USGP New Belgium Cup Day 2

Race report and photos by Shawn Lortie

(Oct 9, 2011) Fort Collins, Co.- Day 2 of the USGP New Belgium Cup was the polar opposite of day 1, as the torrential rain, heavy winds, and challenging mud gave way to partly cloudy skies and a course that had been hammered into submission all day by earlier classes. By the time the Elite Men and Women hit the dirt, it was fast and tacky, making for screaming fast lap times and tight racing. The milder weather also brought out quite a few more fans to witness the top-notch racing right here on the Front Range.

In the Women’s Elite race, Katie Compton (Giant/Robobank) would not stand for second place on day two and pushed the pace right from the start. Once again, in similar fashion to the first days racing, Katerina Nash (Luna Pro Team) was right there with her. The two leaders put a gap on the rest of the field, with Meredith Miller on her own chasing in third.  Behind Miller were French National Champion Caroline Mani, and Canadian Mical Dyck (Pro City Racing), working together to close the gap.

Compton continued to push the pace as Nash bided her time on Compton’s wheel. With both ladies looking strong it looked like it could come down to the line, but just as a crash had ended Compton’s hopes the day before, Nash had a mechanical and that was it for her on the day. Compton escaped to take the win over Nash by 35 seconds. Miller was able to hold off Mani and Dyck to take the final spot on the podium.

The Men’s Elite race began with Jeremy Powers (Rapha/Focus), taking the holeshot for the second day in a row, as the rest of the field jumped on the train and tried to hang on. By half way through the first lap Geoff Kabush (Team Maxxis/Rocky Mountain) had taken the lead with Chris Jones (Rapha/Focus), Ryan Trebon (LTS), Powers, and Christian Heule (Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com) close behind.  Jones soon made a break and Trebon and Powers followed.

As the two caught Jones and passed him, Powers rode the railroad tie run up, as he had been all day, while Trebon ran it. As the crowd roared, Powers jumped away from Trebon and got a small gap of a few seconds. Eventually the gap grew to around ten seconds as Powers seemed to be leaving his chaser behind, but Powers ended up going down in a tricky corner and Trebon got by.  Behind the two leaders Kabush still hung on to third as Tristan Schouten (Cyclocrossracing.com/Blue Bikes), and Tim Johnson (Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com) gave chase.

Trebon was able to hang on to the lead until the last lap when Powers closed the gap as he rode the railroad ties and jumped on Trebon’s wheel at the top. With half a lap to go, Powers made the pass and never looked back, taking the win by just a few seconds over Trebon, with Kabush coming in seconds later.