Wells sprints to second place in Louisville USGP
Specialized Racing: XC MTB | November 14, 2011
Specialized's Todd Wells sprinted to second place at the end of day 2 of the US Gran Prix of Cyclo-cross Derby City Cup in Louisville, Kentucky, on Sunday. The US cyclo-cross national champion was back to the shorter distance off-road discipline just one week after winning La Ruta de los Conquistadores mountain bike stage race in Costa Rica.
"I felt pretty good. I had done a lot of training for La Ruta, but ever since, I've been taking it easy," he said, before joking that the 'cross race seemed short compared to what he had just raced on his mountain bike. "Time wise, today's race was maybe one-sixth or one-fifth of the total time of the first stage of La Ruta."
Wells was part of a main lead group of seven riders in Sunday's race. The group soon shrank to five men after Geoff Kabush went to the front and set the pace.
"Then I went to the front for a bit and got it down to three riders: Jeremy Powers, Kabush and myself." Kabush paid for his earlier race efforts when Powers and Wells dropped him with about four laps to go.
"Powers and I rode together then. He attacked a bunch, but I would always bring him back. Each lap, there was a ride-able hill about one minute prior to the finish. On the final lap, Powers led us into it. He carried a bit more momentum over the top and had a bike length or two on me."
At one point after cresting the hill, Wells backpedaled slightly, which caused him to jam his chain "a bit" and lose another few bike lengths, but he saw that he still had a chance and began to close on Powers as they approached the finish line.
"I was sprinting and he started to celebrate a little early. Had he not looked back and seen me, I might have gotten him." Official results logged Wells as finishing one second behind Powers.
Sunday's success came after bad luck on Saturday's day 1 of the Derby City Cup. In that race, Wells had been in the main group of five men who were chasing leaders Ryan Trebon and Powers when he flatted about halfway through the race.
"I had a front flat far from the pit and by the time I got to the pit, I'd dropped a bunch of positions and I decided to take it easy and save it for Sunday's race, which I wanted to win. I thought about dropping out because I knew I'd never make it back up to the leaders, but instead I rode a pace that wasn't super hard, saved some energy and finished 13th."
Racers contested the same course, with minor changes, on both days. The first day's course had more straight-aways. With weather in the mid 60s, a lot of wind and sun and no recent rains, the course was fast and bumpy.
Wells described the venue as mostly flat, but part of the venue had some trees and vertical relief. A majority of the course was through open, flat fields, but there were some twisty, off-camber sections that gained and lost elevation.
Riders encountered three sand pits per lap and a green monster staircase with super steep stairs. "All the little kids could barely drag their bikes up. Usually the steps are wooden, but these were metal." There was also a set of barriers that Wells described as "bunnyhop-able".
The course, located about one mile from the city center of Louisville, gave racers a preview of what they might expect at the UCI cyclo-cross world championships coming up there in 2013.
Wells will race one more weekend - a three-day affair at the Jingle Cross Rock - over Thanksgiving weekend in Iowa City, Iowa, before taking a much deserved off-season break.