posted on November 20, 2007 13:53
Team CXW Represents at New Jersey USGPs
Hoping to repeat their domination of the opening round of the 2007 U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross, Team Cyclocrossworld.com’s Tim Johnson and Jeremy Powers rolled into Trenton, New Jersey for a weekend of racing at the inaugural Mercer Cups. While falling short of domination, Jeremy and Tim animated the weekend’s racing, making podium appearances both days. In her first full healthy weekend in nearly a month, Lyne Bessette raced the front of the Elite Women’s field and finished second on Saturday and Sunday.
With defending U.S. National Champion Ryan Trebon (Kona) hitting on all cylinders, Tim and Jeremy had their work cut out for them all weekend. On Saturday’s fast and tacky track Tim went down in an early crash that helped Trebon and teammate Barry Wicks open what ended up being the winning gap. As Tim chased and eventually finished third, Jeremy rode herd on the chasers behind him and sprinted free for fourth.
Bad weather changed the course considerably for Sunday, with cold wet weather turning the grassy sections into slick and muddy technical challenges. Tim joined Trebon at the head of affairs but despite relentless attacks couldn’t dislodge the mountain bike pro and finished second. Jeremy reveled in the muck and rounded out the podium.
“The racing was great and I felt really good, but Ryan was just going fast,” said Tim of the weekend. “With the course dry and fast on Saturday it was really perfect for Ryan, but I was really impressed with how he rode the mud on Sunday. He had a good combination of power and technique, I couldn’t drop him and he was just very strong this weekend.”
“We really gave Ryan a run for his money,” said Jeremy of Sunday’s racing. “It was a really good race. I was getting all excited to race in the mud; I liked the slick grassy stuff, which I think hurt some of the road guys. I think we rode really solid this weekend, we were always right there.”