by CXM and Ken Getchell, with reporting by Jacob Sisson
In a classic edition of the Cyclocross at Granogue saw a double dip of Kona as Ryan Trebon (Kona) and Dee Dee Winfield (Velo Bella – Kona) scored wins in the Autumn classic. Both wins came down to last lap moves in the UCI C2 event.
The Cyclocross at Granogue is one of America’s classic cyclocross races. Held on the property of the DuPont Family’s Estate, the course winds its way up and down steep hills, through gardens and forested paths. The Venue’s signature is the tower hill, where every year promoter Tom McDaniel lays out one of the fastest downhill, off-camber turns in the sport. Jeremy Powers echoed the opinion of many of the 500 plus entrants when he said, “Granogue is one of my favorite races. I love it here. You know, every year I come I’m always excited. I love the tower, I love this time of the year, and this is always for me one of the first races that I really, really enjoy racing. I love Granogue.”
In the preliminary races, two riders at opposite ends of the age spectrum kept their MAC Powered by SRAM unbeaten streaks intact. 15 year old Jeff “The Delaware Phenom” Bahnson (Henry’s Bikes/Van Dessel Factory Team) beat 107 other category 2/3/4 men. He did it the hard way, crashing on the last lap and losing 14 seconds, yet was still able to win by 20 seconds. It was Bahnson’s fourth win in 9 days as he also rode undefeated in the Men’s Intermediate/Category 3 Class at all three of last weeks’ races in Cincinnati. In the Elite Masters division, Roger Aspholm (Westwood Video) took another dominating win.
Elite Men:
Under mild, 60-degree conditions, the nation’s best male ‘crossers came together for the first time since Cross Vegas. The Kona boys of Wicks and Trebon and the Cannondale / Cyclocrossworld threesome of Powers, Johnson, and Driscoll converged in Delaware to do battle after spending last weekend split between Ohio and Massachusetts. A number of one-man shows came determined to upset the powerhouse teams; Jeremiah Bishop (Trek), Andy Jacques-Maynes (Specialized / KMC / Cal Giant), Jonathan Baker (Vitamin Cottage), Chris Jones (Team Type 1) and Dan Timmerman (Team Race Pro) all hoped to play off the team tactics and escape for some UCI points.
Troy Wells (Clif Bar) and Matt Shriver (Jittery Joe’s) quickly got the holeshot with a frantic start, but Powers and Bishop, who battled three days in a row last weekend at the Cincinnati International Cyclocross Festival, quickly took to the front. Surprisingly, the twin towers of Wicks and Trebon were outside the top ten after the starting prologue loop. While Trebon would quickly surge to the front, Wicks, who may have suffered a crash or mechanical, remained far back in the early laps.
Trebon explained his slow start, saying, “For some reason, I couldn’t shift down into my 12,” said Trebon later, “so I didn’t have the gear to do an acceleration to get into the top five. So Tim (Johnson) and me paced ourselves up to those guys.”
With Powers and Bishop resuming their battle at the front of the race, the main contenders were being sorted out, with Chris Jones and Andy Jacques-Maynes being joined by Johnson and Trebon. Behind, Driscoll and Timmerman were moving through a group including Baker, Wells, Davide Frattini (Colavita) and espoir Nick Keough (Jittery Joes / Sonic).
Once at the front, Trebon wasted no time in trying to shed some Cannondale/CXW teammates and increase his odds, putting in a massive attack that only Jeremy Powers could follow. With just Powers to battle with, Trebon now had his chance at revenge from Seattle’s Star Crossed, where on the last lap he collided with a lapped rider and Powers escaped for the win.
Meanwhile, as a Blues/Funk band played in the awards area adjacent to the pits, Bishop was putting on a show in the woods as he bunny hopped the uphill barriers. But then in quick succession, Tim Johnson flatted and Jeremiah Bishop cracked. Fortunately for Johnson, he was near the pits and only lost about 15 seconds before he could get his spare bike, but he never saw the front of the race again.
The leading two were on another level, gaining 10 seconds per lap as the race continued. Powers would lead the flats and pavement, often falling into his time trial position, while Trebon used his trademark accelerations out of every corner in the grass.
The course did its damage, with Baker and Timmerman suffering flat tires along with Johnson. Meanwhile, Wicks overcame his early troubles to rocket through the pack and join his fellow Norcal racer, Jaques-Maynes.
