Tim Johnson (Cannondale - Leer - cyclocrossworld.com) is all business (Image credit: Mitch Clinton)
The early season dominance of the Kona-YourKey.com "twin towers", Barry Wicks and Ryan Trebon came to an abrupt halt at the first round of the US Gran Prix of Cyclo-cross in Louisville, Kentucky. The pair traded blows with Cyclocrossworld.com team-mates Tim Johnson and Jeremy Powers.
Johnson, who also is sponsored by Leer and Cannondale and sports a decidedly different team kit than his younger counterpart, sensed a bit of weakness in his West Coast competitors, and attacked repeatedly throughout the weekend, first ungluing Wicks, who was dropped on Saturday and crashed on Sunday, and then later cracking Trebon. Trebon, who just returned from the World Cup in Belgium, complained of leg and back problems that affected his race.
On Saturday, Powers took his second consecutive UCI win after his victory in Wissahickon, and shared the podium honours with Jonhson and Wicks, while on Sunday, the crash with Wicks cost him a chance at another victory. Johnson was able to get the better of Trebon to take his second win of the year after his triumph in Granogue.
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Powers recovered quickly from his first lap tangle to finish third, while Wicks worked his way back to finish fourth. Adam Craig (Giant) rounded out the top five.
The women's competition played in a similar fashion both days, with three-time US Champion Katie Compton distancing her competitors from the gun and never looking back. Chasing Compton was the Canadian trio of Alison Sydor (Rocky Mountain Haywood), Lyne Bessette (Cyclocrossworld.com), and Wendy Simms (Kona Yourkey.com), who were taken by surprise by a hard-charging Georgia Gould (Luna), who moved up from a third row start to finish second both days.
Simms took the third spot on Saturday, while Sydor, a hardened veteran mountain biker and road racer and cyclo-cross novice got the hang of the game on Sunday to take the final podium spot ahead of Simms and Proman-Paradigm's Rachel Lloyd.
