Powers wins Trek USGP of Cyclocross opener
Reigning national champion off to a strong start in 2012 season
Jeremy Powers (Rapha-Focus) grabbed the hole shot on the opening day of the Trek USGP of Cyclocross in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, and held off all challengers to take his second major win of the week. Powers battled a familiar field of suspects which included Ryan Trebon, Tim Johnson, Jamie Driscoll (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld), Jonathan Page, Chris Jones (Rapha-Focus), Ben Berden (Raleigh-Clement) and Lukas Flückiger (Trek World Racing.)
Despite stiff competition early in the race Powers was able to separate from the field at the halfway mark and make a clean run to the finish for his second C1 victory of the week. Johnson finished in second, 10 seconds back, followed by Flückiger at 24 seconds.
Wisconsin, the site of several memorable Jeremy Powers victories, including a win over Erwin Vervecken in 2009 and the site of his recent national championship, continued in helping push Powers toward his broader goal of success at the international level. "This is very important towards Louisville and getting those points to be on the front row," said Powers, who is targeting a top-5 finish at the upcoming World Cup races in Europe. "Madison has always been a really good place for me. My first national title was here a couple of months ago. Doing this again here, at the opening GP, I'm definitely excited."
After placing second to Powers at CrossVegas earlier in the week it was a bittersweet moment for Johnson, who is clearly coming into the 2012 better prepared than the previous season. "We just had two Cat 1s (C1), and I had two second places, that's a good thing," said Johnson after the race. "But I had two second places and I didn't win. That's the crappy part."
While Jeremy Powers nabbed the hole shot, the early laps of the race belonged to Flückiger, Trebon and Page who traded attacks with Powers throughout the Sun Prairie course. Flückiger, who is hot off a second place at the mountain bike cross country Worlds, looked to be the most confident of the riders in the lead group and put in several attacks before bobbles and mechanicals knocked him out of contention. "It was a good race for me anyway, I felt I have a lot of power," said Flückiger, whose 9th place finish at CrossVegas announced his arrival to the US cyclo-cross scene. "I have a second chance tomorrow. I can do it on this course, for sure."
Five laps into the race Powers quickly opened up a 10-second gap which the remainder of the field failed to close. Johnson kept the pressure on but couldn't reduce the gap to Powers, which hovered around 15 seconds in the closing laps of the race. Flückiger fought back from his troubles to finish third ahead of Chris Jones (4th) and Ben Berden (5th) who both spent most of their race chasing the lead group in no-man's land. In the U23 category Evan McNeely of Specialized Canada took the win over Cal Giants Yannick Eckmann and Cody Kaiser.
The challenges the USGP faced late in the summer due to sponsorship issues were not far from riders' and fans' thoughts as everyone left the venue to prepare for the second day of racing. Tim Johnson, the elder statesman of US cyclo-cross racing, expressed his appreciation to Trek and all those involved with the race who made sure the series could continue. "I definitely want to thank Trek for making it possible for us to play like we are. They are a competitor, they are new to the sport, but they are coming in at a such a great time," said Johnson after the race. "Being able to support Katie [Compton] and bring the series back to life is very key, and that goes across any kind of sponsor obligations or wants."
The second day of racing at the Trek USGP of Cyclocross, a C2 event, is scheduled for at 4:00 PM CDT in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin.
