Powers takes advantage of Trebon's troubles

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Jeremy Powers (Rapha-Focus) out-sprinted Ben Berden (Raleigh-Clement) to win a tightly contested race at Sunday’s Derby City Cup.

Ryan Trebon (Cannondale-Cyclcocrossworld.com) went close to winning his second race of the weekend, but missed out due to a late race mistake which enabled Powers and Berden to jump around him for the final sprint.

“Ryan was going good at the end but that’s the whole thing with cyclo-cross, you make a mistake and someone else capitalizes from it,” said Powers about Trebon’s error.

“It’s one of those Hail Marys. He threw it up there, he went for the gold, and he just came up short. But I know what that’s like.”

The race started fast, with Shawn Milne (Keough Cyclocross-Felt), one of the strongest road sprinters in the USA, grabbing the hole-shot but it was a hungry Ben Berden who would take over at the front and form the first selection of the race.

Berden was joined by Danny Summerhill (K-Edge-Felt), Yannick Eckmann (California Giant–Specialized), and Logan Owen (California Giant-Specialized) at the front of the race, and the foursome proceeded to motor through Eva Bandman Park.

Trebon soon took up the chase, and was tailed by Adam Craig (Giant Factory Off Road Team) and Tim Johnson (Cannondale-Cyclcocrossworld.com). As soon as he made it across to the leaders, Trebon went on the attack. The aggressive trio of Trebon, Summerhill, and Berden, traded the lead multiple times a lap as each rider pushed and probed the others for weakness. Berden rode the technical sections of the course effortlessly, and was notably aggressive the entire race.

“I was racing really hard from the beginning,” said Berden. “I tried to gap them but they had small efforts to catch me all the time.”

With four laps to go Powers finally made contact with the lead group, which was now comprised of Trebon, Berden, Summerhill, Craig, and Johnson. Powers had lost sight of the leaders in the early laps of the race, and had to fight his way up, one rider at a time.

“I felt like I couldn’t really do anything until I got out of traffic,” said Powers. “It took that long for guys to pop, and for them to go easy enough, that I could get by in the singletrack sections.”

Powers took a lap to recover, and then went on the offensive. Now in control of the race, he was only matched in the technical sections of the course by Berden and Trebon.

With one lap to go Powers and Trebon began to fight for the lead, each taking a turn at the front when the other would make a mistake. Trebon finally gained a decisive advantage after edging out Powers in a 180 downhill turn, which earned him the lead and a few valuable seconds on his rival.

Going into the final stretch Trebon looked to have the race sewn up but it was not to be. In the last technical section of the course, a tricky rutted path that led into a sharp downhill, then steep uphill immediately before road to the finish, Trebon lost his lead.

“I was like ‘Get through this section, and we’re all in the clear!’, and I just messed it up,” said a disappointed Trebon. “I had to get off my bike, run to the top, and get back on. I was out of my pedals, and all over the place.”

Jeremy Powers went around Trebon on the left, and Berden came around him on his right. Berden didn’t clear the hill cleanly, and the mistake enabled Powers to get a 10-meter gap in the final road section to the finish. Powers sprinted to victory, and Berden finished second. Danny Summerhill finished third, and Trebon held on for fourth.

The Midwest cyclo-cross calendar continues next weekend on November 15-17 at the Carousel Volkswagen Jingle Cross Rock cyclo-cross race in Iowa City, Iowa.