<p>Todd Wells put a cap on his perfect National Championship season with his third USA Cycling National Championship title in three tries. Building on a successful season of cyclocross racing Todd came into Bend, Oregon looking to add the cyclocross national championship to his Short Track and Cross Country Mountain Bike National Champ crowns.</p><p>
</p><p>
With four days of racing preceding the elite races Bend Oregon was overrun with cyclocross racers. The Specialized and Cal Giant Berry Teams arrived with lofty goals podiums all weekend long. Racing started Wednesday and by Thursday Ned Overend won the Mens 55-59 crown. Adding to his haul of National Championships the Captain earned a hard fought win over Specialized / Cal Berry sponsored Norm Kreiss.</p><p>
</p><p>
Specialized athletes represented in almost all podiums with Masters from Cal Giant, teams like River City, Rock n Road, Sho-Air and many Juniors bringing their top speed to end the season. The racing was fast all weekend and the SRAM and Zipp equipped Specialized CruX neutral support bikes were all well used by amateur racers. </p><p>
</p><p>
Saturday brought the U-23 championship with Cal Giant Riders Cody Kaiser and Jeremy Ferguson representing both fought hard to finish 6th and 7th to a flying Danny Summerhill. Look for Cody and Jeremy to use this years experience to build for next season as they will both remain in the U-23 category.</p><p>
</p><p>
Sunday started with Elite Women and Meredith Miller of Specialized / Cal Giant fought hard to finish a strong third place after a first lap crash saw her have to claw her way back for 4 laps to get onto the podium. Miller will cap this result with a two week racing program in Europe at the end of the month to contest the next to UCI World Cups.</p><p>
</p><p>
Finally the mens elite race started under clear skies Sunday afternoon. Todd Wells lined up on the front row with the same adversaries hes faced all season long in next to perfect conditions for him. The course was muddy but no longer cold and Todd immediately put power to his pedals. Never further back than 5th Wells went to the front for good on the 2nd of 10 laps in Bend. He blasted off the front with Jeremy Powers until a crash brought Powers down and Wells was clear from them. Riding hard to hold off a charging Ryan Trebon Wells crossed the finish line with a 10 second gap for his third National Championship of the year. This was also Wells third time winning the USA Cycling Cyclocross title having also won in 2001 and 2005.</p><p>
</p><p>
Wells dedicated his win to former team manager Jerry Hutchinson who passed away this year. He passed away six weeks ago and I wanted to dedicate the race to him and get a victory. I was thinking about him the whole time and I felt like he was with me out there.</p>
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</p><p>
With four days of racing preceding the elite races Bend Oregon was overrun with cyclocross racers. The Specialized and Cal Giant Berry Teams arrived with lofty goals podiums all weekend long. Racing started Wednesday and by Thursday Ned Overend won the Mens 55-59 crown. Adding to his haul of National Championships the Captain earned a hard fought win over Specialized / Cal Berry sponsored Norm Kreiss.</p><p>
</p><p>
Specialized athletes represented in almost all podiums with Masters from Cal Giant, teams like River City, Rock n Road, Sho-Air and many Juniors bringing their top speed to end the season. The racing was fast all weekend and the SRAM and Zipp equipped Specialized CruX neutral support bikes were all well used by amateur racers. </p><p>
</p><p>
Saturday brought the U-23 championship with Cal Giant Riders Cody Kaiser and Jeremy Ferguson representing both fought hard to finish 6th and 7th to a flying Danny Summerhill. Look for Cody and Jeremy to use this years experience to build for next season as they will both remain in the U-23 category.</p><p>
</p><p>
Sunday started with Elite Women and Meredith Miller of Specialized / Cal Giant fought hard to finish a strong third place after a first lap crash saw her have to claw her way back for 4 laps to get onto the podium. Miller will cap this result with a two week racing program in Europe at the end of the month to contest the next to UCI World Cups.</p><p>
</p><p>
Finally the mens elite race started under clear skies Sunday afternoon. Todd Wells lined up on the front row with the same adversaries hes faced all season long in next to perfect conditions for him. The course was muddy but no longer cold and Todd immediately put power to his pedals. Never further back than 5th Wells went to the front for good on the 2nd of 10 laps in Bend. He blasted off the front with Jeremy Powers until a crash brought Powers down and Wells was clear from them. Riding hard to hold off a charging Ryan Trebon Wells crossed the finish line with a 10 second gap for his third National Championship of the year. This was also Wells third time winning the USA Cycling Cyclocross title having also won in 2001 and 2005.</p><p>
</p><p>
Wells dedicated his win to former team manager Jerry Hutchinson who passed away this year. He passed away six weeks ago and I wanted to dedicate the race to him and get a victory. I was thinking about him the whole time and I felt like he was with me out there.</p>
More...