Providence Cyclocross Festival Hails New Champions Wyman and Powers – Full Report, Results, Galleries

by Cindy Brennan/Molly Hurford

The last weekend of New England’s Holy Week did not disappoint. In the women’s race, Helen Wyman (Kona) took the win, followed by Katie Antonneau (Cannondale-CyclocrossWorld) and Crystal Anthony. For the men, Jeremy Powers (Rapha Focus) took the win, and Ryan Trebon (Cannondale-CyclocrossWorld) picked up second while Ben Berden (Raleigh-Clement) took third.

The Providence Cyclocross Festival began at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Providence on Friday night before moving to the site of the 2005 and 2006 US National Cyclocross championships at Roger Williams Park. The Biltmore hosted an invitation-only rider presentation and the second annual Builder’s Ball showcasing New England’s foremost bicycle builders. This UCI Catergory 1 race, the second in the Shimano New England Professional Cyclocross Series after day one of Gloucester, drew some of the biggest names in North American cyclocross angling for the reward of more UCI points and larger pay-outs than UCI category 2 races offer.

Local company G-Form showed their support for professional women’s cycling, offering to equal the Elite men’s payouts for the top three Elite women.

Saturday’s race events got under way as racers hit an increasingly dry course in sunny, warm conditions – a huge shift from the chilly, rainy, muddy races on the first two days of the Shimano New England Professional Cyclocross series at the Gran Prix of Gloucester last weekend. The fast course featured two sets of stairs, a set of double barriers, signature off-camber turns and short, punchy climbs. A brand-new ride-up flyover was a crowd favorite. Record crowds gathered not only to race in the amateur events, but to visit the local businesses and cycling vendors who had set up booths in the expo area. Racers, their friends and families, as well as cycling fans, stood in lines at the popular food trucks to refuel after their grueling competitions.

The Elite women hit the course during the warmest part of the day, with temperatures reaching 75 degrees under a relentless sun. The women’s race was won early on, with Helen Wyman almost immediately establishing a gap and controlling the race, building the gap to nearly a minute by the end of the race.

A chase group including Julie Krasniak (Rapha-Focus), Gabby Day (Rapha-Focus), Meredith Miller (Cal Giant/Specialized), Mary McConneloug (Team Kenda/Seven/No Tubes), Lea Davison (Specialized), and Katie Antonneau (Cyclocrossworld/Cannondale) fought the gathering wind together in a futile attempt to get Wyman back in sight. Crystal Anthony (cyclocrossworld.com) chased her way back on to the group in a display of the strength we have come to expect from this local racer who this season has shown she can race alongside the big names. The group would more or less ride together until the concluding lap, when, after leading the chase for a large part of the race and trading attacks with fellow racers, Meredith Miller went down on the pavement, a crash which would remove her from the race with spiral fractures in her right hand (third and fourth metacarpals). Antonneau went on the attack, leaving the others to sprint for the last podium spot. Crystal Anthony mustered her strength to sprint for the finish and landed third place in a massive group sprint from the pavement.

Kaitie Antonneau, who emerged solo from the chase group, explained, “We were in the chase group, seven of us, and we were clearly racing for second because Helen was just gone.” She added, “Coming in with one to go, I was leading and a few mistakes behind me happened. I didn’t see it, but I heard them so I just went.”

During lap one of the men’s race, the announcer posited that, “The game is to contain Jeremy Powers.” Powers, however, could not be contained, and sprinted against Ryan Trebon to seize yet another C1 victory, arguably his narrowest win of the season. How many C1s does this make for Powers, in the midst of a nearly unstoppable winning streak? “If you ask Richard Fries, it’s six, but it’s actually four.”

Jeremy Powers (and Ryan Trebon knew that their tie for points leader in the Shimano New England Professional Cyclocross series would be broken during today’s Elite men’s race. But it was Ben Berden who charged off the start line in an attempt to string out the field and force a break. Only the strongest could follow, including Powers, Trebon, Tim Johnson (Cyclocrossworld/Cannondale), Dylan McNicholas (Cyclocrossworld.com), and Ian Field (Hargroves Cycles/Specialized).

Splitting the group further, Trebon took up the reins, a move that only Field, Berden, and Powers could match. As their lead solidified, Field was shaken from the group and the race belonged entirely to Trebon, Powers, and Berden; the only thing left to be decided was who would get which podium position. Meanwhile, Johnson’s strong start was struck down by a mechanical, forcing him to abandon the race. Field chased the lead three by himself in a fourth-place position that he would hold on to as he crossed the finish line. A larger chase group, each with designs on the last top five spot, was led by Justin Lindine (Redline), Elite men’s winner of both days of the Providence Cyclocross Festival last year.

Trebon and Powers dropped Berden as they lit up the final lap, but the two raced neck-in-neck leaving the win to be decided with a sprint. Powers took the win on the final push up the pavement, with Trebon in second. Berden rolled in by himself for third. Field, also alone, took fourth, as young Zach MacDonald (Rapha-Focus) won a bunch sprint with the chase group for fifth and a more solid grasp on the U23 series points leader jersey.

“It was a really fast course,” Powers said, “and it’s a great race. It’s a nail biter, for sure. There just aren’t a lot of places to really go, there are a lot of punchy sections. And things happen in one and two seconds. It makes for a crazy, hard day.”

As for him and his main competitor, Ryan Trebon, who helped him get away from Ben Berden, who took control of the race early on, Powers said, “We were pretty evenly matched out there, I’d get a second in a place and he’d get a second in another.”

“It was just a really hard day on the bike.”

