Compton, Powers wrap up Cincinnati ‘cross-fest with wins

• Photos
• Results

Katie Compton (Planet Bike-Stevens) made it three for three on Sunday in the final round of the Cincinnati UCI3 Cyclocross Festival, while Jeremy Powers (Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale) used a tight corner just before the finishing straight to get the better of Ryan Trebon (Kona).

The women’s race followed the script that had been written over the previous two rounds. Sue Butler (Monavie-Cannondale) got the hole shot, while Compton, who did not reconnoiter the course beforehand, was content to do her inspection during the race before riding off to another dominating win.

It was an uneventful ride for the U.S. champion, other than haggling with hecklers about their choice of a beer hand-up (a canned Pilsner). When a bottle of microbrew was produced the following lap, she obligingly hit the brakes, took the hand-up and chugged a good portion before dismounting for the barriers.

“At first I wasn’t going to, since this is a UCI race and we’re not supposed to take feeds,” she said with a smile. “But I had yelled back at them, ‘How about a microbrew?’ the lap before. So when they actually had one, I felt kind of obligated.”

Behind Compton, the race was anything but uneventful. Butler, Laura Van Gilder (C3-Athletes Serving Athletes) and Barbara Howe (Vanderkitten) were locked in a three-way, wheel-to-wheel battle. With two and a half laps to go, Butler endoed on an innocuous flower-bed obstacle. As spectacular as it was, she really didn’t lose any time to the other two as the section was so slow, and the battle came down to the finish.

The finishing stretch at Harbin is a 200-meter straight, on grass, up a hill and into the wind, and it follows one of the most technical sets of turns on the track.

Van Gilder, a strong road sprinter, was the danger woman in the trio and she knew it.

“I wasn’t going to put in an effort only to get attacked,” she said.

That left the heavy lifting to Howe and Butler. But when Howe was gapped with only a quarter lap remaining, Butler was left in the unenviable position of leading out Van Gilder in the sprint. She kept it close, but couldn’t match Van Gilder’s power.

In this corner . . .

In the men’s race did not. Troy Wells (Clif Bar) took the hole shot and gapped the field. Powers, Trebon, Barry Wicks (Kona) and Joachim Parbo (CCV-Leopard Cycles) formed the main chase group, only a few meters behind the leader.

Powers was the first to join Wells. About a lap and a half later, Trebon bridged the gap to Powers, who was now leading as Wells was paying the price for his enormous effort at the beginning of the race. That left Wicks and Parbo battling for fourth place, then for third as they caught Wells.

Trebon drove the pace, but couldn’t shake Powers. As they came into the final lap, Powers knew what he had to do.

“I remember the finish from last year and there was a tight 180 before the straight. I knew it was absolutely critical to be leading through there, so I railed it as hard as I could,” he said. “I could feel the front tire flexing over, so I was basically on the rim, and so was Ryan.”

Trebon agreed that the corner made the difference.

“I bobbled a little in that turn around the tree and Jeremy didn’t. He got a gap and that was it,” he said.

Behind them, Wicks disposed of Wells and Parbo to finish third.

Race note

In the bunch sprint for the final points positions, Ryan Knapp (BikeReg.com) touched wheels with Greg Wittwer (Alan North America). Knapp crashed hard just meters from the finish line, breaking his collarbone. Knapp rose after a few minutes and crossed the line with his bike to finish 11th, the same place he was in when he crashed. It was, unfortunately, a bad day for collarbones, as at least three were broken in crashes on completely different parts of the course.

Photo Gallery

Results

Women | (Men)

• 1. Katherine Compton, Planet Bike
• 2. Laura Van Gilder, C3 Sollay
• 3. Susan Butler, Monavie-Cannondale.com
• 4. Barbara Howe, Vanderkitten Racing
• 5. Deidre Winfield, C3 Sollay
• 6. Kristin Wentworth, Planet Bike
• 7. Kaitlin Antonneau, Planet Bike
• 8. Linda Sone, Planet Bike
• 9. Kimberly Flynn, Vantaggio-Specialized
• 10. Ashley James, Team Kenda
• 11. Anne Schwartz, Flying Rhino Cycling Club
• 12. Nicole Borem, Drt Consulting
• 13. Amanda Mckay, Biowheels-Reece-Campbell Racing
• 14. Elizabeth Frye, Boone Velo
• 15. Julie Kuliecza, Team Marshall Mechanical
• 16. Marne Smiley, Scott Bikes
• 17. Therese Meek, Bikeclicks-Team Louisville
• 18. Deb Whitmore, BMW-Bianchi
• 19. Julie Lewis-Sroka, Lake Effect
• 20. Bridget Donovan, Trek Store Cincinnati-Seven Cycles
• 21. Christy Blakely, BMW-Bianchi
• 22. Emily Benson, DRT Racing
• 23. Heidi Von Teitenberg, C3-Sollay.com
• 24. Whitney Kroll, Cane Creek

Men | ( Women)

• 1. Jeremy Powers, Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale
• 2. Ryan Trebon, Kona
• 3. Barry Wicks, Kona
• 4. Troy Wells, Team Clif Bar
• 5. Joachim Parbo, CCV-Leopard Cycles
• 6. Brian Matter, Team Geargrinder
• 7. Mark Lalonde, Planet Bike
• 8. Andrew Wulfkuhle, C3-Sollay.com
• 9. Greg Wittwer, Alan North America Cycling Team
• 10. Tom Burke, Lathrup Industries-Giant Bicycles
• 11. Ryan Knapp, Panther-RGF p/b Felt Bicycles
• 12. Nathan Wyatt, Carolina Fatz-Santa Cruz-Industry Nine
• 13. Mitchell Kersting, Bob’s Red Mill
• 14. Travis Livermon, Cannondale
• 15. Stephen Cummings, Indiana Regional Medical Center
• 16. Bryan Fawley, Hudz-Subaru
• 17. Ben Popper, HRS-Rock Lobster
• 18. Ryan Leech, Visitpa.com
• 19. Dave Weaver, Alan North America Cycling Team
• 20. Andrew Reardon, Starbrite Carwash / Moab
• 21. Molly Cameron, Portland Bicycle Studio
• 22. Eric Wondergem, Hup United
• 23. Mike Purvis, Workitout-KHS
• 24. Robert Kendall, Barbasol
• 25. Noah Metzler, Team Globalbike
• 26. Andrew Messer, DRT Racing
• 27. Zachary Edwards, DRT Racing
• 28. Matthew Weeks, Team Lake Effect
• 29. Brandon Jessop, Boulder Cycle Sport
• 30. Tyler Hawes, Team Globalbike
• 31. Jacob Virostko, Biowheels-Reece-Campbell Racing
• 32. Dustin Greer, Ohio Valley Velo-Maxxis
• 33. Joshua Whitmore, Team Globalbike
• 34. Ryan O’connor, Carlos O’Briens Racing

FILED UNDER: Cyclocross / News / Race Report / Race Result TAGS: Cincinnati UCI3 Cyclocross Festival