Johnson wins Catamount GP opener

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Tim Johnson (Cannondale Cyclocross World/Pony Shop) used his racing smarts, rather than dominating form, to win the season opener of the New England Verge Series. Lukas Winterberg (Mueller Landscape/ BH Bikes) was the surprise entry today as he dominated much of the race and finished second. Raphael Gagne (Rocky Mountain Factory) looked strong coming off his world cup mountain bike season. He finished third just behind Winterberg. Stephen Hyde (JAM Fund/NCC/Vittoria) rode a consistent race to finish fourth. Former New England favorite Justine Lindine (Redline/ NBX) looked sharp in his fifth place effort.

Torrential rain for two days had saturated the course at Catamount Family Center. Early races saw extremely long lap times on the soggy grass course. Starting at 4:30 PM, the Elite Men benefited from several hours of sunshine, which helped to dry out all but the wettest parts of the course.

While Tim Johnson got off to an early lead, and Justin Lindine took an early turn at the front, it was Lukas Winterberg who drove the pace for several laps. The eventual top five finishers plus Todd Wells (Specialized), and former junior Curtis White (Cannondale/ p.b Cyclocrossworld.com) formed a long line behind Winterberg.

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Many of the racers as well as spectators did not appear to know whom Swiss rider Winterberg was. “I didn’t know Lukas”, said Tim Johnson. “I didn’t know how strong he was. He was hurting us most of the race.”

Three laps into the event Johnson made a tactical decision that ultimately gave him the victory. “I knew if I was going to have a chance I had to spit it up. I only have an attack that lasts so long so it worked out pretty well.”

Only Gagne and Winterberg were able to match Johnson’s initial acceleration but both were quickly dispatched. Both could be seen trading pulls in an effort to pull back the ten seconds that Johnson eventually won by. In the end, Winterberg had just enough to pull away from Gagne who normally is an excellent sprinter.

Todd Wells, who was coming off two wins at Nittnany Lion Cross, looked competitive early but then got dropped when Johnson made his initial attack. He fell to the back of the chase group, and then lost contact with them also.

Wells tweeted after the race, “Phew, hard day for me at GMCX,6th, congrats Tim Johnson taking the "W". Also good to see Lyne Bessette back on the CX bike!”

With one lap to go, Lindine trailed Hyde by about 30 meters. During that final lap he managed to reel Hyde in and treated the crowd to a long exciting sprint finish. Having obviously paid for that last lap effort, Hyde edged out Lindine at the line to nail down fourth place.

Johnson seemed elated with his win, “Curtis White and I were psyched to start off the season like this. He’s a new team-mate of mine. I really haven’t been riding the bike that much.” Johnson went on to explain how he plans to ride himself into good form as the season progresses.”

Johnson added, “I first raced here in ’93 so I’ve been coming here (to Catamount) for a long time.”

The Green Mountain Cyclocross Weekend is a part of the Verge New England Cyclocross Series, the premier amateur cyclocross series in the US spanning six weekends of cyclocross racing at Green Mountain Cyclocross Weekend, the Great Brewers Gran Prix of Cyclocross, Providence Cyclocross Festival, Cycle-Smart International, Bay State Cyclocross, and the NBX Gran Prix of Cyclocross.

The Elite Men will compete in day two of the Green Mountain Cyclocross Weekend on Sunday. The weather is expected to continue to improve so the track should be in even better shape than on Saturday.

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