Elite Women’s Results:

Rank	Name	Nat.	Age*	Result	PaR	PcR
1	Helen WYMAN	GBR	32	44:57:00	80	80
2	Kaitlin ANTONNEAU	USA	21	45:31:00	60	60
3	Crystal ANTHONY	USA	33	45:46:00	40	40
4	Lea DAVISON	USA	30	45:46:00	30	30
5	Mary MCCONNELOUG	USA	42	45:46:00	25	25
6	Julie KRASNIAK	FRA	25	45:46:00	20	20
7	Gabriella DAY	GBR	29	46:19:00	17	17
8	Arley KEMMERER	USA	29	46:28:00	15	15
9	Caroline MANI	FRA	26	46:37:00	12	12
10	Laura VAN GILDER	USA	49	46:55:00	10	10
11	Andrea SMITH	USA	35	47:09:00	8	8
12	Elle ANDERSON	USA	25	47:19:00	6	6
13	Nicole THIEMANN	USA	34	47:36:00	4	4
14	Amanda CAREY	USA	35	48:14:00	2	2
15	Catherine STERLING	USA	37	48:43:00	1	1
16	Natasha ELLIOTT	CAN	35	48:51:00
17	Sheila VIBERT	USA	32	48:56:00
18	Christina BIRCH	USA	27	49:01:00
19	Maghalie ROCHETTE	CAN	20	49:07:00
20	Anna BARENSFELD	USA	30	49:11:00
21	Brittlee BOWMAN	USA	29	49:24:00
22	Jenny IVES	USA	28	49:31:00
23	Cassandra MAXIMENKO	USA	30	49:31:00
24	Ellen NOBLE	USA	18	49:57:00
25	Christina TAMILIO	USA	31	50:03:00
26	Jamie GILGEN	USA	26	50:12:00
27	Stacey BARBOSSA	USA	47	50:12:00
28	Kathleen WULFKUHLE	USA	32	50:53:00
29	Marian JAMISON	USA	30	51:10:00
30	Kate POWLISON	USA	28	51:27:00
31	Kathleen LYSAKOWSKI	USA	29	51:27:00
32	Kathleen LYSAKOWSKI	USA	29	51:27:00
33	Kerry LITKA	USA	37	51:28:00
34	Vickie MONAHAN	USA	38	51:43:00
35	Jessica KUTZ	USA	25
36	Vanessa MCCAFFERY	USA	32
37	Molly HURFORD	USA	26
38	Sarah KRZYSIAK	USA	31
39	Emily FLYNN	CAN	20
40	Patricia DOWD	USA	41
41	Giulia RIGHI	ITA	32

Elite Men’s Results:

Rank	Name	Nat.	Age*	Result	PaR	PcR
1	Jeremy POWERS	USA	30	1:00:11	80	80
2	Ryan TREBON	USA	32	1:00:11	60	60
3	Ben BERDEN	BEL	38	1:01:19	40	40
4	Ian FIELD	GBR	27	1:01:36	30	30
5	Zach MCDONALD	USA	22	1:01:44	25	25
6	Yannick ECKMANN	GER	20	1:01:44	20	20
7	Dylan MCNICHOLAS	USA	33	1:01:44	17	17
8	Christopher JONES	USA	34	1:01:44	15	15
9	Allen KRUGHOFF	USA	29	1:01:58	12	12
10	Justin LINDINE	USA	29	1:02:03	10	10
11	Tristan SCHOUTEN	USA	31	1:02:13	8	8
12	James DRISCOLL	USA	27	1:02:27	6	6
13	Jeremy DURRIN	USA	25	1:02:37	4	4
14	Evan MCNEELY	CAN	21	1:02:43	2	2
15	Bradley WHITE	USA	31	1:02:48	1	1
16	Derrick ST JOHN	CAN	36	1:02:54
17	Craig RICHEY	CAN	29	1:02:54
18	Matthew GREEN	USA	24	1:02:54
19	Anthony CLARK	USA	26	1:02:54
20	Mike GARRIGAN	CAN	32	1:03:38
21	Joachim PARBO	DEN	39	1:04:20
22	Adam MYERSON	USA	41	1:04:20
23	Daniel CHABANOV	USA	26	1:04:20
24	Cody KAISER	USA	21	1:04:20
25	Jesse KEOUGH	USA	21	1:04:20
26	Christian FAVATA	USA	35	1:04:37
27	Robert MARION	USA	31	1:04:47
28	Jo‘l DESGRENIERS	CAN	23	1:04:52
29	Cameron MCCORMACK	USA	19	1:04:52
30	Joshua THORNTON	USA	34	1:05:15
31	Jeremy MARTIN	CAN	21	1:05:22
32	Jake WELLS	USA	35	1:05:29
33	Thomas SAMPSON	USA	24	1:05:35
34	Ian SCHON	USA	23	1:05:40
35	Jonathan HAMBLEN	USA	38	1:06:00
36	Conor O'BRIEN	CAN	21	1:06:13
37	Kevin WOLFSON	USA	27	1:06:23
38	Jo‘l DESGRENIERS	CAN	23	1:06:42
39	Synjen MARROCCO	USA	22
40	Donald SNOOP	USA	38
41	Evan MURPHY	USA	25
42	Benjamin PADILLA	USA	25
43	Noah TAUTFEST	USA	24
44	Ethan GILMOUR	USA	24
45	Maksym SHEPITKO	UKR	25
46	Kris DOBIE	USA	29
47	Adam SULLIVAN	USA	30
48	Cody KAISER	USA	21
49	Evan HUFF	USA	28
50	Manny GOGUEN	USA	22
51	Nicholas KEOUGH	USA	24
52	Timothy DURRIN	USA	29
53	Donald SNOOP	USA	38
54	Patrick BRADLEY	USA	23
55	Andrew LYSAGHT	USA	29
56	Joseph O'BRIEN-APPLEGATE	USA	25