Powers storms to second US 'cross championship
By Ben Delaney/Immediate Media
Trebon earns silver, Johnson bronze in Boulder
Jeremy Powers (Rapha-Focus) had spent days pre-riding the course, weeks getting acclimated to Boulder's altitude, and years perfecting his technique and fitness. On Sunday at the US Cyclocross National Championships in Colorado, all Powers had to do was deliver. And deliver he did, sprinting to the holeshot in the first corner and holding the lead for 60 minutes until he had another national title to his name.
"It was an excellent course for me. It dried out perfect," said Powers of the course that was hit with 10 inches of snow just days before. "It had a lot of off-cambers, a lot of tricky, fast, tight turns. It suited me perfect." With a headwind blasting straight down on the field through the opening straight, Powers blasted off the line, head down.
"That was hard!" a gassed but smiling Trebon said at the finish. "Jeremy was going fast from the start. He had a little more bass than I did the whole race. I was just hanging on. I felt good – good enough for second. Jeremy was just on it. He was riding really good, just smooth."
Held at the Valmont Bike Park in Boulder, the course was split in two, with sharp elevation gains in the first half and a flatter, serpentine track in the second half. Powers ran up the 24 wooden steps of the tall 5280 staircase, his bike held ‘suitcase' style at his side.
The taller Trebon would throw his bike over his shoulder, galloping up behind. Course organizers built a vicious, off-camber, curving descent off the top of the course after the stairs. Dubbed "Pete's Plunge," the section tore more than a couple tubulars off their rims throughout the week of racing, and caused scores of riders to slip out earlier in the week after 10 inches of snow blanketed the course. On Sunday in dry conditions, Pete's Plunge still claimed a few victims, and even Powers and Trebon would often stick a leg out as they railed around the steep, tufted corner.
'Cross veteran Tim Johnson (Cannondale-Cyclocross) had a disastrous start, getting knocked out of his pedal a split second after the gun fired. While his competitors sprinted up the dirt road, Johnson stuttered, pawing at his pedal to get going again. "It was huge. A start like that, it is so important. My foot that was already in the pedal got knocked out by the front wheel of somebody next to me. So there I was, no gas, no power. It took me a full lap to get back up to where I was," Johnson said. "The gap was already there. Obviously those guys were riding so strong, putting time on me every lap, so it's not like I lost the race because of that. Jeremy and Ryan are definitely the worthy top two riders today."
Johnson is a rarity in North America as a professional cyclocross racer; all the other top 'cross names in the US race road or mountainprofessionally. Johnson did hail from road, however, spending time on American and European squads.
Defending national champion Jonathan Page (Fuji-Spy Optics) was in contention early — joining Johnson and Allen Krughoff (Raleigh-Clement) in a second-lap pursuit of Powers and Trebon — but he faded to eventually finish sixth, 2:51 behind Powers. "Tim Johnson slipped out of his pedal, came over on me, so I was behind at the beginning. I never recovered from that really," Page said at the finish. "I tried my best. That's all I could do today."
Krughoff's Raleigh-Clement teammate Jamey Driscoll linked up with him in the closing laps, and the paired team time trialed through the wind, which was gusting up to 35mph/56kph. "It was really about straight-up fitness today," Driscoll said. "I was hoping to be up with (Powers and Trebon), but I don't know how I could have done that based on how I rode and how fast those guys were going."
Krughoff, who was enjoying his best-ever nationals finish, was laughing at the finish about the chaotic start. "There were guys slipping pedals, guys coming into each other. There was a lot of tension in the first straight away, since guys know what happens once gaps are established," Krughoff said. "I felt like I was flying into the Death Star with stuff flying all around me."
For Powers, an East Coast rider, his preparation time invested in coming to Colorado early had paid dividends. "I had come here, and I had ran the stairs 1,000 times. I had hit that off-camber 20 times before we got out here," Powers said. "I know how much I can gain from being at altitude. Being here early was definitely key for me to win today. It was a bit of a sacrifice to be away from home for three weeks, but in the end it paid off." As with his compatriot Katie Compton, Powers will be taking his new stars-and-stripes skinsuit to the Worlds in Netherlands.
Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Jeremy Powers (Rapha Focus) | 0:59:16 |
2 | Ryan Trebon (Cannondale pb Cyclocrossworld) | 0:00:43 |
3 | Timothy Johnson (Cannondale pb Cyclocrossworld) | 0:01:36 |
4 | James Driscoll (Raleigh Clement) | 0:02:32 |
5 | Allen Krughoff (Raleigh Clement) | |
6 | Jonathan Page (Fuji/Spyoptics) | 0:02:51 |
7 | Daniel Summerhill (K-Edge/Felt) | 0:03:28 |
8 | Justin Lindine (Team Redline) | |
9 | Tristan Schouten (UCI CT/WPT: Team Optum p/b Kell) | 0:03:53 |
10 | Troy Wells (TEAM CLIF BAR Cycling) | 0:04:41 |
11 | Kerry Werner (Mock Orange Bikes) | 0:04:49 |
12 | Anthony Clark (JAM Fund/NCC) | 0:04:50 |
13 | Jake Wells (Stans Notubes Elite Cyclocross) | 0:05:04 |
14 | Barry Wicks (Kona) | 0:05:20 |
15 | Russell Stevenson (Voler) | 0:05:32 |
16 | Stephen Hyde (JAM Fund/NCC) | 0:05:33 |
17 | Robert Marion (American Classic Pro CX Team) | 0:05:54 |
18 | Jeremy Durrin (UCI CT/WPT: Team Optum p/b Kell) | 0:05:57 |
19 | Tim Allen (Feedback Sports Racing) | 0:06:10 |
20 | Bryan Alders (Marin Bikes) | 0:06:30 |
21 | Joseph Maloney (Team Wisconsin) | 0:07:03 |
22 | Braden Kappius (TEAM CLIF BAR Cycling) | 0:08:11 |
23 | Christopher Case (Boulder Cycle Sport) | - 2 laps |
24 | William Iaia (Groove Subaru Excel Sports) | |
25 | Steven Stefko (Fort Collins Cycling Team) | |
26 | Daniel Chabanov (Connecticut Yankee BC) | |
27 | Jake Sitler (SEAVS/Haymarket) | |
28 | Joseph Clemenzi (Sports Garage Cycling) | |
29 | Kevin Bradford-Parish (SET coaching/Specialized) | |
30 | Erik Tonkin (Kona) | |
31 | Spencer Powlison (Evol Elite Racing) | |
32 | Dan Timmerman (Connecticut Yankee BC) | |
33 | Taylor Carrington (Feedback Sports Racing) | |
34 | Alex Ryan (Mock Orange Bikes) | |
35 | Jared Nieters (SEAVS/Haymarket) | |
36 | Mitchell Hoke (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strateg) | |
37 | Jerome Townsend (BikeReg.com/Cannondale) | |
38 | Corey Stelljes (Racers Against Childhood Cancer) | |
39 | Walton Brush (MASH SF) | |
40 | Greg Krause (Groove Subaru Excel Sports) | |
41 | Michael Burleigh (Primal - Audi Denver) | |
42 | Nicholas Lemke (Scalo Veloce) | |
43 | Michael Wilk (3D Racing) | |
44 | Innokenty Zavyalov (Minnesota Cycling Team) | |
45 | Adam St Germain (ENGVT) | |
46 | Eric Thompson (Mt. Borah Epic Team) | |
47 | Ken Benesh (Evol Elite Racing) | - 3 laps |
48 | Troy Heithecker (Roosters/Bikers Edge-UT) | |
49 | Jason Sager (Angry Catfish) | |
50 | Bryson Perry (DNA Cycling) | |
51 | Alex Work (Bicycle Bluebook/HRS/Rock Lobst) | |
52 | Scott Chapin (BicycleBlueBook/HRS/Rocklobster) | |
53 | Mark Flis (The X-Men) | |
54 | Andrew Reardon (Bob's Red Mill Cyclocross) | |
55 | Josh Whitney (Evol Elite Racing) | |
56 | Jay Strothman | |
57 | John Klish (Feedback Sports Racing) | |
58 | Nicholas Keough (Keough Cyclocross) | |
59 | Evan Murphy (NYC Velo/The Cannibal) | |
