Bishop and Batty lead Pro XCT standings

Jeremiah Bishop (Sho-Air/Cannondale) and Emily Batty (Trek Factory Racing) vaulted into the USA Cycling Pro Cross Country Tour (Pro XCT) lead with their performances at the Bonelli Park US Cup, held on March 16-17 in San Dimas, California.

Men

With the absence of first-round winner Daniel McConnell (Trek Factory Racing), Bishop and Todd Wells (Specialized Racing), who were second and third, respectively, in last week's standings, had the top spot in their sights heading into the Bonelli Park race.

Bishop and Wells, along with Raphael Gagne (Rocky Mountain) quickly separated themselves from the pack, but as Bishop applied the pressure on the technical and warm course, Wells and Gagne could not keep pace and Bishop crossed the line with over a minute to spare on Gagne and over two minutes on Wells.

With his victory, Bishop takes over the US Pro XCT men's standings lead with 450 points, followed by Wells with 350 points and Sam Schultz (Trek Factory Racing) with 280 points. McConnell and Gagne round out the top five of the men's standings with 250 and 200 points, respectively.

Women

Lesley Paterson (Scott Bicycles), the 2011 and 2012 XTerra Triathlon world champion, bested a field that included Olympic cross country mountain bikers Emily Batty (Trek Factory Racing), Lea Davison (Specialized Factory Racing) and Annie Last (Trek Factory Racing) to claim victory on the redesigned course at Bonelli Park.

After starting near the back row, Paterson caught up to the three Olympians on the second of five laps and then broke away with Batty on the third circuit. Paterson would slowly pull away from Batty to finish more than 20 seconds in front.

The silver medal by Batty, along with her third-place finish at the Mellow Johnny's Classic season opener on March 2, gives the Canadian the series lead in the Pro XCT women's standings after two events with 375 points. Last is close behind Batty with 340 points, followed by Chloe Woodruff (Crankbrothers Race Club 11) with 300 points, and Erin Huck (Tokyo Joe's) with 260 points. Mellow Johnny's Classic winner Rebecca Henderson (Trek Factory Racing) is fifth in the women's standings with 250 points. Henderson was racing at home in Australia instead of at Bonelli Park.

Trek Factory Racing maintains its lead in the Pro XCT team standings after two of nine races on the calendar with 935 points. Sho-Air-Cannondale sits in second place with 540 points, followed by Specialized Racing in third place with 525. BMC MTB Development Team has a slim lead over Kona for the fourth-place spot with 145 points to Kona's 140 points.