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Whitmore's Landscaping Super Cross Cup #2 - C1
Southampton, New York, USA, October 7, 2007
2006 Results Results Past winners Day 1
Wicks leads all American podium
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Barry Wicks (Kona/YourKey.com) took advantage of World Champion Erwin Vervecken's derailleur failure with half a lap to go to take the win at the second day of the Whitmore's Landscaping Super Cross Cup, a UCI C2 event. Wicks and Vervecken were wheel to wheel for the lead when the Belgian's derailleur snapped off his frame, allowing Wicks to not only beat the World Champion, but also the German, Canadian and United States National Champions. Wicks, who lost to Vervecken by a wheel in the previous day's sprint finish, was never out of contention on the much more technical course featured on the second day at the Southampton Youth Services Centre.
Ryan Trebon, who also led much of the race, finished second with Jeremy Powers (CyclocrossWorld.com) a strong third. German National Champion Malte Urban (Heinz von Heiden) finished fifth behind Tim Johnson (Leer/Cannondale/CyclocrossWorld.com) while Canadian Champ Greg Reain (RWR/Colnago/Time) finished seventh.
"It's unfortunate that we couldn't race it out to the win," said Wicks. "But a win's a win. Ryan didn't feel too good after his efforts in the heat yesterday and I don't think Erwin felt that good either."
If nothing else, the weekend indicated that America's domestic cyclocross program is growing in quality as well as quantity. No longer the 'not ready for prime-time players', the Americans surprised the contingent of Belgians who were on hand to witness the proceedings. Trebon and Wicks proved to be formidable competition for the three-time World Champion and other Americans, notably Jeremy Powers and Tim Johnson, also spent time in the lead and were serious players. "My legs just didn't feel good," said Vervecken in the locker room after the race. "Maybe it's normal with the airplane trip and the heat yesterday."
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Long airline flights are one thing that is different about top-tier American cyclo-cross compare to the European sport. Whereas it was unusual for Erwin Vervecken and Malte Urban to fly seven hours to America, it's almost routine for Wicks and Trebon to make an almost equally long flight from Oregon to the east coast - something they do several times per year. "It was a five hour flight for us," recounted Wicks before Saturday's race, "and we got here the day after Erwin. So it's about the same."
How it unfolded
Sunday's course featured much more climbing and required more technical skills than the previous day's course. At the start Trebon led Jesse Anthony and Malte Urban through the first turn, though the entire field was compact and nobody had a notable advantage. Powers moved to the front heading into "methane hill", a short, steep hill with very loose, deep soil. Powers controlled the tempo of the race from the front for most of the first four laps before Trebon attacked from fourth place approaching the log-strewn run-up.
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Halfway through the race, the lead group of Trebon, Johnson, Vervecken, Wicks and Powers established itself as the wind picked-up and clouds began to build. The next time they approached the log run-up, Johnson and Powers were off the back of the lead group, with Malte Urban another 20 seconds behind them. As the temperature continued to drop, though still unseasonably warm, Wicks and Trebon started taking turns attacking Vervecken.
It was a case of the tables being turned on Vervecken according to his Belgian supporters, as it is usually he who has the benefit of his Fidea Assurance team-mates like Bart Wellens to try to isolate opponents. Trebon again attacked from behind approaching the log run-up with three-and-a-half laps to go, this time taking Wicks with him.
As they crossed the line with three laps to go, Trebon and Wicks had a five second gap. However, Trebon bobbled up Methane Hill. This allowed Vervecken to catch him but Wicks was still clear by over four seconds. With two laps to go, all three were back together and stayed together until the start of the last lap, where things change dramatically.
Vervecken took the lead approaching Methane Hill, with Trebon being dropped immediately after the hill. Then, 20 seconds later, the crowd yelled "OH!" as Vervecken crashed approaching the steepest hill on the course, a 20 percent gradient monster. Wicks, who was right on his wheel, passed immediately and Trebon was close enough to pass before Vervecken could even get up.
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Soon it became obvious that Vervecken had suffered a mechanical problem, but he was too far away from the hill were the majority of spectators had congregated for anybody to realize that it was a broken derailleur. Vervecken slowly carried his bike to the edge of the course, ducked under the tape and stepped gracefully out of the race trying not to take the attention away from Wicks who rode cleanly the last half lap to take the win. "It was just bad luck," said Vervecken afterward. "It happens maybe two times a year." As he shrugged his shoulders, though, the look on his face belied his disappointment.
In the preceding women's event, the competitors were once again racing for a purse equal to that of the men. The two-day purse of over $6400 is believed to be the biggest prize list ever offered for a women's cyclo-cross. Once again it was Katie Compton (Spike Shooter) and Lyne Bessette (CyclocrossWorld.com) who dominated the proceedings.
