THIS WEEK IN PRO CYCLING
Powers, Compton sweep Cinci' 'cross
In the country’s only three-day weekend of UCI cyclocross, Katie Compton (Spike Professional/Primus Mootry) and Jeremy Powers (Cyclocrossworld.com) completed their respective hat-tricks in the Cincinnati International Cyclocross Festival, winning the BioWheels/United Dairy Farmers Harbin Park International on Sunday.
In the men’s race, Powers had his hands full as the field charged from the line battling for the hole shot at more than 30mph and with no-one giving up ground early. By lap 2, Powers and six others made the selection: Troy Wells and teammate Danny Summerhill (Clif Bar), Jonathan Baker (Vitamin Cottage), Bjorn Selander (Ridley Factory), Jeremiah Bishop (Trek Factory), and Barry Wicks (Kona). Joachim Parbo (CCV Leopard Cycles) dangled in eighth where he would finish the day.
On lap 4, knowing his teammate was back to defend, Wells made the first effort to whittle the group down and attacked in the sand pit. Wicks was in trouble. The group freight-trained to the top of the water tower climb.
On the backside of the course, through a tough down/up section, the group split with Bishop, Powers and Wells in the driver’s seat. Off the pace, Wicks made a bike change. However, by lap 5, Baker, Selander, and Summerhill managed to claw back on to Powers, Bishop and Wells. Through the deep sand on lap six, Wells went again, this time putting Bishop and Powers on the defensive and gapping Summerhill and Selander. Bishop and Powers weren’t done yet and made it back to the front. Within the lap, Summerhill and Selander did too. It would be decided on the last lap, high drama at Cincinnati’s Harbin Park.
The bell rang for lap 9, and this time Powers attacked near the finish line shaking Sumerhill and Selander for good. Seconds later, Wells countered before the sand, but it wasn’t enough to go solo. The trio of Powers, Wells and Bishop remained.
Summerhill, meanwhile, eased up as he wasn’t about to drag Selander up to his Clif Bar teammate Troy Wells. The tactics guaranteed Wells third place. However, his shot at one of the top two spots went out the window on the back side of the course when Wells paid the price for his multiple digs and was dropped by Powers and Bishop.
As they skated through the sand for the last time, it looked like a two-up sprint between Powers and Bishop coming off an off-camber section 250 meters from the line, but disaster struck Bishop. His chain snapped as he put his short-track strength to the pedals for a last corner attack. The crowd gasped, tough break. Powers was away solo for the win. With a big gap to Troy Wells (Team Clif Bar) in third, Bishop ran across the finish line, collapsed on the ground, and was overheard saying he had it. He may have. The split chain was quickly snatched up by a young fan.
Compton again
In the women’s race it was Compton and Gould “part-three” as the duo quickly broke free to an early lead with the familiar braids of Rachel Lloyd (California Giant Berry Farms/Specialized) in third and Sue Butler (MonavieCannondale.com), Laura Van Guilder (C3-Solay), Deidre Winfield (Velo Bella/Kona) and Devon Haskell (The Pony Shop) in tow. Gould worked hard to stay in contact with Compton on lap 2, but Compton was just a little more buttery smooth through the sand and Gould found herself fighting to keep Compton in sight through the corners. Compton and Gould consistently rode the deep uphill sandpit, while others, like Lloyd settled for dismounting and running. By lap 3, with Compton off to the races, Gould digging deep to hang on to second, and Lloyd in a relatively comfortable third, all eyes now turned to the battle for fourth and fifth between Van Guilder, Winfield, Butler and Haskell.
Winfield went first, dropping Haskell from the group with an attack into the downhill sand pit as a drummer with a complete kit kick-drummed the the cowbell crazed crowd into a frenzy. It was now up to Winfield, Butler and Van Guilder to sort out the fourth and fifth spots. As they trio made their way through traffic on lap 5, Butler came out the victor, securing fourth with a gap to Winfield and Van Guilder. The bell rang and Winfield and Van Guilder were still together through the sand, over the barriers, past the pits and up the paved climb to the water tower. The crowd went silent waiting for their figures to appear at the Gazebo on the hill.
“They’re still together!” a fan shouted.
With Compton raising her hand at the finish line, Winfield and Van Guilder cat-and-moused for position before the off camber section which lead into the last turn. Van Guilder attacked the off-camber and was gone.
