USA National Cyclo-Cross Championships

Snow, Sleet, Near Gale Winds & Driving Rain Usher in Day One of the Liberty Mutual U.S. National Cyclo-Cross Championships
Wells, Trebon and Page top Elite National Podium
Huffman goes down but gets up atop the podium, Tilford Takes Number Six

Providence, Rhode Island
Racers at the Liberty Mutual U.S. National Cyclo-cross Championships kicked off three days of spirited competition this morning under a steady snowfall. Snow turned to sleet then turned to freezing rain then back into snow during the master women's 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59 race yet despite the increasing slickness six new champions earned their stars and stripes today.

"I raced in Chicago last week and it was snowing just like this but we didn't have the base layer of the icy conditions, we just had grass—dry and then snow on top so it was different conditions," said Patti Kaufman, winner of the master women 45-49 category. "I had a lot of difficulties with the terrain, it was tough, there were a lot of ups and downs. You knew you were going to go down and you just accepted it."

Audrey Huffman struggled to stay upright due to worsening course conditions and succeeded in sustaining a significant lead until a fall in the final few laps delayed her by ten seconds. No matter since Huffman got back up to finish first in the 40-44 category and collect her championship jersey.

Racing in his third national cyclo-cross championship category (first elite, then pro, now masters 45-49) Steve Tilford claimed his sixth title and will move to the front of the line for Sunday's Liberty Cup race.

"This is only the second year I rode masters," said Tilford. "I mainly rode today because there was a chance I could line up on the front row for Sunday's Liberty Cup race. I don't like starting 40 or 50 guys back so if I can race on Friday and line up on the front row on Sunday, I was like "hey, that seems like a good trade off."

Other category winners in today's races include Dale Knapp, master men 40-44; Tove Shere, master women 50-54; and Betty Jordan, master women 55+.

Mother Nature showed 'cross fans and racers a bit of wrath this afternoon when blizzard conditions and wind gusts proved too mighty to continue competition. Today's final two races: the master men 30-34 and collegiate men, race have been postponed until Saturday. Racing starts at 9 a.m. with the collegiate men; master men 30-34 will race at 11:30 with the remaining categories in the order that appears on the website.

Day 2 added a new chapter to the history books plus saw a few upsets to podium predictions as ice, slush, mud, mechanicals and illness jolted pre-race favorites out of order.

U-23 Race:
In the U23 Men's race, Troy Wells executed a technically solid race to hold off Jesse Anthony, who flatted on the first lap, and to out-pedal Brent Bookwalter, who clung to third place after winning the national collegiate title earlier in the day. After losing significant time to a flat, Anthony succeeded in working his way back into second place yet in the end he could never close the gap on Wells, whose consistency earned him the win.

"On the first lap I tried to start pretty hard so that I could stay out of trouble," Wells said. "I actually followed Brent around for two laps to learn the course because I only got to ride one lap and after Brent fell I kind of went to the front and tried to stay consistent and keep my gap at a consistent rate."
Less than two hours later, Troy's older brother, Todd, earned his second national cyclo-cross title on the same course, which had gone from slushy to icy as the sun went down. Although the Wells brothers had already discussed the possibility of both earning a national title, the truth was that racers with names like Anthony, Bookwalter, Page, Johnson, Craig, and Trebon stood in the way of reality.

"Right away myself and Trebon got off and then I crashed running up the stairs and broke my handlebars," said the older Wells. "I had to ride about a lap with broken handlebars and once I got a new bike, Trebon slipped up in once section and I passed him. In the final few laps you're just praying for the lap counter to go down. I was digging deep and I saw Trebon--he must have figured out some of the lines on the course because he had more power on the pavement sections but he wasn't riding the technical stuff as well."

Defending national champion Jonathan Page arrived at the race after a trip to the hospital the day before. A stomach illness of sorts bore down on Page with abandon and early this morning the question as to whether he would line up to race was raised. Wearing the Liberty Mutual kit, Page rode a strong, steady race to finish in an impressive third place, despite a bout with illness the day before.