The two were together for the first half of the race, neither able to gain and hold a substantial advantage until Compton began to pull away at about half-race. Once gone, Compton dominated to score her second consecutive victory for the weekend and the lion's share of the purse.
Behind Bessette, a race-long dual for third between two west-coasters drew the crowd's attention. Californian Barbara Howe (Velo Bella Kona) appeared to be away for third by the end of the second lap, only to have Bend, Oregon's Megan Elliott come out of the remains of the pack to catch her. The two were never more that a bike length apart for the remainder of the race until Howe pulled away in the last quarter of the last lap to take the final podium position.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Marco Quezada/marcoquezada.com
- Barry Wicks (Kona/YourKey.com) takes the win at the second day of the Whitmore's Landscaping Super Cross Cup.
- Barry Wicks (Kona/YourKey.com) tops the podium, with Ryan Trebon and Jeremy Powers (CyclocrossWorld.com) (l & r).
- Katie Compton (Spike Shooter) wins Southampton day 2.
- Katie Compton (Spike Shooter) tops the podium part. Lyne Bessette (CyclocrossWorld.com) escapes the podium while Californian Barbara Howe (Velo Bella Kona) lets the bubbly fly.
- Compton powes away to the win
- Bessette worked hard but couldn't match Compton
- Compton executes perfect technique on the log section
- Compton gracefully tackles the barriers
- The effort shows on Lyne Bessette's face
- Compton looked smooth and powerful on the technical course
- Compton gets two wins in a row
- Three champions: Ryan Trebon (US), Erwin Vervecken (World champ) and Greg Reain (Canada)
- Erwin Vervecken under the hot sun in New York
- Vervecken before the start
- They have organisations to help with that….
Results
Elite men 1 Barry Wicks (USA) 1.04.07 2 Ryan Trebon (USA) 0.17 3 Jeremy Powers (USA) 0.30 4 Timothy Johnson (USA) 0.55 5 Malte Urban (Ger) 2.04 6 Matt White (USA) 2.14 7 Greg Reain (Can) 8 Mathieu Toulouse (Can) 2.21 9 Matt Shriver (USA) 2.36 10 Jamey Driscoll (USA) 3.29 11 Christopher Jones (USA) 3.42 12 Jesse Anthony (USA) 4.09 13 Troy Wells (USA) 5.35 14 Ryan Leech (USA) 5.50 15 Adam Myerson (USA) 16 Weston Schempf (USA) 6.01 17 Alec Donahue (USA) 6.32 18 Jerome Townsend (USA) 6.38 19 Toby Marzot (USA) 20 Josh Dillon (USA) 6.48 21 Mark Batty (Can) 6.53 22 Kevin Wolfson (USA) 7.13 23 Derrick St John (Can) 7.06 One lap down 24 Matt Kraus (USA) 25 Dan Neyens (USA) 26 Andrew Wulfkuhle (USA) 27 Ethan Gilmour (USA) 28 Peter Rubijono (USA) 29 Kyle Douglas (Can) 30 Jamie Pair (USA) 31 Myles Romanow (Can) Elite women 1 Katie Compton (USA) 41.13 2 Lyne Bessette (Can) 0.34 3 Barbara Howe (USA) 4.24 4 Megan Elliott (USA) 3.58 5 Anna Milkowski (USA) 4.32 6 Amanda Sin (Can) 5.00 7 Natasha Elliott (Can) 5.23 8 Rebecca Wellons (USA) 5.40 9 Marci Titus Hall (USA) 5.47 10 Amy Wallace (USA) 6.19 11 Perri Mertens (Aus) 6.56 12 Cris Rothfuss (USA) 7.27 13 Pauline Frascone (USA) 7.51 14 Alie Kenzer (USA) 8.02 15 Jennifer Maxwell (USA) 9.00 16 Melanie Swartz (USA) 9.41 17 Arley Kemmerer (USA) 9.50 18 Stephanie White (USA) 10.20 19 Heidi Von Teitenberg (USA) 11.18 One lap down 20 Megan Bilodeau (USA) 21 Kim Blodgett (USA) 22 Brenda Bahnson (USA) 23 Jennifer Stebbins (USA) 24 Beth Mason (USA) 25 Cecelia Pleva (USA) Cat. 2/3 Men 1 Peter Bradshaw (USA) Cambridge Bicycle / Igleheart Frames 46.22 2 Gregory Lindstrom (USA) Hunt Valley Bicycles/Marathon Roofing 1.11 3 Don Snoop (USA) Verge