Jeremy Powers inches out Stephen Hyde for victory

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USA Champion Jeremy Powers (Aspire Racing) had to dig deep into his reserves on Sunday to fend off four last lap contenders and take the win. Stephen Hyde (Cannondale) was bested in a sprint finish by less than a wheel width and had to settle for second place. Danny Summerhill (Maxxis Shimano) looked strong the entire race, but was not close enough on the finishing straightaway to contend for the win. He rounded out the podium in third place.

Stephen Hyde took the hole-shot today and clearly appeared to be on a mission. His teammate Curtis White was on his wheel and the two Cannondale riders controlled the initial racing. Powers was several positions back, but not as far as during Saturday’s race. Danny Summerhill, Tobin Ortenblad (Santa Cruz), Dan Timmerman (Stan’s NoTubes), and Kerry Werner (Kona) were all in the mix during the opening laps.

With one lap to go, Powers lead an elite group of five through the start/finish and it was apparent that he had no intention of giving up the lead. Of the followers, Summerhill was riding just inches behind Power’s wheel, and appeared eager to pounce.

Powers explained the racing, “It was a really fast race today, even faster than yesterday because it was all buffed out due to the rain last night. I knew that I didn’t have the legs of yesterday…if yesterday was hard to eat time then today was really, really hard to eat time.

Powers continued, “I knew that I need to be first into the last corners, and I knew that it was going to come down to a sprint. I kind of saved my effort for the last 15 minutes of the race, otherwise I would be shooting off bullets that were not necessary and making myself tired. So, I had to force it at the end and hope the other guys would be tired enough from the effort, and I could take the sprint.”

With both C1 and C2 wins in his first weekend of racing, Powers can take that earned confidence to the Trek Cup next weekend in Madison, Wisconsin; then to the World Cups in Las Vegas and Iowa City. His stated goal this season is to earn a spot on a World Cup podium, and he appears to be in a better position than ever to do it.

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