October 30/04 10:47 am - Kabush Wins, Team Wedgewood Launched

Posted by Editor on 10/30/04
 

Kabush Wins U.S. GP 'Cross #3
Courtesy Crank Bros.

GLOUCESTER ˆ Geoff Kabush (Maxxis Giant) laid down a mid-race attack through the sand pits at Fort Stage Park in Gloucester to escape from a select group of four riders to claim the victory at the Michelob ULTRA Grand Prix of Gloucester. With the win on Saturday, Kabush now wears the
leader's jersey in the Crank Brothers U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross after three events.

With raw seaside conditions prevailing all day, Kabush chose to lie low for the first half of the race while teammate Adam Craig jousted with Kona's Ryan Trebon and Barry Wicks, Redline's Marc Gullickson, and favorite son Mark McCormack (Clif Bar/Colavita Olive Oil) for the early lead. Unafraid of winds that gusted above 20 miles an hour and blew sea spray onto the course, Craig opened up a healthy lead by the fourth lap when Trebon went down on a slick corner. For a time, it looked as if the 23-year-old Craig might ride away from the field, as he did a month ago in Tacoma, Washington in Round 2 of the U.S. Gran Prix.

"The course was tough with the wind," Craig said. "I got gap and decided to keep it going."

But a chase group quickly formed with Trebon, GT-Hyundai's Todd Wells, and both Andy and Ben Jacques-Maynes. That's when Kabush latched on to the back and enjoyed a free ride back to his teammate.

"It doesn't work much better than that," Kabush said of the Maxxis-Giant plan. "With the wind, I was trying to stay hidden. Adam was riding really strong and got a gap, so I was able to sit in. Once I jumped away, it was just a matter of keeping it steady. It makes it easy when you have a team like this."

Before Kabush's attack, the sheer pace whittled the pack down to an elite selection ˆ Kabush, Craig, Trebon and Wells. It was clear to the more than one thousand spectators that the ultimate winner would emerge from the foursome, and Maxxis-Giant had the numerical advantage.

Credit Trebon with keeping the race interesting. Despite his early crash, the tall Corvallis Oregon rider powered back from his crash and gave Kabush a good run for his money. Although Kabush managed to open up a few more seconds on each lap, Trebon was never out of the race until the final bell lap.

"I'm just not that comfortable cornering yet," Trebon explained after the race. "I felt I was going faster on the flats and the straights, but I'd lose a second in every corner."

Trebon had hoped Wells would be able to play a bigger role in the finish to counter the Maxxis advantage, but the GT-Hyundai rider had to overcome a less than perfect start and didn't have the snap to match Kabush and Craig at the end.

With the victory, Kabush holds the leaders jersey at the halfway point of the U.S. series. But Craig, with 84 points, isn't that far afield. Could this fuel a rivalry within the team? No way, says director sportif Eric Wallace of Maxxis Giant. "That decision was made a long time ago," he said of the team's leader for the series. "You'll probably figure out who it is tomorrow."

Round 4 of the Crank Brothers U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross takes place on Sunday, Oct. 31 at the same venue in Gloucester.

On the women's side, Ann Knapp (Kona) overcame a tough challenge from Gina Hall (Cyclocrossworld.com) to claim her second victory in the Crank Brothers series. Hall jumped out to an early leader, taking along U.S. National masters champion Marianne Stover (Independent Fabrication), U.S. Olympic mountain biker Mary McConneloug (Seven Cycles) and Rona's Anna Milkowski. But Knapp, who had a bad start in rainy conditions, managed to bridge the gap early. After a brief rest, she decided to up the pace and earned herself a small but important gap.

"In my head, I know I don't start well," said Knapp. "But Gina's a safe wheel. If you're in the top five or ten places, you're not that far from the lead."

