Jeremiah Bishop (Sho-Air/Cannondale) took control of the US Pro XCT series after winning round 2 at Bonelli Park cross country in San Dimas, California, on Saturday afternoon. Bishop now leads the national series with 450 points over Todd Wells (Specialized).
When the men's field lined up, all eyes were on Bishop and Wells, who finished second and third at the Pro XCT opener at Mellow Johnny's earlier in the month. First round winner Dan McConnell was absent, back home in Australia racing the final round of his national series.
Bishop and Wells were hoping to take over the Pro XCT series lead while Trek's Sam Schultz and Russell Finsterwald looked to pick up the slack after mediocre results at the first round.
Late in the first lap, Bishop, Raphael Gagne (Rocky Mountain) and Wells separated themselves from the men's peloton and formed the lead group.
As the laps continued, Wells was the first to crack under the pressure being applied by Bishop, with Canadian Gagne the only one able to respond.
With two to go in the six-lap affair, Bishop began to turn the screws on Gagne just a little bit more and opened up 20 seconds. Wells, in the meantime, had suffered a flat and was in danger of losing third place and precious series points to Schultz, who was still plugging away.
Meanwhile another Canadian, Antoine Caron (Specialized Canada) was quietly putting in a solid ride in fifth and was the first U23 rider in the group.
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With one lap to go, Bishop had broken the rubber band and Gagne slipped even farther back. The technical Bonelli Park course, which was revamped for this year's race, and the warm weather looked to have finally taken a toll on the Canadian, as it did with most other riders on the day.
At the end, Bishop crossed the line with over a minute to spare on Gagne. Wells finished over two minutes back, followed by Schultz and the U23 Canadian rider Caron rounding out the top five.
Bishop dedicated the win to his sister, who had lost a friend to suicide the day prior to the race.
