Jeremy Powers goes early and stays gone to win Trek CXC Cup opener

Jeremy Powers (Rapha-Focus) took the kickoff at the Trek CXC Cup on Saturday in Waterloo, Wisconsin.

Powers got busy early on, and going into the bell lap the U.S. national champion had built a lead of perhaps a dozen seconds over a surging Tim Johnson (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com), who had just shed Shawn Milne (Boulder Cycle Sport-Yoga Glo).

Johnson cut into Powers’ advantage on the final go-round, but not enough. He would have to settle for second, seven seconds behind, as Milne held off Allen Krughoff (Noosa Professional Cyclocross) for third.

“It’s just such a technical track. It’s so fast, and there’s just a lot of room for error from the others,” said Powers. “So, I just elected this morning … I was like, well, if I can establish a gap in the first two then I’m just going to try to hold that throughout the race.

“Everything was perfect today. The bikes were perfect, the tires were hooking up great, and I felt good. You can’t ask for more than that.”

Johnson got an assist from Milne, who bobbled once toward the end.

“[Milne] dumped it in a corner and that’s how I got the gap,” said Johnson. “Second’s good. Jeremy had a classic wire-to-wire.”

As for Milne, he said his mantra this season has been “one step at a time.”

“Once I got up there at the beginning it wasn’t really a tactics game as just an hour time trial for me, hoping to not get caught from behind,” he said. “I think I’m as strong as everyone here. It’s just the technique has to start coming.

“Allen’s my roommate, so I know very well how good he is technically. And this year he’s shown that he doesn’t lose form at the end of a race. So I saw him coming and I was racing steady to keep away from him, honestly.”