Trebon nails it in New Jersey

Nov 14, 2009 by editor

The Bend rider nicknamed “Treefarm” left little doubt Saturday that he’s back in form after a three-week recovery from a couple of hard crashes in Kentucky.

Ryan Trebon stomped his way back into the USGP leader’s jersey Saturday in New Jersey by riding away from North America’s best ‘crossers on a slow-and-slippery course that had been soaked by days of torrential rain.

The Kona-FSA rider joined an elite group at the front initiated by Canadian Geoff Kabush (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain) that included Tim Johnson (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com), Chance Noble (Cal Giant Strawberry Farms) and Chris Jones (Champion Systems). As the lead group slowly splintered on ensuing laps, the others fell off save Johnson and Trebon, who pushed the pace in the lead.

Positioned in his favorite spot at the front of the race, Trebon, a double winner at the 2009 Cross Crusade series, kept it upright and smooth and slowly built a gap on Johnson with two laps to go. But tons of clingy mud and two circuits to go meant the race was far from over.

Johnson’s Cannondale teammate, Jamey Driscoll, who came into the day leading the series, got off to a slow start and had to work his way back through nearly half field but eventually motored into third as crashes, mechanicals and fatigue took their toll on the riders in front of him. Trebon finished well ahead of Johnson as the stung-out, exhausted field trailed in behind. Driscoll hung on for third, while Barry Wicks — Trebon’s Kona teammate and fellow Crusade double winner — crossed the line seventh. OBRA racer Joshua Berry (BODE), winner of the Blind Date at the Dairy series and second place at last weekend’s SSCXWC09 at PIR, finished mid-pack in the elite field, crossing the line in 32nd. Berry’s finish was good enough to earn sixth overall in the separated U/23 category.

The Powerful Luna squad continued its dominance of the elite women’s race, snagging three of the top four spots, including a runaway win by Czech phenom Katerina Nash. Georgia Gould (Luna) and Meredith Miller (Cal Giant Strawberry) rounded out the podium. Portland’s Sue Butler (Manovie-Cannondale) finished ninth in New Jersey less than a week after nearly cracking the top 15 the World Cup race in Nommay, France.

A pair of Oregon juniors also hit the course in the Junior Men 17-18, event, with Team Redline’s Andrew Bennett in 10th, and Hammer Velo’s Kolben Preble finishing 16th.

USGP Mercer Cup racing continues Sunday with the elite women hitting the starting block at 10:45 Pacific time. The elite men start at noon. You can catch all the action as it happens with Live coverage provided by CXMagazine.com.

You can also follow along on Twitter with updates from USGP Director Joan Hanscom at http://twitter.com/joanhan or Podium Insight’s Lyne Lamoureux at http://twitter.com/podiuminsight

RESULTS
USGP Mercer Cup
Saturday, Nov. 14
Mercer County, New Jersey

WOMEN
1. Katernina Nash (Luna)
2. Georgia Gould (Luna
3. Meredith Miller (Cal Giant Strawberry)
4. Alison Dunlap (Luna)
5. Maureen Bruno Roy (MM racing/Seven)
6. Kelli Emmett (Giant)
7. Amy Dombroski (Shlam/Primus Mootry)
8. Deidre Winfield (C3 Athletes)
9. Sue Butler (Monavie-Cannondale)
10. Alison Sydor

MEN
1. Ryan Trebon (Kona-FSA)
2. Tim Johnson (Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com)
3. Jamey Driscoll (Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com)
4. Chris Jones (Champion Systems)
5. Davide Fattini (Fuji)
6. Danny Summerhill (Cal Giant Strawberry)
7. Barry Wicks (Kona-FSA)
8. Valentin Scherz (Pro Cycles/Scott)
9. Zach McDonald (Classic Cycles)
10. Todd Wells (Specialized)