Photo courtesy of Gateway Cross
What’s going on with North American racing? The guys chasing Powers and Trebon seem to swap places too readily; but for Powers and Trebon it would seem like an extremely even-matched professional racing circuit. Despite this challenge we’re willing to rank them – let’s take a look:
1. Jeremy Powers (2) – J-Pow comes off a rest week and goes two-for-three in Cincinatti. In the process he applies a big sign to his back for this weekend’s upcoming US Gran Prix races. It says, “Objects in front of you are going faster than you can.”
2. Ryan Trebon (1) – Trebon puts in an extremely capable weekend but can’t hold off Â
3. Jamey Driscoll (7) – of the many top riders who shuffled positions on the extended podium this past weekend, Driscoll’s got the nicest results, with a pair of fifth place finishes following Friday’s second place to former teammate Powers and ahead of Saturday’s winner in Cincy, Ryan Trebon. After a lackluster start to the season, Driscoll’s got to be happy with that performance.
4. Tim Johnson (4) – hot on the heels of his younger teammate Driscoll is Tim Johnson. Like Driscoll he’s had a fairly quiet September and October; he pulled down 4th place and 2nd place this weekend. He’s a bit off of the pace of Trebon and Powers, but we all know that Johnson is capable of blowing his opponents out of the water.
5. Ben Berden (3) – the perpetual podium lurker, Berden’s got two fourth places and a fifth from this past weekend to brag about. He’s demonstrated his ability to win against capable opponents; what will come next?
6. Zach McDonald (nr) – the young Rapha-Focus rider goes rocketing up the Power Rankings following an explosive second place in Cincinatti.
7. Tristan Schouten (10) – Schouten builds on last week’s strong showing with a decent result in Cincy. It looks like he’s building form leading up to this weekend’s USGP weekend.
8. Geoff Kabush (5) – Kabush opted out of racing this past weekend’s UCI offerings in North America, but he’s a consistent form-builder and has shown that he’s at a level where he can compete with some of the top riders in the county. Don’t write him off.
9. Todd Wells (6) – well, he may have opted out of cyclocross racing this week, but Wells won Ruta del Sol, a four-day mountain bike stage race in Costa Rica. So his tires aren’t skinny enough, but you can’t drop too far down the cyclocross rankings if you’re chasing other fat-tire disciplines and winning them. Wells stays on the Power Rankings.
10. Barry Wicks (nr) – comes on strong with 6th and 11th in Cincy. The other half of the former leggy Kona pair tends to race at a lower profile than his former teammate Trebon, but he’s pulled some nice results together.
Dropped this week: Danny Summerhill, Justin Lindine.Â