Trebon powers into Planet Bike Cup victory

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Ryan Trebon (LTS-Felt) secured a hard-fought victory at the Exergy Cyclo-cross US Gran Prix’s Planet Bike Cup held in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. The American made his winning last-lap move before the final run up and soloed to victory ahead of former double world champion Bart Wellens (Telenet-Fidea) in second and Jeremy Powers (Rapha-Focus) in third.

“I don’t think I was stronger than the other two, I think we were evenly matched,” Trebon told Cyclingnews. “I think that I was riding the bike really well and I was confident in what I was doing. I made the fewest mistakes and I think that is was led to the race win. I made few mistakes and had enough energy to put in a big dig and hold them off.”

Planet Bike Cup Day 1 marked the first round of the USGP series. Trebon will wear the leader’s jersey heading into the Planet Bike Cup Day 2 held on Sunday at the same location.

“I definitely want to continue to do well at the races and doing that helps to stay near the [series] lead,” Trebon said. “I definitely want to win the USGP again this year.”

Race decided by three strong men

The Elite men’s race was 60 minutes on a technical and challenging cyclo-cross course. The circuit started on the pavement and turned onto the grass. The main challenges of the day were the twist and turns, barriers and the dirt run up located at the end of the circuit. “The race was super fast and really technical,” Trebon said.

Jeremy Powers (Rapha-Focus) took the hole shot onto the grass followed by teammates Bart Wellens and Rob Peeters (Telenet-Fidea).

Powers opened a small lead heading into the second lap ahead of chasers Wellens and Peeters along with another set of teammates Christian Heule, Jamey Driscoll and Tim Johnson (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com). Other riders in the long line of contenders included Jonathan Page (Planet Bike-Blue), Ryan Trebon (LTS-Felt), Geoff Kabush (Rocky Mountain-Maxxis) and Barry Wicks (KONA), among others.

US National Champion Todd Wells (Specialized Racing) had a rough start to the race and was forced to chase from mid-pack to try and put himself back in race contention.

Powers and Peeters join forces at the front of the race, however, their lead did not last long as Trebon, Peeters, Heule, Driscoll and Johnson latched back on to the leaders. However, he did not make it back into the top 10.

Powers bobbled trying to bunny hop the double log stairs located at the base of the run up at the end of the second lap. The mishap allowed Trebon and Peeters to move into the lead heading into the third lap. Also in the mix were Driscoll and Wellens.

Powers made up for his mistake on the previous lap when he successfully bunny hopped the stairs and opened a gap ahead of Trebon, Peeters, Wellens and Driscoll. Following close behind were Heule, Page, Johnson, Zac McDonald (Rapha-Focus) and Brian Matter.

The group of three strong-men emerged at the start of the fifth lap with Powers, Wellens and Trebon. Next in line were chasers Peeters, Driscoll and Johnson. “The three of us separated ourselves from the others about mid-race,” Trebon said.

Powers made a strong attack from the front of the trio and gained a sizable lead. Wellens, who was riding in second wheel, looked to Trebon to do the chasing. The three regained contact with one another at the end of the lap.

Powers put more pressure on the climb and opened another gap. Trebon was able to make contact with Powers and he immediately assumed the front position. However, Wellens was reluctant to give up chasing and regained contact at the start of the penultimate lap.

Powers race for the win came to an end when he bobbled over the stairs for a second time and he was forced to run, losing several seconds to Trebon and Wellens on the last lap. “I think Jeremy would have matched me a little bit more than Bart, who didn’t seem 100 percent today even though he was riding really well,” Trebon said.

Wellens moved to the front of the race and put forth a fast pace followed by Trebon and the pair gained a few more seconds on Powers. Trebon made his winning move before the last climb. He took no risks and safely got off his bike and ran, while his nearest rival, Wellens, rode the climb roughly three to five seconds back.

“I pushed the pace a little bit in this one little section in the woods,” Trebon said. “I gained about 10 feet and just accelerated. We came up to the second pit and a little uphill with slight headwind, and I just kept digging. I didn’t need a lot of time going into the climb so I had time to run. I knew that if I was going my max at that point and that they were probably also going their max too. The gap stayed the same to the finish line.”

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