both days.

"Today definitely hurt a bit more, but it is great to get on the podium both days. I felt just as good today, but there was a bit more pedaling, and I just didn't have the snap to go with Tim, he was riding away strong. I kept Powers close, but he was riding a few sections faster and jumping the barriers," said Kabush.

Kabush held off the chase of Saturday's runner-up Jamey Driscoll, who moved into fourth, while Rabobank-Giant's Adam Craig put in a strong performance in fifth.

The day's most aggressive rider award went to Wells' younger brother Troy, who fought back from a poor starting position into sixth place ahead of Chris Jones (Rapha Focus), Tristan Schouten and the day's best U23 rider Zach McDonald.