Top six elite men are as follows:
1 Todd Wells (GT/Hyundai) Durango, Colorado.
2 Ryan Trebon (Kona) Corvallis, Oregon
3 Johnathan Page (Liberty Mutual) Bedford, New Hampshire.
4 Adam Craig (Giant/Pearl Izumi) Corinth, Maine
5 Tim Johnson (cyclocrossworld.com-Louis Garneau) Middleton, Massachusetts.
6 Barry Wicks (Kona) Corvallis, Ore.

Masters:
After a frustrating incident in last year's master women 30-34 race, which kept Maureen Bruno-Roy from winning, Bruno-Roy claimed her first national cyclo-cross title in the 30-34 category. Citing consistency and power as key improvements over last year, Bruno- Roy seemed to have the race sewn up from the start and rode the race as a preview to tomorrow's elite women's race.
"Tomorrow's race is a bit of a crapshoot where no one really knows who is going to win," explained Bruno-Roy. "We don't really have a defined champion--we don't have somebody who is so far ahead. So many riders tomorrow could take it depending on the conditions and things like that so it's really exciting to be able to contest that race tomorrow."

Other category winners in Day 2 of the Liberty Mutual U.S. National Cyclo-cross Championships include:
Junior Men 17-18
SUMMERHILL, Danny; TIAA-CREF/CLIF BAR Centennial, Colorado.

Junior Men 15-16
COELHO, Alex; Loveland, Colorado.

Junior Men 13-14
SWEDBERG, Benny; Rad Racing Cove, Washington

Junior Men 10-12
OWEN, Logan; Redline Bremerton, Washington

U23 Women
BEARD, Clara Diet Cheerwine Banner Elk, North Carolina

Junior Women 17-18
FILIBERTI, Arielle; Team Bike Alley/NERT/Phillips Academy Andover Worcester, Massachusets.

Junior Women 15-16
SCHNEIDER, Samantha; Endeavour West Allis Wisconsin.

Junior Women 13-14
ANTONNEAU, Kaitlin; Nova IsCorp Racine, Wisconsin.

Junior Women 10-12
WHITE, Elizabeth; NEBC Bedford, New Hampshire.

Collegiate Men
BOOKWALTER, Brent; Lees-McRae College Banner Elk North Carolina

Collegiate Women
METZGER, Melodie; Univ. of California - Berkeley Berkeley, California.

Master Men 30-34
ROBINSON, Justin; California Giant Strawberries/Specialized Watsonville, California.

Master Women 35-39
STOVER, Marianne; Independent Fabrication Thetford, Vermont.

Complete results for the Liberty Mutual U.S. National Cyclo-cross Championships are available online at http://www.cyclocrossnationals.com/results_05.htm

About Liberty Mutual: Boston-based Liberty Mutual Group is a leading global insurer and sixth largest property and casualty insurer in the U.S. whose largest line of business is personal auto based on 2004 direct written premium. As of Dec. 31, 2004, LMG had $72.4 billion in consolidated assets and $19.6 billion in annual consolidated revenue. The Company ranks 111th on the Fortune 500 list of largest corporations in the United States based on 2004 revenue.
Liberty Mutual Group offers a wide range of insurance products and services, including personal automobile, homeowners, workers compensation, commercial multiple peril, commercial automobile, general liability, global specialty, group disability, assumed reinsurance, fire and surety. Liberty Mutual Group (www.libertymutual.com) employs more than 38,000 people in nearly 900 offices throughout the world.
About Roger Williams Park: Known as the 'Jewel of Providence,' the award-winning Roger Williams Park attracts more than 2 million visitors per year. Cited by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as one of America's premier urban parks, Roger Williams Park was designed by Horace Cleveland. Roger Williams Park is located just south of downtown Providence, the capital of Rhode Island.
About USA Cycling: USA Cycling is the official cycling organization recognized by the USOC and is responsible for identifying, training and selecting cyclists to represent the United States in international competitions. USA Cycling, doing business as the USCF, NORBA, and USPRO, controls nearly two dozen major events each year and issues permits for up to 3,000 more.
About the New England Cyclo-cross Association:
The New England Cyclo-cross Association is the committee formed specifically to promote the 2005 and 2006 Liberty Mutual U.S. National Cyclo-cross Championships. Headquartered in Arlington, Mass., the core members of this committee have experience promoting four national championships and dozens of national caliber events.