October 8, 2007 (Southampton, New York) – Barry Wicks (USA) and Katie Compton (USA) took the wins today at Whitmore’s Landscaping Super Cross Cup #2 with Greg Reain (Can) RWR/Colnago/Time the top Canuck in 7th in the men’s race and Lyne Bessette (Can) Cyclocrossworld.com placing second in the women’s competition.

Kona World Day 1 and Day 2 Report

Kona-yourkey.com Factory Cyclocross team riders Barry Wicks and Ryan Trebon headed east to Southampton, NY to do battle with some of the best cross racers in the world including World Champion Erwin Vervecken. Wicks and Trebon both laid down inspirational rides and both became the first riders to ever best the World Champion on US soil.

This is not Vervecken’s first foray to the US for cyclocross but in the past he has not had to work too hard come out victorious. Times have changed and North American cyclocross riders are showing they have the talent to compete on an international stage. Vervecken has always shown true class and professionalism. For the Kona riders to get a chance to compete against him on home turf and get the win too is a true accomplishment.

Day One

The selection of the lead group was made early in the race and as has happened so many times before it was forced upon the field by Trebon’s hard drive at the front from the gun. Only Vervecken, Johnson and Wicks were able to stay with Trebon. “I like to make the selection early. No sense towing around riders that aren’t going to be there at the end,” said Trebon. Once the selection was made it was time for the Twin Timbers to do their best to soften up the World Champ with some hard attacks.

Vervecken responded with a few of his own but the teamwork of Trebon and Wicks would bring him back each time. The race played out in this fashion for much of the race. Unfortunately, Trebon had some mechanicals with a Barry Wicks dropped chain and cracked wheel that forced him to burn precious energy chasing back to the group.

Wicks was holding his own on the front group riding wheel to wheel with Vervecken when Trebon dropped back with yet another mechanical. In a show of determination and power Trebon put in a phenomenal effort to bring back Wicks and Vervecken. “Barry has worked for me so many times, I was stoked to be out there for him today. Yeah mechanical suck but my legs were toast and I just wanted to do all I could to help Barry be there with Erwin till the end,” said Trebon.

On the final lap it was down to just Wicks and Vervecken. Wicks had a small gap with a half lap to go but Vervecken was able to bridge up before the final sprint. “Ryan worked great for me today. I would have like to take the win today but I led the sprint out too early and Erwin came around to take the sprint by a wheel. It’s good for me to be out here racing for the win though. With Ryan headed to Europe we want to win the US GP for the 4th year in a row. Sprinting it out with the World Champ is the best practice for sure”¦.but the win would have been good too,” remarked Wicks. Trebon was able to hold off a charge by Tim Johnson to finish 3rd.

Day Two
The 2nd day was much like the first with the same group off the front trading blows. But today it was pretty clear that Wicks had the best legs of the day. “My legs were horrible. I haven’t felt that bad in a race in a long, long time,” said Trebon. “It was all I could do to stay with Wicks and work for him again. He’s been riding really well.”

Wicks was pushing the pace and the world champ and all the other challengers to the limit. “I’ve been feeling really good lately. It just seems like things are coming together for me at the right time. With Ryan and I both going pretty well it makes it hard on the rest of the group,” said Wicks. Vervecken couldn’t agree more and usually he has his Fidea strongmen to help out. But he was solo this outing and on the final lap Wicks put in a big attack and Vervecken and Wicks were bar to bar, wheel to wheel for the lead when Vervecken’s derailleur snapped and Wicks soloed to the win.

“It’s a bit of a bummer to not have the race to the end but a win’s a win. We’ve all had bad luck at times. Sometimes when you’re in the red zone you do things you shouldn’t. I’m not sure how he lost the derailleur but it feels great to beat the World Champ. It’s not like he was riding away from the field, we were with him the whole way and contesting the race from the gun,” said Wicks.

Trebon was able to dig deep enough to hold off a hard charging Jeremy Powers and take 2nd place for the Kona-yourkey.com team. “I’m super stoked for Barry and the Kona team. It just shows the benefit and importance of a good teammate.” While Vervecken was disappointed to have it end that way he showed his usual class. He faded to the background to let Wicks and Trebon have their day in the sun. One thing is for sure, Trebon and Wicks earned a large amount of respect from the Belgian on this weekend. There will be no surprising him (or the rest of the field) from here on out. The Twin Timbers and Trebon in particular as US National Champion will be marked men.

Jim Horner-Cyclocross Gran Prix
While the Kona-yourkey.com men were in the US trading blows Wendy Simms traveled to Edmonton, Alberta to attend the Jim Horner-Cyclocross Gran Prix. Simms is looking to get some good miles in the legs, some hard racing and to also show support for Kona Dealer, River City Cycles. She did all that and more taking a commanding win. Only one rider could stay with her for first few laps before she decided to throw down the power all the way. Simms then soloed away for a convincing win.

Portland Cross Crusade
Erik Tonkin was on hand to witness the yet another record start to his hometown series the Portland Cross Crusade. 2006 was a record year and yet here in 2007 the first race saw and increase of over 30% and the new record now stands at 1,078 racers…the single largest single day turnout for a cyclocross race in the world! Tonkin was locked in a great battle all day long with Shannon Skerritt. But after riding his fixed gear Kona Paddy Wagon to the event, racing it in the single speed class with a huge gear of 42 X 17t the gas just wasn’t quite the at the end and Tonkin took 2nd place in the men’s A race.

Elite men

1. Barry Wicks (USA) Kona 1.04.07
2. Ryan Trebon (USA) Kona 0.17
3. Jeremy Powers (USA) 0.3
4. Timothy Johnson (USA) 0.55
5. Malte Urban (Ger) 2.04
6. Matt White (USA) 2.14
7. Greg Reain (Can) RWR/Colnago/Time
8. Mathieu Toulouse (Can) Maxxis 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) 5.5
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) TeamRace.com 6.53
22. Kevin Wolfson (USA) 7.13
23. Derrick St John (Can) The Cyclery 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) 3 Rox Racing
30. Jamie Pair (USA)
31. Myles Romanow (Can)

Elite women

1. Katie Compton (USA) 41.13
2. Lyne Bessette (Can) Cyclocrossworld.com 0.34
3. Barbara Howe (USA) 4.24
4. Megan Elliott (USA) 3.58
5. Anna Milkowski (USA) 4.32
6. Amanda Sin (Can) 3 Rocks Racing 5.00
7. Natasha Elliott (Can) Stevens Cross 5.23
8. Rebecca Wellons (USA) 5.4
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
16. Melanie Swartz (USA) 9.41
17. Arley Kemmerer (USA) 9.5
18. Stephanie White (USA) 10.2
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)