Jeremy Powers (Aspire Racing) won his fourth US cyclo-cross title Sunday in Asheville, North Carolina, pulling away from Stephen Hyde (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) and Logan Owen (California Giant Strawberries) in the waning laps. Hyde finished second, with Owen close behind in third.
The victory was Powers' third national title in a row, and one of the hardest fought against two up and coming riders. "My first title is definitely the most special. If I watch that I still get goosebumps," Powers told Cyclingnews. "But no doubt, this is one of the most hotely contested nationals that I've won. This one is special because it was really talked about, Stephen and I have been going head to head, and Logan, Stephen and I have been doing good battles all year.
"There was a lot of pressure on everyone to put a good performance in. For me, it's a big win, and I think a lot of people see my season, and see my results in Europe and think I'm not going well, but I've been hunkered down and putting a lot into the end of this season because I know how long it is, and it's hard to be going good in August and February. This nationals is a big deal, I'm proud to be able to wear the jersey and I'm psyched to take it to Europe."
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Hyde and Owen made Powers work for the stars and stripes, however. Owen hit out on the first lap with a big attack. "I thought if we're going to go this hard today, I'm going to have to take a rain check. It was that insane," Powers said of Owen's move. "It settled in a little bit after that."
Owen explained why he made the effort. "I saw them sitting up and said 'I'm not here to sit around and plaly games'," Owen said to Cyclingnews. "I decided to put in a big dig and see if they'd chase me. You never know, they might let me get the gap and I could hang on. I have a lot of road fitness. I've been sick the last few weeks so I was kind of shooting for the stars there, trying to go for the win. But I knew the podium was in reach so I'm happy to come away with that."
Owen said he just couldn't get one section just at the first big climb - a major run-up followed by an off-camber, twisty descent. "I was smoother everywhere else, but I couldn't get that figured out. I didn't have the right toe spikes in, and they were able to run straight up it and I was having issues digging in. I lost a lot of time on the running because of that," Owen said. He would finish third, 41 seconds behind Powers.
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