Trebon over-Powered at Harbin Park

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Jeremy Powers (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) won his third consecutive title at the Harbin Park International, round three of the Cincinnati Cyclocros Festival held in Ohio. Ryan Trebon (Kona-FSA) rode in for second place several seconds behind Powers, after a hard-fought battle until the last lap. Chris Jones (Rapha-Focus) captured a well-deserved third place on the podium.

“I had only ever used this tyre combination one time before, and I hated it,” said Powers who used a combination of Dugast Rhino and Typhoon tires. “But Tim [Johnson] uses it a lot and the gamble paid off. Parts of the course favoured me and parts favoured Ryan. I just took advantage of the parts that suited me and it worked out in the end.”

The elite men’s field rolled to the line in anticipation of the final and highest weighted event of the Cincinnati Cyclocross Festival three-round series at the C1 Harbin Park International on Sunday.

Trebon won the opening round at the Cyclo-Stampede on Friday while his compatible rival Powers topped the podium in round two at Java Johnny’s-Lionhearts Sunset Park on Saturday.

The pair were odds-on favourites and lived up to those expectations straight out of the gates, racing neck-and-neck for the hole shot. They were followed by Jones, Canadian champion Geoff Kabush (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain), Troy Wells (Clif Bar), Brian Matter (Geargrinder), Barry Wicks (Kona-FSA), Tristan Schouten (Cyclocrossracing.com) and Jake Wells (Hudz-Subaru).

Powers and Trebon put forth commanding efforts through the sections of the course that best suited their respective strengths in an attempt to shed the other. For Trebon it was the lengthy straights where he could capitalize off his powerful pedaling and for Powers it was the punchy technical sections. The result of each effort led to the formation of a four-man lead group, with Jones and Kabush in tow.

“They were just attacking each other from my vantage point,” Jones said. “All weekend they have been a bit above us. The rest of us have been riding for third. Today Kabush and I stayed with those guys for half the race, which was longer than most guys have been able to earlier in the weekend. Ryan would put in a good attack and Powers would put in another and Geoff and I were hanging on.

“Geoff and I stayed together for about a lap and I think he crashed,” he added. “I didn’t see it but I heard something happen. That was the little gap that I needed to hold it from the rest of the race.”

Powers and Trebon separated themselves from the others mid-race and continued to duke it out to the finish line. It was Powers who had the upper hand with a lap and half to go when he pulled away from Trebon and went on to capture his third consecutive victory on the Harbin Park course.

“It was good,” said Trebon. “He wasn’t giving me anything and I wasn’t giving him anything. I could catch him on some of the power sections but as soon as I did we would hit a technical section and he’d ride away from me again. I was sliding a lot today. I think the rear tyre pressure was one or two pounds too low. I was drifting all over the place.”