Trebon out-sprints Johnson in USGP thriller

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After twice coming in as runner-up during the 2009 and 2010 national championships in Bend and then missing the inaugural Deschutes Brewery Cup because of injury last year, Ryan Trebon finally scored a big hometown win Saturday at the US Gran Prix of Cyclocross.

The Bend resident out-sprinted Tim Johnson down the finishing straight after the two Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com teammates separated themselves from an elite lead group of four about halfway through the 60-minute race.

“I'm stoked,” a shivering Trebon said after the race, which finished in near darkness and close-to-freezing temperatures. “Unfortunately, I wasn't able to race last year, and so it's nice to come out here and win this year. It's always nice racing at home. I always like being here, and I think we get the most rambunctious crowds all season here in Oregon and especially in Bend. It was awesome. It was a good race today.”

Day one of the USGP finale started off fast and furious as a youth movement led by Danny Summerhill (Chipotle Development Team) and Zach McDonald (Rapha-Focus) blasted off the start line to take the holeshot into turn one leading to the largely dirt and wooded section of the course.

As the riders emerged from the woods, Trebon had joined Summerhill, and the duo had a gap of about five seconds over Johnson, McDonald and Yannick Eckmann (Cal Giant-Specialized) as they started the second of nine laps. Half a lap later, Johnson and Eckmann had joined the leaders, while McDonald, Adam Craig (Rabobank), Jamey Driscoll (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) and Ben Berden (Raleigh-Clement) dangled just behind.

Starting lap four, the lead quartet, which now included Summerhill, Trebon, Johnson and Eckmann, had a dozen seconds on Craig, Driscoll, Berden and McDonald. Summerhill continually attacked the lead group, hoping a couple of podium finishes in Bend could lift him from sixth overall onto the series podium. Trebon was impressed with Summerhill's aggressiveness, but not really worried.

“He was pretty good,” Trebon said if his younger opponent. “But I could tell he was going hard because he wasn't super smooth on the bike. He was making little mistakes.”

One of those mistakes cost Summerhill his spot with the leaders just as they were about to start lap five. Summerhill tangled with some course tape in an off-camber grass section just before the start/finish straightaway and fell hard, smashing his helmet on the ground with force.

“I was hoping for a win/podium today,” Summerhill said. “But that was obviously not gonna happen once I hit the deck that hard. I think I broke my helmet. I did a real good number. I'm just glad it was grass that I landed on and not pavement.”

Summerhill's crash prompted Trebon to attack, which also spelled the end of Eckmann's ride with the leaders. As they turned the corner to start lap six, Trebon and Johnson had a 13-second lead over Eckmann and another healthy gap back to Summerhill, Craig, Driscoll and Berden.

Seeing his opportunity for a podium spot riding just up the road in Eckmann, Summerhill pressed the pace again, eventually pulling Eckmann back into the chase group, while Johnson and Trebon worked well together to add another 20 seconds to their advantage.

“Once I made a big effort and Tim came up to me, we kind of just sat on each other and worked together little bit,” Trebon said. “But it's kind of one of those things where we wait until the gap is big enough and then we can race each other for the win.”

Trebon and Johnson had several conversations during the race as they motored over the smooth pavement of the start/finish straight, and it looked like Trebon was “encouraging” his teammate to take a turn on the front. But Johnson said they were both always on the same page.

“We were talking about sharing the load because we had a gap over third place,” Johnson said. “It's kind of one of those things where we help contribute to stay away so that we have a shot to win, and not have someone make a mistake and someone else comes up and messes with our party.”

While Johnson and Trebon made arrangements for their own party, the battle for the final podium spot was lighting off fireworks behind them. While Summerhill and Craig appeared to be the strongest riders in the chase group, another bobble by the Chipotle rider opened the gate for Craig to ride onto the podium.

“I let Adam go, stupidly, because I crashed into some fencing, and that was all she wrote,” Summerhill said. “Better luck next time, I guess. I'll be back tomorrow.”

With Craig now chasing solo about 45 seconds back, and the rest of the chasers spread out behind him, the battle for the top two podium spots shifted into high gear. Johnson tried to ditch Trebon in some of the tight turns of the wooded section, but his teammate adhered to him like a wet tongue to a frozen pole.

“I tried to get Ryan to make a mistake a couple of times in the woods,” Johnson said. “But he was riding really well in the technical stuff. In the straightaways he's obviously such a big, strong, powerful rider, it's always tough to match him like that.”

Trebon had the same idea and looked for his opportunity to jump around Johnson on the final lap so he could have the lead going through the final corner.

“I knew I needed to be in the front for the sprint, and so I kind of took the inside before the last little turn at the exit of pit 2,” Trebon said. “I just kind of kept the tempo up and tried to position myself well so I could lead out the sprint. It's so short, there's no way I could have come around.”

Trebon's strategy worked; he led through the final corner and easily held off Johnson for the win. Craig held on for third, coming in 54 seconds after the leaders. Summerhill came in fourth, followed by McDonald, the top U23 finisher. Craig's result marked his first podium appearance at the USGP, and it provided some extra motivation for the rest of the season.

“This was always the goal, to be in the mix,” Craig said. “It would have been nice to make the separation with [Johnson and Trebon] early in the race. I'll definitely try and do that tomorrow, because once you get a little taste. It would be good to keep the other local smokey honest, too. It's awesome to be on the podium, and I didn't expect this at all.”

Will the “other local smokey” to which Craig was referring be back for another taste of the winner's step on Sunday? Trebon wouldn't make any predictions.

“Tomorrow is a different day,” he said.

Full results

Final USGP Series Standings - Elite Men

Final USGP Series Standings - U23 Men