1 | Jeremy Powers (USA) Rapha-Focus | 1:03:02 |
2 | Timothy Johnson (USA) Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld | 0:00:10 |
3 | Lukas Flückiger (Swi) Trek World Racing | 0:00:24 |
4 | Christopher Jones (USA) Rapha-Focus | 0:00:35 |
5 | Ben Berden (Bel) Raleigh-Clement | 0:00:41 |
6 | Ryan Trebon (USA) Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld | 0:00:46 |
7 | Jonathan Page (USA) | 0:00:52 |
8 | James Driscoll (USA) Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld | 0:01:34 |
9 | Brian Matter (USA) Gear Grinder / Clif Bar | 0:01:38 |
10 | Matt Shriver (USA) | 0:01:41 |
11 | Evan McNeely (Can) Specialized Canada | 0:01:47 |
12 | Troy Wells (USA) Team Clif Bar | 0:01:59 |
13 | Tristan Schouten (USA) Optum Pro Cycling p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies | 0:02:06 |
14 | Yannick Eckmann (Ger) Cal Giant Berry Farms/Specialized | 0:02:22 |
15 | Lukas Winterberg (Swi) Team Müller Gartengestaltung/BH Bikes | Row 14 - Cell 2 |
16 | Isaac Neff (USA) Trek Cyclocross Collective | 0:03:02 |
17 | Travis Livermon (USA) Mock Orange Bikes | 0:03:21 |
18 | Corey Stelljes (USA) Cyclocrossracing.com | 0:03:25 |
19 | Shawn Milne (USA) Cyclocrossworld.com | 0:03:30 |
20 | Bryan Fawley (USA) Dallas Bike Works | Row 19 - Cell 2 |
21 | Allen Krughoff (USA) Raleigh-Clement | 0:03:41 |
22 | Cody Kaiser (USA) Cal Giant Berry Farms/Specialized | 0:03:48 |
23 | Tobin Ortenblad (USA) Ritte Elite U23 Development Team | 0:03:57 |
24 | Sven Baumann (Ger) Trek Cyclocross Collective | 0:04:08 |
25 | Jake Wells (USA) No Tubes Elite Cross Team | 0:04:11 |
26 | Andy Reardon (USA) Bob's Red Mill Cyclocross Team | 0:04:12 |
27 | Tom Burke (USA) Specialized Michigan | 0:04:33 |
28 | Jeffrey Bahnson (USA) Van Dessel Factory Team | 0:04:49 |
29 | Chris Jackson (USA) Castex Racing p/b Felt | 0:04:56 |
30 | Kevin McConnell (USA) Mercy-Specialized | Row 29 - Cell 2 |
31 | Kevin Bradford-Parish (USA) Cyclocrossracing.com | 0:05:12 |
32 | Jason Siegle (USA) SDG/Felt p/b IRT Wheels | 0:05:20 |
33 | Joshua Johnson (USA) Bissell-ABG-Nuvo | 0:05:29 |
34 | Bjorn Selander (USA) | 0:05:36 |
35 | Dallas Fowler (USA) Kuhl Midwest | 0:05:38 |
36 | Chad Hartley (USA) Kenda 5-hour Energy p/b Geargrinder | 0:05:39 |
37 | Jacob Lasley (USA) Team Soundpony | 0:05:44 |
38 | Braden Kappius (USA) Team Clif Bar | -2laps |
39 | Joseph Maloney (USA) KS Energy Services/Team Wisconsin | Row 38 - Cell 2 |
40 | Mark Parmelee (USA) Cycletherapy / Specialized Racing | Row 39 - Cell 2 |
41 | Luke Haley (USA) Bob's Red Mill Cyclocross Team | Row 40 - Cell 2 |
42 | Eric Thompson (USA) | Row 41 - Cell 2 |
43 | Christopher Cruise Bogedin (USA) Wolverine Elite Cyclocross Team | -3laps |
44 | Daniel Gerow (USA) Wolverine Racing Elite CX | Row 43 - Cell 2 |
45 | William Street (USA) Kuhl MTB-CX Team/ Velocity Wheels | Row 44 - Cell 2 |
46 | Adam York (USA) Cleveland Clinic Sports Health | -4laps |
47 | Dan Teaters (USA) RACC p/b Geargrinder | Row 46 - Cell 2 |
48 | Michael Hemme (USA) Rick Ross' Bag O Money | Row 47 - Cell 2 |
49 | Brandon Cross (USA) Cole Sport | Row 48 - Cell 2 |
50 | David Reyes (USA) SRAM Factory | Row 49 - Cell 2 |
