Trebon, Bessette take Round 2 at Gloucester
[nid:33141]With remnants of Saturday’s unexpected blizzard melting away under a balmy afternoon sun, Lyne Bessette (Cyclocrossworld.com-Louis Garneau) ran her season win streak to eight and Ryan Trebon rode a daring and impressive solo to win Sunday’s fourth stop of the 2005 Crank Brothers U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross, the Michelob ULTRA Grand Prix of Gloucester.
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By Chris Milliman, Special to VeloNews
Photo: Chris Milliman
Photo: Chris Milliman
With remnants of Saturday’s unexpected blizzard melting away under a balmy afternoon sun, Lyne Bessette (Cyclocrossworld.com-Louis Garneau) ran her season win streak to eight and Ryan Trebon rode a daring and impressive solo to win Sunday’s fourth stop of the 2005 Crank Brothers U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross, the Michelob ULTRA Grand Prix of Gloucester.
Just a day after the brutal snowy conditions left many riders near hypothermia, a bright autumn sun bathed the Gloucester course in warmth, drying up much of the mud and all that remained of nearly four inches of snow that fell on the first day of the Gloucester weekend’s races.
Keep it simple
While the weather may have been a whole lot different, Bessette’s race plan was exactly the same as it has been all season: get an early gap and keep it.
Since that dead simple strategy had brought her seven consecutive wins coming into the day, the 30-year-old Canadian saw no reason to alter it. The faster course conditions evened the playing field a bit for Bessette’s nearest rivals, her lead never got much more than 45 seconds, but the result was familiar, another Bessette win.
For the second straight day, reigning Canadian ‘cross champion, Wendy Simms (Kona), made the key chase duo, but her partner on Sunday was a resurgent Anne Knapp (Kona). A day after suffering what she referred to as “frozen legs” Knapp was back in the mix, chasing Bessette hard for the full duration of the race.
As she had the day before, Simms droved hard for the first half of the race before wilting in the final couple laps, allowing Knapp to sneak away for second. But the weekend belonged to Bessette, whose utter dominance of Elite Women’s ‘cross in the U.S. may be without precedent.
“I just have to push myself to go harder all the time,” said Bessette, commenting on her motivation. “In cyclo-cross you can use the course to challenge you, maybe going a little harder than into a headwind or on a tough section. If you give yourself these challenges it will make you faster and that’s my goal. I’m getting good UCI points over here so that when I go to Europe I’ll have a better chance of doing well there.”
Trebon rides again
Ryan Trebon’s Gloucester weekend was a tale of two very different days. The former Gloucester winner withdrew on Saturday, not wanting to make a lingering illness even worse by an hour of racing in freezing wet conditions. But with warm weather, Trebon’s health and speed returned. With teammate Barry Wicks helping to set the early pace, Trebon rocketed off the 100-rider field less than a lap into the race.
As a small group of favorites gathered at the front to figure out what to do Trebon danced away in impressive fashion, surging out of every corner and turning massive gears on the course’s several speed sections. Perhaps feeling the lingering effects of his epic performance the day before, Tim Johnson (Cyclocrossworld.com-Louis Garneau) had no answer for Trebon’s explosive strength, but still managed to tag on to the main chase quartet with Adam Craig (Giant), Wicks, and Jesse Anthony (Team Clif Bar).
Photo: Chris Milliman
The chasing foursome threw down attack after attack, but none stuck and none got them any closer to Trebon, whose leading margin swelled to more than a minute. Craig looked the strongest of the four, but was still well short of bridging up to Trebon.
“To be honest I didn’t know Ryan was off the front until the third lap,” admitted Craig, who went on to finish second for the second day in a row. “I saw this tall Kona rider at the front of the chase group and I thought that was Ryan, but it was actually Barry. When I got up to them I looked way down the course and there was Ryan. By then it was way too late.”
“I still don’t feel that great,” said Trebon after winning at Gloucester for the second straight year. “I didn’t want to quit the race yesterday, but it just made no sense to maybe make me more sick racing in those conditions. I’m going over to Europe in a couple weeks and that’s going to stress my body enough, getting sicker than I already am would not be a good idea. But winning at Gloucester is always good because the course is awesome and the best guys come here to race it.”
The Crank Brothers U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross continues November 19 in Watsonville, California.
2005 Crank brothers U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross Race #4
Michelob ULTRA Grand Prix of Gloucester #2
Elite Men
1 Ryan Trebon Kona 0:59:09
2 Adam Craig Giant 1:00:39
3 Barry Wicks Kona 1:00:41
4 Tim Johnson Konja-Easton 1:01:05
5 Jesse Anthony Team Clif Bar 1:01:08
6 Mark McCormack Team CLIF Bar 1:02:20
7 Matt Shriver Kona/Easton 1:02:30
8 Jonathan Baker Primus Mootry Racing 1:02:36
9 Carl Decker Giant 1:02:48
10 Erik Tonkin Kona 1:02:50Elite Women
1 Lyne Bessette Cyclocrossworld.com-Louis Garneau 0:43:46
2 Ann Knapp Kona 0:44:12
3 Wendy Simms Kona 0:44:31
4 Melissa Thomas Tokyo Joes/GoLite 0:45:19
5 Barbara Howe Velo Bella 0:45:19
6 Rhonda Mazza Team S&M/Vanilla Bicycles 0:45:32
7 Stacey Spencer Cycle-Smart/Javelin 0:45:41
8 Melodie Metzger VeloBella 0:46:14
9 Christine Vardaros Velo Bella 0:46:29
10 Allison Baumhefner NorCal Velo 0:46:54
Photo Gallery
Results
2005 Crank brothers U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross Race #4
Michelob ULTRA Grand Prix of Gloucester #2
Elite Men
1 Ryan Trebon Kona 0:59:09
2 Adam Craig Giant 1:00:39
3 Barry Wicks Kona 1:00:41
4 Tim Johnson Konja-Easton 1:01:05
5 Jesse Anthony Team Clif Bar 1:01:08
6 Mark McCormack Team CLIF Bar 1:02:20
7 Matt Shriver Kona/Easton 1:02:30
8 Jonathan Baker Primus Mootry Racing 1:02:36
9 Carl Decker Giant 1:02:48
10 Erik Tonkin Kona 1:02:50Elite Women
1 Lyne Bessette Cyclocrossworld.com-Louis Garneau 0:43:46
2 Ann Knapp Kona 0:44:12
3 Wendy Simms Kona 0:44:31
4 Melissa Thomas Tokyo Joes/GoLite 0:45:19
5 Barbara Howe Velo Bella 0:45:19
6 Rhonda Mazza Team S&M/Vanilla Bicycles 0:45:32
7 Stacey Spencer Cycle-Smart/Javelin 0:45:41
8 Melodie Metzger VeloBella 0:46:14
9 Christine Vardaros Velo Bella 0:46:29
10 Allison Baumhefner NorCal Velo 0:46:54