Berden tops Boulder Cup podium

Ben Berden (Stoemper) secured a hard-fought and tactical victory at the UCI C1 Victory Circle Graphix Boulder Cup held at the new Valmont Bike Park on Sunday. The Belgian made his timely winning move during the final few hundred metres of the race, out-pacing the previous day’s winner Ryan Trebon (LTS-Felt) in second and Tim Johnson (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com) in third.

“Ben Berden was racing aggressive too and he rode a really good race today,” said Trebon who acknowledged Berden as the deserving race winner.

“He went with a last attack from Geoff Kabush and I waited a little and tried to bridge across later on the hill. Geoff led most of the last lap, but Ben put in a big effort on the one last mud section. I tried to bring him back but didn’t have anything. Ben rode a really good last lap and won, that’s all you need right.”

The race was held at the newly opened Valmont Bike Park where racers were challenged to a three-kilometre course that played off of the park’s steep run-ups and grass terrain. Racers were also treated to a 20-foot wide and 100-foot long staircase on each lap and two decisive mud section located close to the finish line.

“The course was awesome,” Johnson told Cyclingnews. “They had a great ‘cross course in the bike park. It was up and down, twisting around and a huge section for fans that was packed full of people. The course took people out left and right, there was mud and tight corners and so many things going against the group. But, it was an amazing park and lots of crowds.”

The top riders lined up to contest the Elite men’s 60-minute race included Trebon along with podium finishers US National Champion Todd Wells (Specialized Racing) and Jamey Driscoll (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com). Other strong contenders included Johnson and Berden (Stoemper) and Geoff Kabush (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain), and youngsters Yannick Eckmann (Pearl Izumi-Shimano-Focus) and Danny Summerhill (Chipotle Development).

Mid-race, a front group of riders emerged that included Trebon, Johnson, Wells, Berden, Kabush, Driscoll, Summerhill and Tristan Schouten (Cyclocrossracing.com), among others.

“The pace was really up and down,” Johnson said. “We would go full gas when Ryan or Geoff attacked but then the pace would fall back down again. It was a combination of altitude and some of those guys were hurting from yesterday’s race. I was aggressive at the end of the race but definitely being patient during the rest of the race.”

The race turned into a slug-fest on the final two laps with blow-by-blow coming from Trebon, Wells and Johnson. Kabush made one last attack with Berden in tow on the last lap. The pair gained a small lead heading into the final two decisive mud sections before the finish line.

“The group kept getting split and by the end there was about five of us,” Trebon said. “I didn’t think it would be so tactical today because there was a lot of elevation on the course and tough mud sections. But with the combination of a big hill and a long downhill to recover on, everyone was saving energy for the last two mud sections.”

Trebon and Johnson managed to work their way round late-race attacker Kabush for the final podium placing, but were unable to catch race winner Berden. Johnson was some-what pleased with his third place finish on the day after making the difficult decision not to race the previous day due to fatigue.

“We just couldn’t catch those guys until the last straightaway,” Johnson said. “Ryan over took Kabush and I had to throw my bike, so it was a photo finish for third between me and Kabush. I’m not happy with third but I’ll take it because it’s an improvement for me. The C1 was definitely the most important day and when I pre-rode the C2 course yesterday I knew that I didn’t have a lot in the tank and decided to listen to my body and what was going on.”