Knapp, like Kabush in the men's race, got her gap in the sand pit. Knapp rode it, while Hall generally tried to run through the two 25-yard sections of soggy, loose soil. Knapp admitted that she considered sitting up and letting Hall come back to her to help with the wind, but dismissed the idea just as quickly. "She has to fight the wind, I have to fight the wind, so there was no advantage to her if I was away," Knapp said.

By race's end, Knapp had put 21 seconds into Hall and 35 seconds into Milkowski. Velo Bella's Barbara Howe finished fourth, while McConneloug managed to hold on to fifth.

Hall, by virtue of a first and two second place finishes in the series, was the one to pull on the Crank Brothers leader's jersey. She holds a slim 10 point lead over Knapp, which means that Sunday's race could see a change at the top of the rankings. Rhonda Mazza (VanillaBicycles) finished the day in sixth, giving her third place in the series.

In the U-23 category, Cyclocrossworld.com's Jesse Anthony, the defending national champion, won the race and took over leadership of the Crank Brother's Series. Matt White (NCC/BikeReg.com) finished second and trails Anthony in the series as well. In the juniors' race, Charles Marzot (Coast to Coast) parlayed a second place in the Gloucester race into overall series leadership, while Braden Kappius (TIAA-CREF/Clif Bar) moved up to second by virtue of his third place finish. Redline's Adam McGrath took the podium and now sits fourth in the overall standings.

Photos courtesy Jack Beaudoin/Crank Brothers
Mens Podium
Geoff Kabush

Crank Brothers U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross
Round 3 ˆ Michelob ULTRA Grand Prix of Gloucester
Gloucester MA
Saturday, October 30, 2004

Elite Men
1. Geoff Kabush (Maxxis-Giant) Victoria, BC O:55:38
2. Ryan Trebon (Kona) Corvallis OR 55:53
3. Adam Craig (Maxxis Giant) Corinth ME 56:06
4. Todd Wells (GT-Hyundai) Durango CO 56:22
5. Ben Jacques-Maynes (Sierra Nevada Cycling) Mountain View CA 56:39
6. Andy Jacques-Maynes (Clif Bar) Mountain View CA 56:62
7. Mark Gullickson (Redline) Boulder CO 57:05
8. Jackson Stewart (Clif Bar) Los Gatos CA 57:12
9. Mark McCormack (Clif Bar Colavita Olive Oil) Foxboro MA 57:12
10 Barry Wicks (Kona) Corvallis OR 57:12

Elite Woman
1. Ann Knapp (Kona) Des Moines WA 35:30
2. Gina Hall (Cyclocrossworld.com) Ashland OR 35:51
3. Anna Milkowski (Rona) East Chatham NY 36:05
4. Barbara Howe (Velo Bella) Larkspur CA 36:15
5. Mary McConneloug (Seven Cycles) Chilmark MA 36:30
6. Rhonda Mazza (VanillaBicycles/Team S&M) Portland OR 36:32
7. Josie Beggs (Starbucks-CCA) Tacoma WA 36:46
8. Melissa Thomas (Bike Source/Tokyo Joe's) Boulder CO 37:10
9. Sarah Kerlin (Velo Bella) Santa Cruz CA 37:13
10. Kristine Vardaros (Velo Bella) Mill Valley CA 37:21


Team Wedgewood

On Wednesday October 20th at the Wedgewood Hotel in downtown Vancouver members of that city's newest cycling team gathered to launch, "Team Wedgewood"

Members will ride in support of the BC Cancer Agency and organise events and races with the purpose of raising awareness and support for Cancer Research in British Columbia.

The Wedgewood Hotel was presented by its General Manager, Philip Meyer as the title sponsor with the team supported by four associate sponsors which include long time cycling rendezvous "Bean around the World" coffee stores and suppliers.

Membership will be two-tiered to include "active" and "social" memberships and more information is available by contacting pmeyer@teamwedgewood.com

Principals are local riders: Brent Kirkpatrick, Dave Cressman, Philip Meyer, Darnelle Moore and Jonathan Wornell