November 29, 2009. Team Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com newsletter. While team captain Tim Johnson and young gun Jamey Driscoll were at home recovering from Thanksgiving dinner, Jeremy Powers was in Sterling, Massachusetts flying the Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com flag high at the Baystate Cyclocross weekend. Despite lacking the number of teammates he’s accustomed to, Powers raced a stellar weekend to score a pair of victories.

Coming into the weekend, Jeremy Powers was keen to make sure his legs were in the right place before the final stop on US Gran Prix of Cyclocross circuit in Portland and the subsequent culmination of the American cyclocross calendar at the United States National Championships in Bend, Oregon. Powers had been slowly working off the effects the flu that had kept him out of the USGP’s third weekend in New Jersey two weeks prior. Powers’ comeback was headed in the right direction after two second-place finishes in Southampton, New York last weekend, but Powers was eager to prove his legs still had that winning snap. Baystate proved to be just what the doctor ordered. Powers was happy to be back to his usual self, saying “it was really good to get out racing and get some confidence for the next few weekends. It was good all around for me.”

While the course may not have been tailor made for Powers’ strengths, Powers showed that his season is coming together at the right time. Saturday’s racing in Sterling saw high winds pose the day’s main challenge, and put power and the ability to recover at a premium. Powers proved to be the strongest man on the day, fending off strong efforts from Dan Timmerman (RGM Watches – Richard Sachs – Radix) and Justin Lindine (Bikereg.com/Joe’s Garage/IF). Powers reserve strength and great late-season form proved to be the difference maker, and Powers was able to take home his first victory since October 31st in Northampton. “I didn’t really have a plan, per se, I just wanted to be conservative and get in a good day, and try to win. Timmerman was riding really well today; the guys in New England are super fast.”

Come Sunday, the wind had died down in Eastern Massachusetts, and the day’s difference maker would be the new tight, twisting, technical sections added to day two’s course. The course on Sunday was even farther from Powers’ traditional forte, but further proved that he is a true danger man come December 13th. Powers was aware the course may not have played into his strengths, saying, “it was a hard course to get away on because the course was so twisty-turney, there were only a couple sections where you could throw down some power. There was a definite speed limit on the course. You could only take so many corners so fast. There were only a couple sections where I could really shred it.”

While the course and the conditions may have changed, the end result didn’t, and it was again Powers who emerged victorious. Powers had to hold off a determined Justin Lindine, but Powers’ fitness and guile proved best on the day. “I was fourth or fifth at the start and I just nailed it. As soon as I realized I was in a good spot, I just whacked it. I had better legs today than yesterday.” Powers wrapped up his weekend with a pair of wins, which made it eight for the Cannondale/Cyclocross rider on the year, and upped the team’s total to an even twenty for the season.

Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com does not have much more time left this season on American soil, but the two weekends left are two of the most important on the calendar. Next weekend, Tim Johnson, Jeremy Powers and Jamey Driscoll head to Portland, Oregon for the Portland Cup, the seventh and eighth races in the USGP series. Driscoll is the top ranked Cannondale/Cyclocross.com rider in the USGP overall standings, sitting in second with 180 points, 30 points shy of USGP leader Ryan Trebon. Tim Johnson is a further 6 points back, with 174 points.

Looking even further ahead, the team is lining itself up perfectly for the push towards Nationals. Johnson and Powers are each hitting their victory stride, while Driscoll is not far behind. While the Portland Cup should settle out who will be the favorites in Bend, Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com will no doubt be at the top of the list.

Team Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com closed out the North American Cyclocross Trophy season in style over the past weekend in Southampton, New York, solidifying first, second and third place on the NACT overall standings through a pair of podium sweeps. For more information on the team, head to www.cannondale-cyclocrossworld.com.

One year ago, Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com captain Tim Johnson found himself in street clothes on the final overall podium of the North American Cyclocross Trophy. The disappointment of not fighting for the final series overall helped drive Johnson to overall victory in the NACT’s sophomore season, closing out the NACT series with a pair of wins in Southampton, New York’s Whitmore’s Landscaping Super Cross Cup. Following just behind Johnson on the final NACT podium was teammate Jeremy Powers, who narrowly bested Jamey Driscoll, the final member of the squad, completing Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com’s sweep of the overall NACT podium.

Saturday’s action opened with the possibility that Johnson could close out the NACT overall with a win. The team’s weekend had a tall obstacle in its way, in the form of Ryan Trebon (Kona), who entered the weekend determined to disrupt Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com’s shot at victory. Early in Saturday’s race, Trebon’s efforts had Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com on their heels, despite having all three members of the team in the leading group. Johnson was wary of Trebon on day one, saying: “Ryan was very much in control, and he was riding really well. Really he had the race going his way, keeping us on the limit. When he had issue, Jeremy and I got away together, and I just jammed on the gas.” Midway through the race, a small bobble on Trebon’s part allowed Johnson, Powers and Driscoll to tip the scales in their favor, as Johnson surged to the front, the rest of Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com in tow.

Johnson’s powerful attack claimed Driscoll as its first casualty. Despite not being able to hold the pace of the NACT leader, Driscoll soldiered ahead on his own, resisting a dogged chase from Trebon. Driscoll rode up to his usual standards to hold on to third place, claiming yet another UCI podium in what has been his best season to date. “It’s pretty sweet to finish on a big series podium this season. It shows that I’ve become a more consistent rider this year, which is good for me.” Ahead, Powers was the last man to fall off of Johnson’s wheel, despite his best efforts to the contrary. “Tim’s riding really well, and I’m playing catch up to him right now, but the fact that I’m just shy of where Tim is shows I’ve got some work ahead of me, but not a ton, so I’m happy with where I am,” said Powers of his current form. Johnson continued his assault on the course, extending his lead up until the day’s final meters, taking home the win and mathematically eliminating all challengers to his NACT title. Powers would cross the line shortly behind Johnson, assuring a Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com podium sweep.

On Sunday, Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com was eager to dictate things from the front of the race, and it was Jeremy Powers who provided the early fireworks. Powers attacked out of a leading group of seven, of which no rider had an immediate answer to his acceleration. “There was an opportunity and I took it, I didn’t necessarily mean to go from the gun or anything. Everyone was kind of hanging out and I saw there were some lulls, so I wanted to capitalize on that,” said Powers of his attack. Powers continued to expand his lead for a time, while Johnson and Driscoll kept tabs on the group behind. “Once Jeremy was up the road, I waited to see what anyone else was going to do. When I saw that they weren’t going to close, I went over the top. If it took one lap or three, I was just trying to get across to Jeremy clean,” said Johnson. When it looked as if there would be no further response from the group, Johnson chose to attack across the finish line, quickly closing the gap to Powers.

Driscoll, too, picked the perfect time to attack out of the chase group, and before long, the gaps between groups were expanding, setting up another team podium sweep. Driscoll was quick to highlight the caliber of his teammates up the road. “I didn’t charge up to Tim because I wanted to make sure he got a gap. Once he established that gap, he was full gas to get up to Jeremy, and once he’s going, he’s a hard wheel to follow.” Johnson and Powers, once the gap had been fully established, turned their attention to each other, and the impending victory. Powers and Johnson took turns pulling, and when the time came to settle the final podium, it was a Johnson attack that finally dispatched a resilient Jeremy Powers.

Johnson quickly opened up an unassailable gap over his teammate, and had enough of a cushion to celebrate his second win of the weekend, his tenth of the season and his overall NACT title. “We definitely threw everything at each other out there,” said Johnson. “It was definitely a fun last half hour of the race.” His win upped Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com’s win tally to eighteen victories on the year. Powers finished up his stellar ride to take home second, and second on the NACT podium, while Driscoll, who had come close to catching the leading duo earlier in the race, again held on for third on the day and third place on the NACT podium. For Johnson, the satisfaction of winning the NACT was enhanced due to his fear that his shot at the title evaporated with a crash in September that left him with a separated shoulder. “I thought any chance of winning either the NACT or USGP was out the window, so to come away with one of the two feels really good. I was seriously worried, because there were a few weeks when the shoulder was giving me a hard time. I didn’t know how long the effects were going to last, so I was trying to think positively.”

With Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com’s American campaign nearing its end, Jeremy Powers will be the only rider in action, as he heads to Sterling, Massachusetts’ Baystate Cycloross next weekend, while Johnson and Driscoll will take some time to recharge before the team reunites for the final US Gran Prix of Cyclocross event in Portland, Oregon. After that, the team will turn their attention to the United States National Championships in Bend, Oregon.

November 15, 2009. Team Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com Team Newsletter. Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com trekked to West Windsor, New Jersey to tackle the third weekend in the US Gran Prix of Cyclocross Series. Muddy, heavy conditions had Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com licking their chops, and success soon followed. For more information, go to www.cannondale-cyclocrossworld.com.

Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com entered the weekend of the Mercer Cup, the fifth and sixth races on the USGP calendar, in the USGP driver’s seat. Jamey Driscoll held the lead in the series standings, tied on points with Kona’s Ryan Trebon, but having the best recent result. Mid-week rain had made the turf in the Mercer County Park a sticky mud pit, where straight-line power was at a premium. Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com came to New Jersey one man short, with Jeremy Powers sitting the weekend out with a nasty sickness, while Driscoll and team captain Tim Johnson were on the line to fly the team’s colors.

It didn’t take long for America’s best cyclocross talent to emerge from the mud, with Johnson making the day’s elite selection, following Trebon’s accelerations. Driscoll’s day did not start as planned, finding himself in the mid-twenties as the first lap got underway. “The first half of the race, I didn’t feel like a real ‘cross rider, but the second half I definitely got my stuff together and felt like an actual bike racer,” said Driscoll. Not to be deterred, Driscoll picked his way through the field with clinical precision, pulling his way all the way up onto the podium. “I finally felt more efficient and made up some serious ground.” Driscoll’s determination netted him a third place finish on the day, and also scored the young man from Vermont the Sram Most Aggressive Rider Award for day one.

Up ahead, Johnson and Trebon were waging a battle for the ages. Johnson doggedly pursued Trebon through the course’s most difficult sections, keeping Trebon on his toes deep into the race. Trebon finally managed to inch away from Johnson, despite the his best efforts, and Johnson would end his day in second place. “I tried to ride as fast as I could; I tried to ride Ryan’s pace. He was overextending me on a lot of the early difficult sections, and I was trying to recover whenever I had a chance. I was really pushing it to try and stay with him,” said Johnson of his fight with Trebon. “I was pretty happy with today’s race, I just got beat.”

Sunday’s event saw the course dry out to a significant degree, playing into the hands of riders with a knack for bike handling. Driscoll’s start was better on Sunday than it was on Saturday, and Driscoll was in the mix early. “I started much better after everyone heckled me for starting poorly yesterday. I started well but Tim started even better; it was really about how strong you were, and even if I had been up with him I don’t think I could have stayed there.” While Johnson was attacking the field up front, Driscoll was keeping tabs on the team’s rivals and work his way up to the front. For a time, Driscoll set himself to holding on to riders accelerating from behind, first trying to hold the pace of Trebon, who was charging from behind after his bad start. After settling into his own pace Driscoll was alone chasing early leader Geoff Kabush when Todd Wells, who also had suffered from a poor starting position, gave Driscoll another strong wheel to follow. Driscoll, who was paying for his extraordinary effort on Saturday, rode solidly in the closing stages of Sunday’s event, holding on to fifth place. “Trebon and Wells caught me and whacked it pretty hard and I couldn’t stay on them, but that’s life, it’s still a great result.”

Not wanting to wait for the race to unfold, Johnson took the race’s first initiative, attacking the field early in the first lap, and quickly establishing a gap that would never be contested. “I tried to knock off a couple perfect laps and get a gap. If you can do that it’s so much easier to race your own race, and to pick your own lines and pick some turns where you can really hit it hard,” said Johnson. Johnson’s ability to handle the course to the highest degree saw him increase his advantage with every passing lap, and Johnson was able to bring home his seventh overall victory on the season, his second in the USGP series, and the team’s sixteenth victory in UCI competitions. Johnson said, “we have a great group of guys who get us set up and ready to go, and when you’ve got so many people behind you and so many people supporting you, you don’t want to let them down just like you don’t want to let yourself down.”

Despite losing the USGP leader’s jersey, the teamenjoyed a very successful weekend. The team will now head to Southampton, New York, for the final races on the North American Cyclocross Trophy competition, the Whitmore’s Landscaping Supercross Cup, at the top of the leaderboard. Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com holds the top three positions in the competition and Johnson can close out the series overall with a win on Saturday in Southampton.

NACT Overall Standings:

1 Tim Johnson (Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com) 305
2 Jeremy Powers (Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com) 234
3 Jamey Driscoll (Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com) 229
4 Jonathan Page (Planet Bike) 190
5 Andy Jacques-Maynes (Bissel Pro Cycling) 103

November 8, 2009 – Team Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com Team Newsletter. Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com returned “home” to the Cycle-Smart International UCI Weekend, in its 19th year, and saw its riders take home wins in front of their hometown crowds. For more information, go to www.cannondale-cyclocrossworld.com.

The Cycle-Smart International weekend was a homecoming of sorts for Team Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld, as team members Jeremy Powers and Jamey Driscoll headed to Northampton, Massachusetts, while team captain Tim Johnson elected to take a weekend to catch up on some much needed recovery. It was a particularly positive weekend for Powers, who headed down to Mystic, Connecticut, to help raise helmet awareness. In so doing, Powers attracted over sixty people to the awareness ride and raised over $2,000 in the process.

Before Powers was able to head to Mystic to fight for a worthy cause, he and Driscoll together raced day one of the Cycle-Smart International cyclocross weekend. Powers, as has been his style all year, launched the first attack only meters after taking the holeshot, quickly drawing out the day’s competition, which involved teammate Jamey Driscoll. “We were just thinking, best case scenario was to get away and capitalize on that, and once we had a gap, keep it steady, but those guys are riding great, so it wasn’t easy,” Said Powers. “I didn’t put in any attacks that were able to gap Jeremy off, and in the last kilometers or five hundred meters, he’s a really tough guy to beat,” said Driscoll.

Powers and Driscoll took turns attacking and whittling down the lead group until only the two Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com teammates remained. Shortly thereafter, the gloves came off, and the attacks came fast and furious. It was a determined Dan Timmerman (RGM Watches – Richard Sachs – Radix) who gave Driscoll and Powers the biggest scare, when he valiantly closed to within five seconds, but the combined efforts of Powers and Driscoll ensured a team victory. “Once we knew the win was between us, we started to throw down against each other,” said Driscoll. In the end, Driscoll led Powers into the final corner, where Powers took his cue and sprinted away for the victory, besting Driscoll in the final charge for the finish line. “Jamey’s not the guy you want to go to the line with, he’s a really good sprinter. It’s good to win it in front of my hometown crowd; it was a pretty big high on the things I wanted to do list for this year, even though I wasn’t talking about it all year long. So many people and friends were out there hoping to see me do well,” said Powers, who was keen to thank all his fans for their help and support.

While Powers took leave of Northampton on Sunday to raise helmet awareness, Driscoll was left to fly solo and try to improve on his result from Saturday. Driscoll managed to get a good start, showing improvement from previous weeks, and was at the front before the field had covered the course’s prologue loop. With $200 on the line after the first full lap, Driscoll hit the gas, claiming the prime and never looking back. “I was planning on just going really hard all day, and the first lap prime really helped with that,” Said Driscoll about his fast start. Driscoll extended his lead out to 20 seconds, before Nick Weighall (Cal Giant Berry Farms/Specialized) began to close the gap. “I did get pretty nervous when Nick took the gap down from 20 seconds down to 10 seconds, that was really impressive, but I tried to keep things clean and hold on.” Showing poise and maturity beyond his years, Driscoll didn’t panic, focusing on riding his final laps to perfection, closing out his first win since CrossVegas, after a succession of near misses.

Following the restful week at home, Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com will head to the third stop on the USGP tour, the Mercer Cup in West Windsor, New Jersey, where the team will aim to defend the USGP leader’s jersey that rests on the back of Jamey Driscoll.