Entering the last lap, Trebon was determined to avoid a sprint against road-seasoned Powers, and he forced the pace until he gapped Powers at the top of the “run-up” (which most of the Elite Men were able to ride). Said Powers, “In the end, it was one little bobble in a corner and Ryan got a couple of seconds and was able to hold on for the win. No hard feelings, Ryan’s a great rider.”
Twenty seconds later Tim Johnson led Jeremiah Bishop for the sprint up the long, slightly curving finish road. Bishop appeared to be passing to the inside when a lapped rider on the side of the course became a moving pick and allowed Johnson to win the sprint and the final place on the podium, despite a protest by Bishop. Though both riders preferred not to be quoted for this report about the disagreement that followed, it is known that the conversation centered on the definition of “a straight line”. While Johnson rode the shortest distance between two points, Bishop felt that he had established a position to the inside of Johnson and that Johnson’s “straight line” took him off-course and into a collision course with the lapped rider who was already riding in the gutter and trying not to interfere. Neither rider gave any more ground in the discussion that followed than in the sprint itself, which should make for an interesting race when the MAC Powered by SRAM Series continues tomorrow in Ludwig’s Corner Pennsylvania with the Wissahickon Cyclocross.
Driscoll came in for fifth, giving the team three of the top five places. Jacques-Maynes beat Wicks for sixth, with Jones, Baker, and Wells rounding out the top 10.
Elite Women:
With two of the series’ three unbeaten riders taking victories, the pressure was on MAC Powered by SRAM Elite Women’s points leader Laura van Gilder (C3-Sollay.com) to keep the streak alive. But a first-lap flat front tire quickly eliminated her from contention. With some of the top riders such as Katie Compton in Belgium for the World Cup, it was sure to be tight racing. The start of the Women’s race up the half-mile long, curving driveway lacked the intensity of the usually mad scramble. But there was lots of jockeying for position with Dee Dee “The Grass Hopper” Winfield asserting herself on the outside. Velo Bella quickly showed that it came to Delaware to win. Teammates Barbara Howe and Kathy Sherwin quickly moved to the front, bringing Maureen Bruno-Roy (MM Racing / Seven Cycles), and left Josie Jacques-Maynes (Specialized / KMC / Cal Giant), Rebecca Wellons (Ridley), Laura Van Gilder (C3 Sollay.com) and another Velo Bella, Anna Milkowski to chase.
By the time the reached the top of the tower hill about two minutes later on the first lap, the lead was down to a group of three: Winfield and her Velo Bella teammate Kathy Sherwin, and defending MAC Powered by SRAM Women’s Champ Maureen “Mo” Bruno-Roy wearing the new colors of MM Racing presented by Seven Cycles. For the rest of the race, a pattern emerged where Sherwin would get dropped in the technical sections only to bridge back up to the leaders on the long, slightly-uphill, wind swept start/finish “straight”. The fact that it wasn’t really straight would have implications later in the Men’s race. While Winfield, Sherwin and Bruno-Roy took control, Howe dangled off the back with Wellons surging through the field to get within sight of the leaders. But the race remained tight up front.
Said Winfield afterwards, “Well, Mo would always run up this hill (the steep run-up), so we would get gapped a little bit — I had to run it. On the last lap I dropped my chain so I had to burn myself to get back to her. But I had to catch her a little and come back, and then ride conservatively in the whoop-de-loops so Kathy could catch back on. Then she would attack coming up the street. So we were just trying to work it the best we could.” The last time up the tower hill, Sherwin lost contact with the other two leaders and appeared out of contention. But amazingly, as they turned onto the long road finish, she was back with the lead trio. With a large gap, they had time to play a bit of cat and mouse. All three marked each other until Winfield jumped first and was able to hold off the other two by a bike length, taking perhaps her biggest ‘cross win, while Sherwin nipped Bruno-Roy on the line for second. “I know sprinting is my weak point,” said Bruno-Roy following the race. Wellons passed Howe for fourth, with Jacques-Maynes finishing sixth.
