Mark Savery Unseats Pete Webber in Dramatic Masters 40-44 World Champion Race UPDATED: Full Report, Results

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY – In a hotly contested battle that saw heavy favorite and defending World Champion Pete Webber suffer a mechanical disaster, it was Trek’s Mark Savery who ran a clean race and comfortably took the lead to secure the win. Behind Savery was East Coast favorite Mike Yozell, who was met with cheering fans at the finish line.

Mark Savery powered to the Master 40-44 World Title with a clean race on a muddy day © Cyclocross Magazine

With the frozen conditions of the morning melting under the cloudless sky, the 40-44 men found a completely different race than the early starters. The mud was thick, yet the ambient temperature still frozen, leaving the the few power washers inoperable and forcing pit crews to chisel and scrub clogged bikes by hand.

Though it was Todd Bowden who took the holeshot, Webber gained an early lead with Spanish racer Marco Prieto. The two battled back and forth for a lap before Webber began to gain the upper hand, leading the race in solo fashion as Savery slowly began to gain on the Spaniard.

Webber and Prieto looked to make it a two-man race early on © Cyclocross Magazine

The well-known script of Webber riding off with the win, however, began to change as the problems in the pit began to make the difference. “I don’t think I’ve ever done a race like that before,” said Webber. “The mud was so thick, and as soon as it hit the bike it froze right one. No power washers in the pit at all. I was still pitting, but I’d get back on the bike and it was exactly the same as when I dropped it off.”

Webber’s lead first was cut in half by a bobble in the pits, when the rider got caught up with the course tape. The next time through, however, was worse: “I ripped my derailleur off.” Luckily, this happened immediately after grabbing a new bike, but Webber still had to turn around in the pit and run back as Savery sailed by. “I had to do two laps on the same bike after that. I had one gear, couldn’t shift, the bike weighed fifty pounds. Two other guys passed me, and I just stayed with it and got third in the end. It made it an incredible race. You can’t win every one; I’m happy I was able to salvage it. Mark Savery’s been working really hard, he deserves it.”

Savery, not one to look such a gift in the mouth, continued on to ride a clean race, slowly building up a lead as behind him Webber, Prieto and Micheal Yozell fought for the rest of the podium. As both Webber and Prieto struggled with heavy bikes, Yozell found his line and moved into second, holding the others off to the line. A last lap derailluer snap by Prieto allowed Webber to catch back on to the Spaniard’s wheel, and the two fought it out for third.

“We had a bit of a battle royal,” said Webber. “I passed him on the last descent by taking a kamikaze line. This is probably the longest season I’ve ever done, and today was the hardest race of the year, no doubt.”

Yozell, too, was pleased with the difficult race. “That was real good. I got out front early. I had one little misshift and came back to tenth place, then fought back up. I had a fantastic pit crew. No complaints except for second, but Mark totally deserves it. We worked hard for this, so I knew I had a shot. “

“I’m speechless,” said Savery of his World title. “It was a phenomenal day on the bike. At first, I thought those guys were maybe going out too hard. I was a little concerned because they put gaps on early. The Challenge Limus tires were phenomenal, we had it dialed in the pits, and I had a completely clean race. That’s what it came down to, those guys were wobbling in the pits, and I kept it clean.”

“I couldn’t believe they were right there at first. I could hear Richard on the mike, and knew that they were having problems. So I kept plugging away and plugging away and finding faster lines out there. It all came together.”

“I’ll be hitting the bourbon here in another hour!”

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2013 Worlds Master Men 40 44 Results