September 20/12 14:05 pm - Cross Vegas: Report and Results

Posted by Editoress on 09/20/12
 

Both races of the 2012 edition of CrossVegas, America's first UCI C1 ranked cyclocross event of the season, finished with a dominating show of force from riders who claimed their first ever CrossVegas victory. In the men's race, it was reigning U.S. National Champion Jeremy Powers (Rapha-Focus) riding away to victory out of a 5-man leading group, while in the women's event, it was Dutchwoman Sanne Van Paassen (Rabobank-Giant), who sprung with half a lap to go to take a decisive victory.

Women's Recap

Sanne Van Paassen had to overcome some of the best riders America could throw at her en route to her first ever CrossVegas win. Attacks and counter attacks came thick and fast, but did little to whittle down a large leading group that stayed together for much of the race.

Many of the biggest names in the States had a go early in the race to try and unseat Van Paassen. The first was Julie Krasniak (Rapha-Focus), who was on the gas immediately and took out Milagro Tequila Whole Shot Award.

The biggest mover of the race's first half was Now And Novartis For MS' Alison Powers, who put her considerable road power to good use as she strung out the field for the better part of the second lap. Many riders could not hold her pace, and, little by little, the number of riders left in the lead group dwindled.

On lap 4, Georgia Gould (Luna Pro Team), fresh off of her bronze medal at the Olympic games in London, took her turn to attack, drawing out fellow Olympian Lea Davison (Specialized). At the Focus Stairs, Davison took a risk and stayed on her bike, electing to ride the obstacle rather than dismount and run. Riding the stairs gave her the advantage she was looking for, and soon enough, a few bike lengths became a few seconds, and the race's first major escape had formed.

Behind, the chase was spearheaded by Gould, Amy Dombroski (Telenet Fidea), Gabriella Day (Rapha-Focus) and Kelli Emmett (Giant). By the time the leaders got the bell for the final lap, Davison still had 13 seconds in hand and looked like she could be on her way to victory.

It was Alison Powers who once again went to the head of the race to fire up the chase. Thanks to her efforts, the gap began to fall steadily. It looked, for a time, as if Davison may have stayed clear of the chasers, as she rode the stairs one last time and brought her lead back out slightly. Emmett, however, was on the scene and brought Davison's excursion to a definitive end.

With just half a lap left to run, it was time for Van Paassen to unleash her final attack. Climbing her way up the Knog Hill, Van Paassen quickly put some space between herself and the chasers, and before long, the Rabobank-Giant rider was safely home and dry.

There were still medal placings to play for behind, as any of five riders could fill out the last two podium spots. The hero of the night's main breakaway, Lea Davison, managed to find a reserve of energy to take out the sprint ahead of Powers, Day Emmett and Meredith Miller (Cal Giant Berry Farms/Specialized), with only six second separating first through sixth place.

Men's Recap

To win the men's race, Jeremy Powers took a page out of the book written just one hour earlier by Sanne Van Paassen and waited for the opportune moment to strike. And when he did, he did so with conviction.

The first few laps, as they always are at CrossVegas, were a nervous affair, as some of the world's top riders spent time seeking out each other's strengths and weaknesses. It took two laps, but the first major attack came from Cannondale prepared by Cyclocrossworld.com debutante Ryan Trebon. Trebon launched a stinging attack climbing up the far side of the course and immediately put nearly ten second onto the chasing pack.

Giving him a hand was his teammate and former national champion Tim Johnson (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com), who was busy covering attacks and making sure Trebon has some room to work with.

On the third lap, two chasers emerged from a larger group of about ten riders – Jonathan Page and Arnaud Jouffroy (Telenet Fidea) – who quickly gapped the chasing pack and set about getting across to Trebon. While they didn't quite make it up to the front, they effectively eliminated Trebon's advantage, and by the time Lukas Flückiger (Trek World Racing) joined the move, Trebon was back into the fold.

The final selection for the men's race came with five laps left to run as Geoff Kabush (Scott-3Rox Racing) went on the offensive. After reshuffling the chasing group, Kabush's move was joined by Ben Berden (Raleigh-Clement). The two worked well together for a time and the duo's advantaged quickly went out beyond the 20 second mark.

It was then that Tim Johnson felt the time had come to get to the front of the race, and with four laps to go, put in a race-defining attack. Only Powers and Telenet Fidea's Rob Peeters could hold Johnson's pace, as the rest of the pack sat up, no one willing to take up the pace making.

Ahead, Berden began to ease away from Kabush, while Kabush looked content to wait for the chasing trio of Johnson, Powers and Peeters. Berden's advantage had stretched to 40 seconds over the main chase group, but just 5 seconds ahead of the quartet fighting for second place.

As the leaders got the 3 laps to go signal, they had become a quintet, while Jouffroy was the only man keen on bringing back the leaders.

An unfortunately timed bobble by Peeters allowed Johnson and Powers to sneak away on the race's penultimate lap, and it was quickly apparent that this race was going to be another chapter in one of American cyclocross' most hotly contested rivalries. Johnson and Powers began to trade attacks and accelerations, both trying to see who would crack first.

Half way through lap seven, Powers finally found his advantage, and slowly but steadily began to pull away from Johnson. Behind, Berden had shed Kabush and had set to work consolidating the last spot on the podium.

Back in the chase group, last year's winner, Lars Van der Haar (Rabobank – Giant) and Ryan Trebon were working their way back into podium contention. One by one, the duo overtook riders, eventually working their way up just shy of third place. In the end, Van der Haar got to within three seconds Berden's of third place, finally finishing fourth, with Kabush in fifth and Trebon in sixth.

With one lap to go, Powers needed only ride a smooth, error free final lap and collect first CrossVegas victory. He did just that, finishing 19 seconds clear of Johnson.

CrossVegas press release

Results