Jeremy Powers' new Rapha-Focus Mares bike equipped with SRAM Red and Easton EC90SL wheels wrapped in 32mm Dugast Typhoon tires. Look for an upcoming Pro Bike feature on JPows's Mares on Cyclingnews.com(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
Lars Van der Haar's bike used a brake cable hanger mounted between the PRO stem's faceplate and stem interface(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
More rainbow stripes and another view of the custom Rabobank cantilever brake(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
The crowds at CrossVegas(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
Looking across the course to the pits. The Desert Breeze Soccer Complex served up wet grass and squishy ground for the event(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
Ryan Trebon's mechanic Dusty LaBarr high tails it to the pits with his racer's spare kit(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
The crowds grew for the professional women and men's events(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
Bart Wellens' Telenet-Fidea team mechanics(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
Tim Johnson chases back on his spare bike(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
TCX Advanced SL routes cables internally(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
Lars Van der Haar's Rabobank TCX Advanced SL complete with rainbow stripes(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
Tim Johnson started CrossVegas on a 'prototype' Cannondale Super X frame, we didn't find a difference between his black bike and his teammates 'team' bikes(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
Tim Johnson's Super X shared all the same lines as the standard bike. He spent roughly half the race on the black bike before crashing and switching to his 'team' pit bike dressed in the colors of the Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com team(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
Cannondale's all-carbon Super X fork provides a solid perch for Avid's Shorty Ultimate brakes and SwissStop Yellow King brake pads to handle deceleration duties(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
Tim Johnson started the race on an SRAM S900 Quark equipped BB30 crank(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
Giant's young guns: Danny Hart (far left) gives Bart Aernouts and Lars van der Haar (the current U23 cyclo-cross world champion) tips for riding in the wet; Van der Haar would go on to win the event in a photo finish(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
Bart Aernouts' spare Shimano Dura-Ace C35 tubulars with Vredestein tires made by Dugast(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
These spare wheels sported the Rhino tread pattern(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
Rabobank's custom long armed low-profile cyclo-cross brakes, also equipped with SwissStop Yellow King pads(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
The hour-long men's race kicked off at 9:30pm(Image credit: Matt Pacocha)
In an unlikely turn that we've never seen in the five years the CrossVegas event has existed - and one we'll likely not see for another decade - Las Vegas turned wet after a handful of soaking rainstorms descended on the venue right up to the morning of the event.
The rain caused teams to put away the file treads and get out their intermediate tires. No it wasn't a mudder, but it was as close as CrossVegas may ever come. The moisture sent most teams, unprepared for the wet, scrambling for knobbier tires and to keep racers' bikes clean in-between warm up and racing.
Even with more aggressive tires, the course laid claim to many racers. Specialized's Max Plaxton went out of the race on the first lap, while mid-way through the hour long men's event Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld's Tim Johnson and Garmin-Cervelo's Danny Summerhill went down together on one of the faster descents on course. Johnson was up quick on his spare bike, but Summerhill, who tore all of the spokes out of his front wheel, was slower to rejoin, never making it back to the front where he spent the entire first half of the race.
Giant's world champions: Danny Hart (left); Lars van der Haar (2nd from right)
We've gone to the pits to check out what the top names brought to what's been billed as the UCI's international season opener. Click on the photo gallery to see it all.