60 | Shawn Harshman (Boulder Cycle Sport) | - 4 laps |
61 | Josh Bauer (Hollywood Cycles) | |
62 | Russell Finsterwald (SRAM Factory) | |
63 | Kacey Campbell 0 | |
64 | Paul Lugar (Boulder Running Company Cycling) | |
65 | Grant Holicky (Evol Elite Racing) | |
66 | Jp Brocket (Ethos Racing) | |
67 | Robbie Jones (Hastle Free Sports) | |
68 | Andrew Loaiza (Rocky Mountain Road Club) | |
69 | Shadd Smith (KCCX Fuji Elite Cyclocross Team) | |
70 | Brett Pirie (Groove Subaru Excel Sports) | |
71 | Mike Friedberg (Yellow Belly) | |
72 | Brad Neagos (Natural Grocers Cycling Team) | |
73 | Brian Lehman (Simple Racing) | |
74 | Nathan Brown (Bontrager Cycling Team) | |
75 | Matt Davies (Boulder Cycle Sport) | |
76 | Dylan Postier (Team Undiscovered) | |
77 | Nick Schaffner (Marc Pro - Strava) | |
78 | Tom Horrocks (The X-Men) | - 5 laps |
79 | Peat Henry (Team Noah Foundation) | |
80 | Aaron Bouplon (Bicycle Racing Association of C) | |
81 | Eric Lundgren (JBV Coaching) | |
82 | Brian Hludzinski (Boulder Cycle Sport) | |
83 | Adam Finck (Team Velocity Bike Shop) | |
84 | Todd Cassan | |
85 | Kelly Nowels (Ravenna Capital Management) | |
86 | Marcus Bush (Synergy) | |
87 | Kailin Waterman (Bicycle Bluebook/HRS/Rock Lobst) | |
88 | Jonathan Delacey (Durango Wheel Club) | |
89 | Chance Cooke (Great Northern Cycling Club) | |
90 | Eric Nelson (Mudfoot) | |
91 | Jw Miller (Erik's Bike Club/Eriks Bike Sho) | |
92 | Michael Garrett (Massachusetts Institute of Tech) | |
93 | Scott Arnold (Athlete Octane) | |
94 | Michael James (Prima Tappa Cycling) | |
95 | Jim Gentes (Buy-Cell.com) | |
96 | Jordan Nguyen (Team Super Awesome) | |
97 | Josh Weis (Colavita Racing Inc.) | - 7 laps |
DNS | Ben Cross (Austinbikes/Revenant) | |
DNS | Justin Doll (The X-Men) | |
DNS | Craig Faulkner (Crossniacs) | |
DNS | Brian Finnerty (California Giant Cycling) | |
DNS | John Flack (CBC Racing) | |
DNS | Justin Healy (Ski Utah|Plan 7) | |
DNS | Michael Lackey (Birmingham Velo) | |
DNS | Brandon Melott (Team Soundpony) | |
DNS | Andre-Paul Michaud (Durango Wheel Club) | |
DNS | Wiley Mosley (Team Super Awesome) | |
DNS | Adam Myerson (UCI CT: Team SmartStop p/b Moun) | |
DNS | Colby Pearce | |
DNS | Michael Robson (Moots) | |
DNS | David Sheek (SDG Felt) | |
DNS | Jason Siegle (SDG Felt) | |
DNS | Christopher Smith (The Fix Studio) | |
DNS | David Weber (Team Kappius) | |
DNS | Todd Wells (Specialized Factory Racing) | |
DNF | Robert Berghel (Village Volkswagon) | |
DNF | Ronald Glowczynski (BikeFlights) | |
DNF | Hunter Keating (Harmony Systems Pro Cycling) | |
DNF | Quinn Keogh (Harmony Systems Pro Cycling) | |
DNF | Jeff Kluck (Queen City Cycling) | |
DNF | Zach Mcdonald (Rapha-Focus) | |
DNF | Shawn Milne (Keough Cyclocross) | |
DNF | Paul Rapinz (Boulder Running Company Cycling) |
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