Johnson wins third race of Cincy3 at Harbin Park

Tim Johnson (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) won his second consecutive race of the weekend on Sunday after attacking Jeremy Powers (Rapha-Focus) to win the Cincy3 Harbin Park cyclocross race, the final event of the Cincinnati International Cyclocross Festival. Powers finished second, and Ryan Trebon (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) narrowly beat out Ben Berden (Raleigh-Clement) in an exciting sprint finish to round out the podium in third place.

It was a good weekend for Johnson who won the marquee C1 race on Saturday, and finished second place on Friday. "It's nice to be able to talk to reporters after having a good race," laughed Johnson. "It's a nice change."

The dry, undulating, and twisty course, looked ideally suited to Jeremy Powers' skill set, but it was Tim Johnson who got things started at the gun, grabbing the hole shot, and taking an early lead. Trebon, Berden, and Zach McDonald slotted in behind Johnson and led a large group of fifteen riders at the front of the race.

The unusually large pack, led by Johnson, Berden, and Trebon stuck together for several laps until Jeremy Powers attacked, and started to distance himself from the group. The only rider to respond was Johnson, and the duo proceeded to grow their gap over the next several laps.

Looking for every advantage, Johnson took risks lap after lap, hitting the posts, and pushing the tape multiple times a lap. After trading blows for several laps, Johnson's aggressiveness was rewarded, when Powers started to show signs of fatigue.

"We were flying, Jeremy and I were taking hits at each other and punching," said Johnson. "He attacked a couple of times. When I finally got away from him, I had attacked twice in maybe two or three minutes, and I could tell he was kind of on the edge. There was a little bit of a gap behind me, and I knew that I had to go then. I wasn't going to race his race, I needed to race mine."

It was a disappointing loss for Powers, who felt the course and conditions ideally suited his strengths. "He had more, he kept going, and he went straight through me," said Powers about Johnson's ride. "Eventually he gapped me off with two to go. I just didn't have anything left to give honestly. I was surprised." Powers held on for second place, his best result of the three-day race weekend.

Trebon had been closing in on the leaders halfway through the race, but a bauble on the log section cost him valuable seconds, so the big man decided to sit in with the chase group, led by Ben Berden and Jamie Driscoll (Raleigh-Clement.) Trebon attacked in the closing laps, taking Berden with him, and the two sprinted down the final stretch of road to the finish.

"I knew he was waiting for the sprint, so I tried to take it easy and recover in the downhill sections before that," said Trebon about his sprint for third place. "If I went long I knew I could probably take him, so luckily I did. He was closing on me."

Ben Berden finished fourth followed by Driscoll in fifth, and Justin Lindine (Redline-NBX) in sixth.

The US ProCX racing schedule continues on November 9-10th at the Derby City Cup in Louisville, KY.