Trebon stamps authority in Fort Collins

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Ryan Trebon (LTS- Felt) put forth a commanding performance during a muddy and technical cyclo-cross race to secure a second UCI C1 victory of the season at the New Belgium Cup p/b Poudre Valley Health in Fort Collins, Colorado. He soloed to the finish line for the win ahead of Geoff Kabush (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain) in second and Jeremy Powers (Rapha-Focus) in third.

“I’ve finally had some good races after a long stretch on not winning much last year,” Trebon told Cyclingnews. “At C1s the points are double and the money is a lot more, so it makes these wins a lot more attractive, but it’s nice to win anything.”

The event marked round three of the Exergy Cyclo-cross US Gran Prix series. Former double world champion Bart Wellens (Telenet-Fidea) was the series leader after strong performances during the two opening rounds at the Planet Bike Cup in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. However, he returned to Europe leaving the series overall competition wide open for Trebon to take back the leader’s jersey.

“I was only about 10 points behind Bart,” Trebon said. “I think I have a good lead now. I had two solid races at Planet Bike and then today. My fitness is good right now. I skipped Gloucester Grand Prix last weekend and came here pretty fresh and rested.”

The Elite men’s field lined up well prepared to contest desirable weather conditions for a cyclo-cross race with rain, high winds and cool temperatures. A good start was a high priority considering the wet, slippery and muddy conditions on the course and it was Powers who took the hole shot onto the grass.

Other contenders to follow Powers on the opening lap included Trebon, Ben Berden (Stoemper), Jamey Driscoll and Christian Heule (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com), Troy Wells (Clif Bar), Barry Wicks (Kona-FSA) and defending champion Geoff Kabush (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain).

Powers used his top-notch technical skills to gain a 15-second advantage ahead of his nearest competitors. He pushed a quick pace through the mud and gained additional time by bunny hopping the barriers and ride the challenging run up.

A bobble in a slick mud section force Powers to slow down and resulted in Trebon catching up to him on the second lap. The pair stretched their lead to 10-seconds ahead of third placed rider Kabush, who used his strong technical skills to work his way back into contention for the race win.

“I felt good on the bike and that makes it a lot easier to handle it,” Trebon said. “I was more relaxed and just let the bike slide around instead of fighting it in the mud the whole time.”

“Jeremy starts fast every weekend and he had a good gap,” he said. “I didn’t see the course too much because it was really nasty outside in the morning and I didn’t feel like going out there to freeze. I elected to stay on the trainer and ride. I took the first two laps easy to see the course and then applied the pressure after that.”

Trebon opened up a small gap ahead of Powers on the third lap. He used his large frame to power through the mud on the straightaway sections and tried to hold off Powers through the technical areas. “My fitness is my strong point,” Trebon said. “My bike handling has never been the best but I’m one of the good bike handlers, just not the best. I have to win races by fitness. I take the wins when they come.”

Riding slightly further back, Kabush rode a strong final two laps and caught and passed Powers to take second place. A cluster of riders pushed through the mud roughly two minutes back that included Driscoll, Yannick Eckmann, Wells, Chris Sheppard (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain), Berden, Wicks, Zac McDonald (Rapha-Focus) and Heule. One rider of note was former US mountain bike champion Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski who strong performance moved him into a respectable placing on the day.

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