Powers wins Trek USGP of Cyclocross opener

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Jeremy Powers (Rapha-Focus) grabbed the hole shot on the opening day of the Trek USGP of Cyclocross in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, and held off all challengers to take his second major win of the week. Powers battled a familiar field of suspects which included Ryan Trebon, Tim Johnson, Jamie Driscoll (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld), Jonathan Page, Chris Jones (Rapha-Focus), Ben Berden (Raleigh-Clement) and Lukas Flückiger (Trek World Racing.)

Despite stiff competition early in the race Powers was able to separate from the field at the halfway mark and make a clean run to the finish for his second C1 victory of the week. Johnson finished in second, 10 seconds back, followed by Flückiger at 24 seconds.

Wisconsin, the site of several memorable Jeremy Powers victories, including a win over Erwin Vervecken in 2009 and the site of his recent national championship, continued in helping push Powers toward his broader goal of success at the international level. "This is very important towards Louisville and getting those points to be on the front row," said Powers, who is targeting a top-5 finish at the upcoming World Cup races in Europe. "Madison has always been a really good place for me. My first national title was here a couple of months ago. Doing this again here, at the opening GP, I'm definitely excited."

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After placing second to Powers at CrossVegas earlier in the week it was a bittersweet moment for Johnson, who is clearly coming into the 2012 better prepared than the previous season. "We just had two Cat 1s (C1), and I had two second places, that's a good thing," said Johnson after the race. "But I had two second places and I didn't win. That's the crappy part."

While Jeremy Powers nabbed the hole shot, the early laps of the race belonged to Flückiger, Trebon and Page who traded attacks with Powers throughout the Sun Prairie course. Flückiger, who is hot off a second place at the mountain bike cross country Worlds, looked to be the most confident of the riders in the lead group and put in several attacks before bobbles and mechanicals knocked him out of contention. "It was a good race for me anyway, I felt I have a lot of power," said Flückiger, whose 9th place finish at CrossVegas announced his arrival to the US cyclo-cross scene. "I have a second chance tomorrow. I can do it on this course, for sure."

Five laps into the race Powers quickly opened up a 10-second gap which the remainder of the field failed to close. Johnson kept the pressure on but couldn't reduce the gap to Powers, which hovered around 15 seconds in the closing laps of the race. Flückiger fought back from his troubles to finish third ahead of Chris Jones (4th) and Ben Berden (5th) who both spent most of their race chasing the lead group in no-man's land. In the U23 category Evan McNeely of Specialized Canada took the win over Cal Giants Yannick Eckmann and Cody Kaiser.

The challenges the USGP faced late in the summer due to sponsorship issues were not far from riders' and fans' thoughts as everyone left the venue to prepare for the second day of racing. Tim Johnson, the elder statesman of US cyclo-cross racing, expressed his appreciation to Trek and all those involved with the race who made sure the series could continue. "I definitely want to thank Trek for making it possible for us to play like we are. They are a competitor, they are new to the sport, but they are coming in at a such a great time," said Johnson after the race. "Being able to support Katie [Compton] and bring the series back to life is very key, and that goes across any kind of sponsor obligations or wants."

The second day of racing at the Trek USGP of Cyclocross, a C2 event, is scheduled for at 4:00 PM CDT in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin.