Dunlap, Page Ride to Elite Cyclo-cross Titles
Portland, Ore. (December 14, 2003)—Jonathan Page (Northfield, N.H.) successfully defended his U.S. National Cyclo-cross Championship today. Page rode a near-flawless race in the aftermath of Saturday’s rains that reduced the course at the Portland International Speedway to a muddy quagmire. Earlier in the day, Alison Dunlap (Colorado Springs, Colo.) captured the elite women’s title, again proving that she’s fully recovered from the serious shoulder injury that cut her mountain bike season short earlier this summer.
Page, who spent the first half of this year’s cyclo-cross season in Europe racing against the world’s best, returned stateside with the sole mission of defending his stars and stripes jersey. Standing in his way, however, was a deep field of capable challengers including familiar opponents Marc Gullickson (Boulder, Colo.), Todd Wells (Durango, Colo.), Mark McCormack (Northeaston, Mass.) and Travis Brown (Durango, Colo.) and a new crop of talent that has begun to emerge on the cylco-cross scene, Ryan Trebon (Fayetteville, N.C.), Jackson Stewart (Los Gatos, Calif.), Barry Wicks (Corvalis, Ore.) and Andy Jacques-Mayne (Mountain View, Calif.). On paper, any one of these riders were potential winners, equally keen to dethrone Page.
Showing his form, Page issued a statement immediately after the gun sounded for the 60-minute elite men’s race, quickly moving to the front of the field. The furious pace from the outset resulted in an almost immediate natural selection as Page, Wells, Jacques-Mayne, McCormack and Trebon clung to Page’s wheel. Already at full throttle, Page maintained an unbelievable pace that split the leaders by the end of the first 0.6-mile lap. At the front, Wells managed to match the pace of Page as Trebon and Jacques-Mayne hovered around ten seconds back. Falling victim to the swampy conditions, Wells crashed on the second lap, opening up an opportunity for Trebon as he moved into silver medal position behind Page.
Throughout the next couple of laps, crashes were frequent under the challenging conditions and with three laps remaining, Page had the crowd convinced that the title was again his despite a hard-chasing Trebon who remained within a stone’s throw to the leader. Just behind, Wells continued his effort as a determined Gullickson had moved into the four spot. As Page wound his away around the course and weaved his way through lapped riders, victory became inevitable as his gap grew. On the final lap, Trebon began to fade slightly as Wells kept the pressure on from behind, eventually overtaking the newest sensation on the East Coast cyclo-cross scene and staking claim to second place. In what shook out as a race between three deserving competitors, Page simply dominated throughout the race despite huge efforts from runner-up, Wells and Bronze Medalist, Trebon.
Afterwards, Page confidently displayed his emotions. “I made history today”, he said, referring to his second consecutive U.S. National cyclo-cross title, “and I’ll do it again.” In reference to his battle with the young Trebon and his tactics for the day, Page noted, “I just had to think to myself, ‘no mistakes’, and thought if I kept the power on, eventually he’ll crack. It was so slippery out there and even just a little mistake would go a long way, so I tried not to make any more than anyone else.”
Trebon, who was elated with his bronze medal performance, went a little to hard early in the race by his own admission. “I knew it was going to be a very difficult race with Jonathan here”, he said. “I was able to maintain the same gap throughout most of the race, but eventually I had to recover so I took it easy for one lap and that was where I lost some more time. After I flatted, Todd caught me, but with Marc charging hard from behind I was motivated to keep moving. It was definitely a great end to a good season for me and now it’s time to focus on the mountain bike season.”
In the prelude to the elite men’s race, the elite women took the course in an equally exciting event that mirrored the theme of the men’s race, a dominating ride by arguably the best cyclo-cross athlete despite valiant efforts from a number of talented challengers that kept the pressure on at all times.
With the likes of Gina Hall (Richmond, Va.), Rachel Lloyd (Larkspur, CA), Carmen D’Alusio (Watsonville, CA) and defending champion, Ann Grande-Knapp (Des Moines, Wash.) all toeing the line, Dunlap would have a venerable field to contend with but was still considered the pre-race favorite after a silver medal performance in a World Cup race last month in St Wendel, Germany ushered in her return to world-class racing.
From the gun, Hall set the initial pace and by the end of the first lap, the threesome of Lloyd, Hall and Dunlap had escaped from the bulk of the field, quickly making it a three-woman race. Dunlap just kept a steady pace throughout the race and eventually rode away from Lloyd and Hall. Behind, D’Alusio and Grande-Knapp tried to improve their positions, but failed to make any significant gains on the three riders ahead. Sensing inevitable victory, Dunlap, the 2001 U.S. National Cyclo-cross Champion, continued to power away in front of an encouraging and enthusiastic crowd, ultimately soloing in across the line for a gratifying win. In Dunlap’s wake, Lloyd managed to ride to silver 19 seconds behind while Hall claimed the bronze medal.
Dunlap’s victory erased any doubt about her recovery and was exuberant after her championship ride. “Rachel went out pretty hard, she definitely put the hurt on me early”, she said. “My shoulder was fine. I almost slipped off the bars a couple of times today because it was so slippery, which is exactly how I crashed in June, so I was cautious at times. All I did was just ride to the front and hope Rachel would tire. I never really attacked and eventually I got a gap.
Runner-up Lloyd said afterwards, “I can’t ride through this peanut butter and hold the power I needed to in order to stay with Alison. The worse the conditions are the better since I’m a good bike handler, but there was just too much power needed to stay in it.
Making for a hat trick of excitement today, the junior men’s 17-18 race provided further thrills as Jamey Driscoll (Jericho, Vt.) claimed the national title ahead of Tucker Thomas (Olympia, Wash.). Early in the race, the trio of Driscoll, Konrad Labas, and Chris Stockburger (Fort Collins, Colo.) shared a commanding advantage until Driscoll attacked and quickly opened up a significant solo gap. As Driscoll increased his lead on the way to a solid victory, the fight for second and third place excited the crowd as Labas suffered a mechanical necessitating him to run the last half lap, carrying his bike. As Labas continued to sadly lose places, Taylor Lane, who had moved into second place, looked as though he had a silver medal locked up until Thomas made a final pass with 200 meters remaining to relegate Lane to bronze.
“Konrad and I have been beating each other up over the year”, Driscoll said after the race. “It was sad to see him have a mechanical that late in the race when he was riding so well.”
Today’s events marked the conclusion of the 2003 U.S. National Cyclo-cross Championships. Photos from the weekend’s event are available at www.usacycling.org/gallery.
About USA Cycling
Recognized by the U.S. Olympic Committee and the Union Cycliste Internationale, USA Cycling promotes American cycling through its 45,000 members and 2,000 annual events. USA Cycling associations include the National Bicycle League (BMX), National Off-Road Bicycle Association (mountain bike), U.S. Cycling Federation (road/track) and the U.S. Professional Racing Organization (professional men's road). For more information, contact Director of Communications Andy Lee at (719) 866-4867 or visit www.usacycling.org.
Page, who spent the first half of this year’s cyclo-cross season in Europe racing against the world’s best, returned stateside with the sole mission of defending his stars and stripes jersey. Standing in his way, however, was a deep field of capable challengers including familiar opponents Marc Gullickson (Boulder, Colo.), Todd Wells (Durango, Colo.), Mark McCormack (Northeaston, Mass.) and Travis Brown (Durango, Colo.) and a new crop of talent that has begun to emerge on the cylco-cross scene, Ryan Trebon (Fayetteville, N.C.), Jackson Stewart (Los Gatos, Calif.), Barry Wicks (Corvalis, Ore.) and Andy Jacques-Mayne (Mountain View, Calif.). On paper, any one of these riders were potential winners, equally keen to dethrone Page.
Showing his form, Page issued a statement immediately after the gun sounded for the 60-minute elite men’s race, quickly moving to the front of the field. The furious pace from the outset resulted in an almost immediate natural selection as Page, Wells, Jacques-Mayne, McCormack and Trebon clung to Page’s wheel. Already at full throttle, Page maintained an unbelievable pace that split the leaders by the end of the first 0.6-mile lap. At the front, Wells managed to match the pace of Page as Trebon and Jacques-Mayne hovered around ten seconds back. Falling victim to the swampy conditions, Wells crashed on the second lap, opening up an opportunity for Trebon as he moved into silver medal position behind Page.
Throughout the next couple of laps, crashes were frequent under the challenging conditions and with three laps remaining, Page had the crowd convinced that the title was again his despite a hard-chasing Trebon who remained within a stone’s throw to the leader. Just behind, Wells continued his effort as a determined Gullickson had moved into the four spot. As Page wound his away around the course and weaved his way through lapped riders, victory became inevitable as his gap grew. On the final lap, Trebon began to fade slightly as Wells kept the pressure on from behind, eventually overtaking the newest sensation on the East Coast cyclo-cross scene and staking claim to second place. In what shook out as a race between three deserving competitors, Page simply dominated throughout the race despite huge efforts from runner-up, Wells and Bronze Medalist, Trebon.
Afterwards, Page confidently displayed his emotions. “I made history today”, he said, referring to his second consecutive U.S. National cyclo-cross title, “and I’ll do it again.” In reference to his battle with the young Trebon and his tactics for the day, Page noted, “I just had to think to myself, ‘no mistakes’, and thought if I kept the power on, eventually he’ll crack. It was so slippery out there and even just a little mistake would go a long way, so I tried not to make any more than anyone else.”
Trebon, who was elated with his bronze medal performance, went a little to hard early in the race by his own admission. “I knew it was going to be a very difficult race with Jonathan here”, he said. “I was able to maintain the same gap throughout most of the race, but eventually I had to recover so I took it easy for one lap and that was where I lost some more time. After I flatted, Todd caught me, but with Marc charging hard from behind I was motivated to keep moving. It was definitely a great end to a good season for me and now it’s time to focus on the mountain bike season.”
In the prelude to the elite men’s race, the elite women took the course in an equally exciting event that mirrored the theme of the men’s race, a dominating ride by arguably the best cyclo-cross athlete despite valiant efforts from a number of talented challengers that kept the pressure on at all times.
With the likes of Gina Hall (Richmond, Va.), Rachel Lloyd (Larkspur, CA), Carmen D’Alusio (Watsonville, CA) and defending champion, Ann Grande-Knapp (Des Moines, Wash.) all toeing the line, Dunlap would have a venerable field to contend with but was still considered the pre-race favorite after a silver medal performance in a World Cup race last month in St Wendel, Germany ushered in her return to world-class racing.
From the gun, Hall set the initial pace and by the end of the first lap, the threesome of Lloyd, Hall and Dunlap had escaped from the bulk of the field, quickly making it a three-woman race. Dunlap just kept a steady pace throughout the race and eventually rode away from Lloyd and Hall. Behind, D’Alusio and Grande-Knapp tried to improve their positions, but failed to make any significant gains on the three riders ahead. Sensing inevitable victory, Dunlap, the 2001 U.S. National Cyclo-cross Champion, continued to power away in front of an encouraging and enthusiastic crowd, ultimately soloing in across the line for a gratifying win. In Dunlap’s wake, Lloyd managed to ride to silver 19 seconds behind while Hall claimed the bronze medal.
Dunlap’s victory erased any doubt about her recovery and was exuberant after her championship ride. “Rachel went out pretty hard, she definitely put the hurt on me early”, she said. “My shoulder was fine. I almost slipped off the bars a couple of times today because it was so slippery, which is exactly how I crashed in June, so I was cautious at times. All I did was just ride to the front and hope Rachel would tire. I never really attacked and eventually I got a gap.
Runner-up Lloyd said afterwards, “I can’t ride through this peanut butter and hold the power I needed to in order to stay with Alison. The worse the conditions are the better since I’m a good bike handler, but there was just too much power needed to stay in it.
Making for a hat trick of excitement today, the junior men’s 17-18 race provided further thrills as Jamey Driscoll (Jericho, Vt.) claimed the national title ahead of Tucker Thomas (Olympia, Wash.). Early in the race, the trio of Driscoll, Konrad Labas, and Chris Stockburger (Fort Collins, Colo.) shared a commanding advantage until Driscoll attacked and quickly opened up a significant solo gap. As Driscoll increased his lead on the way to a solid victory, the fight for second and third place excited the crowd as Labas suffered a mechanical necessitating him to run the last half lap, carrying his bike. As Labas continued to sadly lose places, Taylor Lane, who had moved into second place, looked as though he had a silver medal locked up until Thomas made a final pass with 200 meters remaining to relegate Lane to bronze.
“Konrad and I have been beating each other up over the year”, Driscoll said after the race. “It was sad to see him have a mechanical that late in the race when he was riding so well.”
Today’s events marked the conclusion of the 2003 U.S. National Cyclo-cross Championships. Photos from the weekend’s event are available at www.usacycling.org/gallery.
About USA Cycling
Recognized by the U.S. Olympic Committee and the Union Cycliste Internationale, USA Cycling promotes American cycling through its 45,000 members and 2,000 annual events. USA Cycling associations include the National Bicycle League (BMX), National Off-Road Bicycle Association (mountain bike), U.S. Cycling Federation (road/track) and the U.S. Professional Racing Organization (professional men's road). For more information, contact Director of Communications Andy Lee at (719) 866-4867 or visit www.usacycling.org.
This Article Published December 14, 2003 For more information contact:
