Round number three of the USGP of Cyclocross started under dark clouds this afternoon in Louisville, Kentucky. The women were first off the line with Katerina Nash taking the front spot into the grass. She spent the next three quarters of an hour extending that advantage on her way to the win and the overall series lead. Behind, teammate Georgia Gould rode alone to a respectable second place finish. Perhaps most impressive, Amy Dombroski overcame a poor first lap to ride her way on the the podium in 3rd (a career best for the Vermont native.) Alison Dunlap faded to 4th just ahead of Meredith Miller in 5th.
The sun was out and temps were starting to warm up for the men's race later in the afternoon. Barry Wicks led the front group early as they sped around the soggy track in Champions Park. Fifteen minutes in, Tim Johnson threw down the hammer and split the field into pieces. When the dust had settled, it was four riders at the sharp end of the race: Ryan Trebon, Jesse Anthony, Tim Johnson, and teammate Jamey Driscoll. Geoff Kabush and Chris Jones rode alone in 5th and 6th for most of the race while a large chase pack animated the race behind. Joachim Parbo, Barry Wicks, AJM, Brian Matter, and Nick Weighall were some of the strong men in the tail end of the top ten. After a painfully slow and tactical couple laps at the front, the attacks started to fly with two to go. Jesse Anthony was the first casualty of the front group but held on for a season best 4th place. Jamey Driscoll let one fly with just under one lap to go that came within a few feet of giving him the victory. Behind, Trebon took his time, not wanting to drag Johnson back in to the race too soon. With half a K to go, Ryan started to ramp it up to full speed, dropping Johnson and catching Driscoll on the pavment to take his first USGP win of 2009.
See the full race coverage here.
See full results here
