Owen a class above in USGP juniors

Logan Owen (Redline) proved once again Saturday that on any given day he is the class of Junior cyclocross racing in the US. The 17-year-old from Bremerton, Washington, added another win to his already long palmares during the opening day of the US Gran Prix Deschutes Brewery Cup in Bend, Oregon.

Owen, a seven-time Junior national champion who won both USGP races on the soon-to-be world championship course in Louisville, Kentucky, wasted no time distancing himself from the field Saturday in Bend. Owen opened up an advantage on the first lap and had a 20-second gap on series leader Maxx Chance (Clif Bar Development Team), Nathaniel Morse (Hot Tubes), Spencer Downing (Clif Bar Development Team) and Garrett Gerchar (Boulder Junior Cycling), each of whom chased individually, by the end of the first circuit.

Owen appeared to put it in cruise control as his gap grew to nearly half a minute, but as the young rider went through the start finish to start his fifth of six laps, he told announcers and officials that the lap would be “a quick one.” The Redline rider kept his word, knocking 30 seconds off his previous fastest lap time and covering the loop in just under seven minutes. He also put another 30 seconds into Chance, who was now leading Gerchar, Morse and Downing.

“I'm trying to save a lot of energy for Europe,” Owen said. “I'm not trying to go too deep. I want to try and go a little harder tomorrow, but I just wanted to try one fast lap and see if I could run a faster lap than the pros today. I just wanted to see where it lays into their times. Sub-seven, that's good for me. I'm happy with it.”

Owen maintained that gap to finish more than a minute over second- and third-placed riders Chance and Gerchar, and more than two minutes over Morse and Downing, who came in fourth and fifth.

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