Compton and Powers Dominate First Day of USGP Planet Bike Cup – UPDATED: Gallery; Full Reports, Full Results

Powers (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld) grits his way over the run-up in front of an enthusiastic crowd. © Wil Matthews

On the heels of CrossVegas, The Planet Bike Cup presented by Greenware USGP of Cyclocross took place in Sun Prairie, just outside of Madison, Wisconsin. Many of the Elite women and men riders from Wednesday’s CrossVegas joined Saturday’s field for the first race of the 2010 USGP series under sunny and mild conditions. Katie Compton (Planet Bike-Stevens) showed that her recovery from knee and elbow injuries sustained at the Mountain Bike World Championships was going well with a commanding win in the women’s Elite race. On the men’s side, Jeremy Powers (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) took a definitive victory with a bold attack from the gun at the first day of the USGP Planet Bike Cup.

Compton Back on Top

Compton attacked early and rode her own race. © Wil Matthews

The race started with a strong women’s field of 23 riders, including Katie Compton (Planet Bike-Stevens), Georgia Gould (Luna), Amy Dombroski (Luna), Meredith Miller (Cal Giant-Specialized), Mo Bruno-Roy (Seven Cycles-Bob’s Red Mill), Teal Stetson-Lee (Cal Giant-Specialized), and Andrea Smith (Ladies First). Not present to continue her winning streak (two NACT series wins in Seattle and her CrossVegas victory) was Katerina Nash (Luna).

Sue Butler took the holeshot and led the entire first lap at a pace that quickly brought the front group down to 10 riders. Gould went down at the barriers, holding up Miller and Dombroski and giving Butler and Compton a five-second gap over the field. A lead group formed at the run-up that included Butler, Compton, Dombroksi, Gould, Bruno-Roy, and Stetson-Lee.

After the first lap, Compton began to put her mark on the race and attacked through the barrier section with effortless grace, establishing a gap with Dombroski and Butler glued to Compton’s wheel. Gould, Miller, and Stetson-Lee were chasing hard.

With two laps down and four to go, Compton stepped on the gas, dropping Butler first and then quickly putting in a few seconds to Dombroski on the long run up. This was all she would need as Compton continued to ride away, establishing a 15-second gap that would hold the rest of the race.

Gould quickly caught up to Dombroski and began to work with her Luna teammate to try and bring back Compton, but Compton was having none of it. Chasing behind Gould and Dombroski were Butler and Miller. Farther back, Andrea Smith showed that her win in Vermont last weekend was no fluke and that she has the chops to race with the big guns.

After Compton had established her gap, the race was on for the final places on the podium. Georgia Gould and Amy Dombroski held fast until lap five, when Gould dropped her teammate and chase down Compton on her own. The same happened in the second chase group, with Miller dropping Butler in attempt to secure the final spot on the podium.

Coming into the final lap, the order was Compton in the lead with 15 seconds to Gould, another five seconds to Dombroski, and five more back to Miller. As the final lap progressed, it was clear that Compton and Gould were going to stay in first and second, however Miller was making a charge on Dombroski for the final podium spot. But Dombroski was on fine form after her great ride in Vegas this Wednesday and held the gap soundly to round out the podium in third place.

As the race for remaining UCI points continued, Butler rolled in with a solid fifth place finish, followed by Andrea Smith. Teal Stetson-Lee, the 2009 collegiate cyclocross national champion and a rider to watch closely this season, followed Smith. Behind Stetson-Lee were Kathy Sherwin and Mo Bruno-Roy in eighth and ninth, respectively.

The SRAM Most Aggressive Rider award went to Stetson-Lee (California Giant-Specialized) for her ability to turn a back-row start into a seventh-place finish.

Powers Repeats in Wisconsin

Jeremy Powers speeds through the barriers on way to his victory at USGP Planet Bike Cup #1. © Wil Matthews

The dry course featured a diverse course that included double barriers, a tree-lined segment, and a run-up with stairs. From the start Powers showed that this was going to be his day as he attacked for the holeshot and continued to solidify his gap every lap with bold rides up the stairs of the Selle Italia run-up. Ryan Trebon (Kona-FSA), Tim Johnson (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com), Geoff Kabush (Maxxis) and the remaining riders gave chase.

With nine laps to go, Powers held a 15-second lead, while Ryan Trebon (Kona) and Tim Johnson (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) vied for second.

Trebon chased in earnest for two laps until a stronger Johnson made his move to chase after Powers. It was clear from early on that no one was going to bring those two teammates back. Francis Mourey (Francaise des Jeux), fresh off three impressive wins in a row at StarCrossed, Rad Racing and CrossVegas, gave it a go, but would pop and slowly drift back through the field. Then the race was on for third. As the pace quickened, Trebon, too, began to lose steam and fall back – perhaps a result of his Herculean effort on the front of the chasing field in Vegas on Wednesday night. Trebon later Tweeted, “There’s good days, bad days and days where your left butt cheek just won’t let you pedal with both legs. Powers was flying and schooled it.”

The second chase group was large, with Davide Frattini (Hudz-Subaru), Christian Heule (Champion Systems), Jamey Driscoll (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com), Geoff Kabush (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain), and Jonathon Page (Planet Bike-Blue Competition Cycles) together, with Todd Wells (Specialized) just off the back but coming up quickly. The race stayed like this for several laps, until with five laps to go local stand-out Tristan Schouten (Planet Bike) suddenly made his way up to the chase group to join teammate Page and battled hard to stay with the group. The impressive performance saw Schouten shoulder to shoulder with some of the world’s top international talent in a breakthrough performance.

At three to go, the chase group started working hard to shed some of those people seeking the final step on the podium. Todd Wells was the aggressor and continued to put the hurt on the field. With two to go Tristan Schouten made a bold effort and moved to the front, setting a blistering pace.

Todd Wells (Specialized) rode to the top of the run up on every lap, but lost a last-lap duel for third place to Jonathan Page. © Wil Matthews

On the final lap, it was clear that Page and Wells were the two strongest riders left in the bunch, and they would be battling for third. Schouten had fallen off the pace, and Heule and Driscoll were having a hard time staying with those two.

As the leaders came into the final run-up – or in his case, ride-up – Powers rode a wheelie over the top to huge applause and cheers from the large crowds along the course tape. As Johnson rolled through everyone was on the edge of their seats and along the metal barricades to see who was going to take the final spot.

Page and Wells battled up the run-up and along the final sections before Page finally solidified his third place with a powerful sprint down the pavement. Next was Wells, followed by Heule taking fifth, Schouten in a remarkable sixth – earning himself the SRAM Most Aggressive Rider prize in the process, and Geoff Kabush rolling in with a solid seventh-place finish.

Tim Johnson celebrated the Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld team’s performance, saying via Twitter, “Oh, that was really, really fun. 1-2 here in Wisco at the USGP #1!!”

The Elite men and women return Sunday for another day of racing starting at 1:45 PM CDT. Full results below the photos:

Photos Gallery by Wil Mathews:

Photos Gallery by Amy Dykema:

Elite Women: Full Results

Elite Men: Full Results