Wells Is Mr. December Again with Third National Championship Win – UPDATED: More Photos

The critical moment: Jeremy Powers crashes and Todd Wells cannot avoid him. © Marc Romano

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BEND, ORE. – Todd Wells (Cal Giant-Specialized) shut the door on the hopes of Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com, Kona and about 130 other Elite racers as he took the 2010 National Championship title in solo fashion.

As the Elite men charged off the line to a thick crowd of fans, Ryan Trebon (Kona) powered in the lead, taking the hole shot with Adam Myerson (Cycle-Smart) and Jeremy Powers (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) on his wheel. As Powers slipped by, Trebon eased up slightly, as he told Cyclocross Magazine that he had a tough time getting his legs going in the first lap. Tim Johnson and Chris Jones rounded out the top five early.

Coming around the front side, Chris Jones (Rapha-Focus) took the lead with Powers and Johnson following close behind, and Trebon and Wicks forming a formidable wall. The five had a good-sized gap between them and Todd Wells as they came into the bowl, now with Powers cranking on the sharp end. It looked like the race might be a Cannondale vs. Twin Towers shoot out. Wells, Alex Candelario, Jesse Anthony (Cal Giant-Specialized) and Tyler Wren (Boo Bikes) formed a chase group behind.

Then everything changed. Powers attacked hard as they entered the bowl, gapping off the front and quickly gaining seven seconds. On the corner just after the flyover, Trebon crashed. “I hit a course pole that was leaning into the course – it caught my bars and spun me around,” he said. Jones got tangled up with Trebon, and the two had to extricate their bikes before getting rolling again.

Wicks and Johnson dug deep to keep Powers in sight, but it was a hard-charging Wells who, over the next lap, bridged up and entered the mix, ultimately passing the three chasers and catching up to Powers.

As Wells caught Powers, Jones faded further off the front. Wicks showed that he has found his form in time for Nationals as he stayed strong in the top five, and he and Johnson would trade positions for the rest of the race. Driscoll (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) turned on his engine and began clawing his way up the leader board.

Trebon passes Powers into second after the fly-over © Janet Hill

“You know I was expecting someone to,” Powers said when asked if he was surprised that Wells caught him. “I wasn’t thinking I was just going to ride off the front of the National title – that’s just not how it’s going to work. So to have Todd there … I’ve been able to beat Todd in a sprint in the past, but nothing’s for sure. But if I had to go to the line with Todd, I was pretty psyched. I also thought, ‘man I’m pretty psyched if Todd wins because he’s a pretty great guy.’ I don’t know, it’s a bunch of things, you got a lot of things going through your mind, but I just try to keep all the thoughts out while I’m racing – just kinda do what I’m doing and try not to think about too much stuff.”

Trebon, after recovering from his crash, showed why he is one of the best in the country and began an incredible chase, putting in a monster display of power to reconnect with the chasers – but only long enough to blow right by them.

Off the front, Powers and Wells went back and forth, trading blow for blow as they screamed around the course a full minute faster than any other group this week. But with four to go, Powers went down on the u-turn right before the flyover; Wells was following so closely that he collided with Powers, and the two tangled for a moment before Wells broke free and rode off, with Powers running behind before stopping to repair a no longer functioning bike.

“[Powers] crashed in one of the corners before the flyover, and I ran into him,” said Wells. “My foot got stuck in his wheel, and I’m not sure if that screwed up his wheel or not but it took us a few seconds to get untangled.” Powers was able to fix his bike, but by then he had already been passed by a watt-busting Trebon.

Trebon used pure power to hover just seven seconds behind Wells in the closing laps © Janet Hill

“I’m as frustrated as I can be,” said Powers. “I got a lot of good things to look back on, and a two-minute stretch I’d rather not look back on.” The episode was eerily similar to Fort Collins, when Wells crashed into a barrier following behind Powers, giving Powers the win. “Yeah, I didn’t intentionally do that [take down Wells in a barrier section],” said Powers, “and I guess what goes around comes around, but Todd’s a great friend of mine and I would never wish anything bad upon him, and I think the same goes my way from him, so, like I said, a lot of good things to look back on, one moment I’d rather not.”

Todd Wells flies to his third National Championship © Cyclocross Magazine

With Powers out of the equation, it was now Wells’ race to lose. But Trebon wasn’t going to let him take the title without a fight, and over the remainder of the race the gap between the two would come as close as five seconds before ultimately stretching to about 15. “I could hear the time checks, but I knew that if I didn’t make any mistakes I could go through the corners faster than [Trebon] even if he was gaining on me during the power sections,” said Wells. “I took some chances through the corners and just tried to limit my losses on the straight sections.”

Powers was on top of his game, but a crash prevented him from going toe-to-toe against Wells for the championship © Janet Hill

“I was trying hard, but it’s a really hard course – it’s just so heavy, and there’s a lot of wind,” said Trebon. “Todd was riding awesome. I was pulling back a little bit here [on the front side] but he was gapping me on the other side. I was pulling a little bit back in the boggy section, and he was pulling away on the back side in the mill area.”

“I was going as hard as I could,” he added. “I couldn’t go any harder. That was all I had in my legs, my hips were cramping. The grass section was just so hard and draining, then you had to run up the stairs, that really made the legs hurt.”

Todd Wells wins his third cyclocross national championship title. © Tim Westmore

In the end, it was Wells with his hands raised, claiming his third Cyclocross National Elite Championship title. Trebon came in close behind, followed by a train of riders separated by large gaps: Driscoll and Johnson finished the podium, with Wicks just barely missing out.

Wells has already won a National title in the Short Track and Cross Country disciplines this year. Was this his favorite? “I don’t know, they’re all pretty special, but it’s nice to get titles, so this one’s up there with them.”

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