jhanscom posted on October 29, 2007 02:10
Wins by Johnson and Compton Round Out an Exciting Weekend of ‘Cross in Louisville at the US Gran Prix of Cyclocross presented by Crank Brothers – Papa John’s Derby City Cup presented by Toyota
Louisville KY (October 28, 2007) – Tim Johnson (Cannondale/Leer/Cyclocrossworld.com) took the Elite Men’s race and Katie Compton (Spike Shooter) notched back to back wins in the Elite Women’s competition on the second day of the 2007 U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross presented by Crank Brothers -- Papa John’s Derby City Cup presented by Toyota.
A sunny day in Louisville provided a great atmosphere for cyclocross and another huge crowd enjoyed another great day of racing at Champion’s Park.
Elite Men
In the Elite Men’s race, Tim Johnson (Cannondale/Leer/Cyclocrossworld.com) took home the win today outlasting defending USGP champ Ryan Trebon (Kona-YourKey.com). Johnson’s win, coupled with his second place finish yesterday, means he will wear the leader’s jersey heading into the second weekend of the USGP.
The race started off with some excitement. On the very first lap Barry Wicks (Kona-YourKey.com) crashed and yesterday’s winner Jeremy Powers (Cyclocrossworld.com) got tangled up with him delaying both of them enough to give Trebon and Johnson a gap.
From that point on it was a two man race with Johnson and Trebon battling it out for the rest of the contest. Towards the end of the race, the leaders went into one of the difficult sand trap sections of the course. Trebon bobbled momentarily and Johnson, sensing an opportunity, put the hammer down and got a gap. Johnson stayed ahead to take the win. Trebon rode well but couldn’t catch Johnson and finished a close second.
Powers recovered quickly from his first lap tangle to finish third. Wicks worked his way back to finish fourth. Adam Craig (Giant) rounded out the top five.
Elite Women
The women’s competition played out much like yesterday’s race. Katie Compton (Spike Shooter), the UCI points leader and three-time national champion, took off at the start and was never challenged taking back to back wins in Louisville.
A chase group of Alison Sydor (Rocky Mountain Haywood), Lyne Bessette (Cyclocrossworld.com), and Rachael Lloyd (Proman/Paradigm) formed and worked together for most of the race.
Georgia Gould (Luna), starting in the third row, again worked her way through the field caught the chase group before dropping them to finish second. Sydor took third, Wendy Simms (Kona-YourKey.com) finished fourth and Lloyd fifth.
U23
In the U23 race it was Danny Summerhill (Clif Bar Development Cyclocross Team) taking back to back wins in Kentucky and retaining the leader’s jersey. Summerhill outsprinted Chance Noble (California Giant Berry Farms/Specialized) finished second. Nick Weighall (Rad Racing NW) rounded out the podium. Bjorn Selander (Ridley) and Jamey Driscoll (FiordiFrutta) finished fourth and fifth rounding out the top five.
Juniors
Luke Keough (CLNoonan Coast to Coast KAM) joined Compton and Summerhill in notching two wins this weekend and taking the leader’s jersey. Keough bested teammates Steve Fisher, Ian Terry, and Eric Emsky (Rad Racing NW) who finished 2, 3, 4 respectively. Alex Coehlo (Hot Tubes) finished fifth.
Notes
The USGP leaders’ jersey’s belong to Johnson (Elite Men), Compton (Women), Danny Summerhill (U23), Luke Keough (Juniors) and Will Black (Masters 35+).
The SRAM Most Aggressive Riders were: Elite Men: Chris Sheppard (Santa Cruz/CMG Mortgage); Women: Kelli Emmitt (Giant)
The USGP action continues in three weeks at the Mercer Cup presented by Knapp’s Cyclery in West Winsor, NJ on November 17-18.