Full Results:
Elite Men: 49 starters
1 Trebon Ryan Kona
2 Powers Jeremy Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.Com
3 Johnson Tim Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.Com
4 Bishop Jeremiah Trek/VW
5 Driscoll Jamey Cyclocrossworld.com/Cannondale
6 Jacques-Maynes Andy Specialized/KMC pb Cal Giant
7 Wicks Barry KONA
8 Shriver Matt Jittery Joe’s Pro Cycling Team
9 Baker Jonathan Vitamin Cottage p/b XP Companies
10 Wells Troy Team Clif Bar
11 Timmerman Dan Team Race Pro
12 McGrath Adam Van Dessel
13 frattini davide Colavita/sutter home presented by Cooking light
14 Spinelli Justin RGM WATCHES-RICHARD SACHS-BOATHOUSE INC
15 Dillon Josh Fiordifrutta / Cannondale
16 Schempf Weston C3-Sollay.com
17 Lindine Justin TARGETRAINING
18 DeWald Ryan Battley Harley Davidson
19 Wulfkuhle Andrew C3-Sollay.com
20 Hammaker Kyle scott bicycles
21 Kraus Matt RGM WATCHES – RICHARD SACHS – BOATHOUSE INC
22 Hines Justin handlebar CC
23 Elliston Bill Fuji
24 Hebe Michael VisitPA.com
25 Tisza Zoltan P-NIVO Beton Expressz 2000
26 Burns John Bikeman.com
27 Wittwer Greg ALAN North America Cycling Team
28 Wolfson Kevin Fitness Together/IF p/b Lionette’s
29 yozell michael VisitPA.com
30 nelessen guillaume Van Dessel Factory Team
31 VanKrimpen Guy Rapid City Cycle
32 Rubijono Peter Embrocation/Cambridge/Igleheart/madAlchemy
33 Dugan William RICHARD SACHS-RGM-Boathouse
34 Bradley Patrick Rutgers University Cycling Team
35 Shaffer Nicholas Human Zoom/ Pabst Blue Ribbon
36 Hesel Todd Hunt Valley Bicycles/Marathon Roofing
37 Consorto Christopher Henry’s
38 Lea Bobby Fuji
39 Townsend Ethan C3-Sollay.com
40 McKeegan Andrew Kelly Benefit Strategies/LSV Amateur Cycling
41 Brewer John Haymarket Bicycles p/b Function Drinks
DNF Hamblen Jon RGM WATCHES – RICHARD SACHS – BOATHOUSE INC
DNF Keough Nicholas Jittery Joe’s/ Sonic Cyclocross
DNF JOHNSON TYLER TARGETRAINING
DNF totaro chad Human Zoom / Pabst Blue Ribbon
DNF Galegher Sean Hunt Valley Bicycles/HVB
DNF Langley Russ Battley HARLEY-DAVIDSON/Sonoma Wine Bar
DNF Szczepanski Adam Wissahickon
DNF Mitchell Erik Human Zoom/PBR
Elite Women: 27 Starters
1 WINFIELD Deidre Velo Bella – Kona
2 SHERWIN Kathy Velo Bella – Kona
3 BRUNO ROY Maureen MM Racing p/b Seven Cycles
4 WELLONS Rebecca Ridley Factory Team
5 HOWE Barbara Velo Bella – Kona
6 JACQUES-MAYNES Josie Specialized/KMC pb Cal Giant
7 VAN GILDER LAURA C3 Sollay
8 MILKOWSKI Anna Velo Bella-Kona
9 GAVIN Kristin Human Zoom/Pabst Blue Ribbon
10 WALLACE Amy RGM WATCHES – RICHARD SACHS – BOATHOUSE INC
11 WEBBER Lauri Secret Henry’s Team
12 THIEMANN nikki Human Zoom Pabst Blue Ribbon
13 SHELDON Libbey Tokyo Joe’s
14 VON TEITENBERG Heidi C3-Sollay.com
15 KULIECZA Julie ALAN North America Cycling
16 CHURCH Kristine Human Zoom/ Pabst Blue Ribbon
17 MASON BETH C3-Sollay.com
18 HARLOW Elizabeth C3-Sollay.com
19 WAGGETT Jill Guy’s Racing
20 KENZER Alie RGM WATCHES – RICHARD SACHS – BOATHOUSE INC
21 GRIM Diane C3-Sollay.com
22 BILODEAU Megan Hup United
23 SWOPE Kristy EPS/CSS/Riptide Cycling
24 BILLINGTON Kathleen CONNECTICUT COAST CYCLING
DNF KEMMERER arley Hub Racing
DNF HAMBLEN Alicia RGM WATCHES-RICHARD SACHS-BOATHOUSE INC
DNS MAXWELL JENNIFER team kenda tire