51 | Micah Moran (USA) Freewheel Bike | Row 50 - Cell 2 |
52 | Jesse Rients (USA) KUHL | -5laps |
53 | Daniel Ajer (USA) GDVC | Row 52 - Cell 2 |
54 | Ross White (USA) RACC p/b Geargrinder | Row 53 - Cell 2 |
55 | Ray Smith (USA) Bob's Red Mill Cyclocross Team | Row 54 - Cell 2 |
56 | Ashton Wischmeier (USA) DRT/ Revolution Bike and Bean | -6laps |
DNF | Paul Mumford (USA) Chicago Cuttin Crew | Row 56 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Kevin Fish (USA) Super Squadra | Row 57 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Mitch Nordahl (USA) Team Plan C p/b Challenge Tires | Row 58 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Zach McDonald (USA) Rapha-Focus | Row 59 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Mitchell Hoke (USA) Team Clif Bar | Row 60 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Mitchell Kersting (USA) Bob's Red Mill Cyclocross Team | Row 61 - Cell 2 |
DNS | Anthony Viton (USA) BSM Cycling | Row 62 - Cell 2 |
DNS | Andrew Demey (USA) Team Pegasus | Row 63 - Cell 2 |
1 | Jeremy Powers (USA) Rapha-Focus | 50 | pts |
2 | Timothy Johnson (USA) Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld | 40 | Row 1 - Cell 3 |
3 | Lukas Flückiger (Swi) Trek World Racing | 34 | Row 2 - Cell 3 |
4 | Christopher Jones (USA) Rapha-Focus | 30 | Row 3 - Cell 3 |
5 | Ben Berden (Bel) Raleigh-Clement | 26 | Row 4 - Cell 3 |
6 | Ryan Trebon (USA) Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld | 23 | Row 5 - Cell 3 |
7 | Jonathan Page (USA) | 20 | Row 6 - Cell 3 |
8 | James Driscoll (USA) Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld | 17 | Row 7 - Cell 3 |
9 | Brian Matter (USA) Gear Grinder / Clif Bar | 14 | Row 8 - Cell 3 |
10 | Matt Shriver (USA) | 12 | Row 9 - Cell 3 |
11 | Evan McNeely (Can) Specialized Canada | 10 | Row 10 - Cell 3 |
12 | Troy Wells (USA) Team Clif Bar | 9 | Row 11 - Cell 3 |
13 | Tristan Schouten (USA) Optum Pro Cycling p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies | 8 | Row 12 - Cell 3 |
14 | Yannick Eckmann (Ger) Cal Giant Berry Farms/Specialized | 7 | Row 13 - Cell 3 |
15 | Lukas Winterberg (Swi) Team Müller Gartengestaltung/BH Bikes | 6 | Row 14 - Cell 3 |
16 | Isaac Neff (USA) Trek Cyclocross Collective | 5 | Row 15 - Cell 3 |
17 | Travis Livermon (USA) Mock Orange Bikes | 4 | Row 16 - Cell 3 |
18 | Corey Stelljes (USA) Cyclocrossracing.com | 3 | Row 17 - Cell 3 |
19 | Shawn Milne (USA) Cyclocrossworld.com | 2 | Row 18 - Cell 3 |
20 | Bryan Fawley (USA) Dallas Bike Works | 1 | Row 19 - Cell 3 |
1 | Evan McNeely (Can) Specialized Canada | 50 | pts |
2 | Yannick Eckmann (Ger) Cal Giant Berry Farms/Specialized | 40 | Row 1 - Cell 3 |
3 | Cody Kaiser (USA) Cal Giant Berry Farms/Specialized | 34 | Row 2 - Cell 3 |
4 | Tobin Ortenblad (USA) Ritte Elite U23 Development Team | 30 | Row 3 - Cell 3 |
5 | Jeffrey Bahnson (USA) Van Dessel Factory Team | 26 | Row 4 - Cell 3 |
6 | Joshua Johnson (USA) Bissell-ABG-Nuvo | 23 | Row 5 - Cell 3 |
7 | Luke Haley (USA) Bob's Red Mill Cyclocross Team | 20 | Row 6 - Cell 3 |
8 | Daniel Gerow (USA) Wolverine Racing Elite CX | 17 | Row 7 - Cell 3 |
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