Sport/Test Pilot 1.28 4 Sean Cavanaugh (USA) BETHEL CYCLE 1.34 5 John Brewer (USA) Squadra Coppi/IM SAAB 6 Brian Wolff (USA) GBSC/Carl Hart Bicycles 7 Alex Whitmore (USA) Cambridge Bicycle / Igleheart Frames 2.27 8 Matthew Budd (USA) 3.09 9 Jeremy Dunn (USA) Cambridge Bicycle 3.51 10 Patrick Goguen (USA) cl noonan/coast to coast/kam 4.38 11 Christopher Gagne (USA) Boston Road Club 4.51 12 J.P. Partland (USA) High Gear Cyclery/Watchung Wheelman 5.43 13 Todd Kruger (USA) Hermes 6.16 14 Mark Vareschi (USA) Rutgers University Cycling Team 7.26 15 Robert Wolff (USA) GBSC/Carl Hart Bicycles 16 Christopher Uglietta (USA) CRCA /Jonathan Adler Racing 17 Tom Buttner (USA) Verge Sport/Test Pilot 18 Frank Zgoda (USA) Skylands Cycling 19 Charlie Ray (USA) 20 Mark Robson (USA) Nerac Cycling 23 starters Masters 35+ 1 Robert Campos (USA) HVC/Jessies 46.34 2 Kris Auer (USA) C3-Sollay.com 3 Christopher Long (USA) Independent Fabrication/Gotham 47.29 4 Matt Howard (USA) CRCA/Gotham 47.55 5 Keith Gauvin (USA) cyclonaut racers 48.29 6 Wade Summers (USA) Horst-Benidorm-Property Research Corp 51.22 7 Paul Nyberg (USA) Horst-Benidorm-Property Research Corp. 51.23 8 Eric Marro (USA) BOB/Shift-Stonyfield Farm-Ariza-Goodales 9 Douglas Dicks (USA) bennetts bikes 52.35 10 Steven Kane (USA) Byron Lake/East End Cycling Team 52.52 11 Timothy Shea (USA) BOB/Shift-Stonyfield Farm-Ariza-Goodales 53.59 12 Eric Ragot (USA) Kissena Cycling Club 13 Percy Zahl (USA) 14 Mark Shenstone (USA) Finger Lakes Cycling Club 15 Charlie Lapunzina (USA) Kissena Cycling Club 16 George Hebner (USA) Bethel Cycle Sport Club 17 Jerry White (USA) Essex County Velo 18 Ian Landau (USA) Kissena 19 Oscar Rosales (USA) GS Gotham/Toga 23 starters Juniors 15-18 1 Joseph Favara (USA) Hampton Velo 48.40 2 starters Cat. 3/4 Men 1 Ben Miller (USA) 34.41 2 Kenneth Boyle (USA) 2.02 3 Gary Giacchetto (USA) East End/Kreb Cycle 2.27 4 Michael Jenks (USA) Highland Park Hermes 2.41 5 Nicholas Mashburn (USA) Cambridge Bicycle/ Igleheart Frames 3.42 6 Mark Salazar (USA) skylands cycling 4.00 7 Jonathan Sebat (USA) 4.42 8 Ben Dailey (USA) Brooklyn Velo Force 5.07 9 Saverio Fiorino (USA) DC Racing/Danny's Cycles 5.26 10 Tommy Goguen (USA) Minuteman Road Club 5.45 11 Erik Peterson (USA) Cambridge/Igleheart 5.51 12 Dusan Strika (USA) Kissena Cycling Team 6.18 13 Todd Mcloughlin (USA) Kissena 6.25 14 Chris Joinnides (USA) East End/Kreb Cycle 7.26 15 Jacob Smoller (USA) 7.32 16 Jason Gay (USA) CRCA/Brooklyn Velo Force 17 Joshua Storck (USA) Brooklyn Velo Force 18 Craig Goodstein (USA) CRCA/Sanchez-Metro 19 Drew Tyger (USA) 20 Todd Silski (USA) Auburn Bike Works 21 Esteban Velasquez (USA) 22 Philip Pile (USA) East End/Kreb Cycle 23 Kevin Stawiasz (USA) Bethel Cycle Sport Club 24 Dwight Merriman (USA) Hampton Velo 30 starters Cat 3/4 Women 1 Robin Shea (USA) east end/kreb cycle 34.11 2 Elizabeth White (USA) NEBC 2.16 3 Kathleen Wulfkuhle (USA) C3-Sollay.com 4.00 4 Kyra Kenwood (USA) Carl Hart/GSBC 4.12 5 Liz Seward (USA) CRCA/Third Nature 7.18 6 Kristine Jimenez (USA) Penn State 10.01 7 Cathy Wilson (USA) GBSC/Carl Hart Bicycles 8 Leah Pappas-barnes (USA) Independent Fabrication 9 starters Cub Juniors 1 Tommy Goguen (USA) Minuteman Road Club 14.20 2 Peter Goguen (USA) Minuteman Road Club 1.17 2 starters
Past winners
2006 Tim Johnson (USA) Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com Lyne Bessette (Can) Cyclocrossworld.com 2005 Mark McCormack (USA) Clif Bar Barbara Howe (USA) Velo Bella 2004 Mark McCormack (USA) Christine Vardaros (USA)
