(September 24, 2011) Sun Prairie, WI. The 2011 Exergy US Gran Prix of Cyclocross p/b Greenware® launched out of the blocks today with a full day of racing capped off by two stellar Elite races that offered several clues of what to expect for the rest of the season.

In the Elite Women’s Race, Nicole Druse Duke of the Cannondale p/b CyclocrossWorld.com team launched off the line to claim the inaugural Avid Shorty Ultimate Holeshot award.

As Duke powered to the front on the first lap, River City’s newly crowned USAC Master’s Road Champion, Sue Butler, surged to the front trading pulls with Duke.

Luna rider and USGP Champion Katerina Nash attacked as things were settling down after the hectic first lap in what would prove to be the winning move of the day.

Nash powered away and a chase group formed behind led by Duke, French National Champion Caroline Mani, Georgia Gould, Meredith Miller, Teal Stetson-Lee and Kaitlin Antonneau. Once it became clear that Nash’s lead was secure, Gould powered away from the chasers to finish second with Miller finishing third and showing emerging good form.

In the Elite Men’s Race the consensus was the Rapha-Focus rider Jeremy Powers would take the Avid Shorty Ultimate Holeshot and he did not disappoint – but it was a battle with Telenet-Fidea rider and multi-time World Champion, Bart Wellens hard on his heels.

Powers, Rob Peeters, and Ryan Trebon form the lead group early on, with a chase that included Wellens, Driscoll, and Johnson.

As Powers and Trebon start to pull away, Peters was dropped while Wellens found his legs and came out of the chase group, forming the lead group of the day along with Powers and Trebon.

Powers, bunny hopping and riding the STANLY run up lap after lap, bobbled with one lap to go and lost a few crucial seconds that he would never reclaim. Trebon and Wellens surged up the road with Trebon throwing down a hard attack before the final run-up. Wellens couldn’t match the lanky rider’s power and Trebon soloed in to win ahead of the hard chasing Belgian.

Brief Results:

Top Ten Women:
Katerina Nash, LUNA
Georgia Gould, LUNA
Meredith Miller, California Giant Cycling
Chloe Forsman, Race Club 11
Caroline Mani,
Nicole Duke, Cannondale p/b Cyclocross
Emily Batty, Subaru-Trek
Sue Butler, River City/ Ridley
Teal Stetson-Lee, California Giant Berries
Pepper Harlton, Juventus Cycling Club

Top Ten Elite Men:

Ryan Trebon, LTS
Bart Wellens, Telenet-Fidea
Jeremy Powers, Rapha-Focus
Rob Peeters, Telenet-Fidea
Jamey Driscoll, Cannondale p/b CyclocrossWorld.com
Tim Johnson, Cannondale p/b CyclocrossWorld.com
Ben Berden, Ops Ale-Clement
Christian Heule, Cannondale p/b CyclocrossWorld.com
Geoff Kabush, Team Maxxis/ Rocky Mount
Brian Matter, Gear Grinder / Clif Bar