Bishop Wins Windham Pro XCT, On Top in Series
From Team SHO-AIR/Cannondale, July 1, 2013 – Jeremiah Bishop (Harrisonburg, VA, SHO-AIR/Cannondale Team) took a convincing win ahead of Todd Wells and Derek Zandstra in a stacked field for the men’s USA Cycling Pro Cross Country Tour race held at Windham Mountain in New York.
Right from the gun of the six lap affair, Bishop drove the pace with Specialized rider Todd Wells and BMC rider Stephen Ettigner, getting quick separation on the pack. Only two laps into the race, Bishop whittled the forty-rider field down to just Wells with his constant pressure at the front, leaving Stephen Ettinger to dangle off the duo by 10 seconds.
The Bishop-Wells battle continued to rage on, lap after lap on the former World Cup course; with each rider testing one another on different sections of the course trying to expose any weakness. However the two were rarely more than a bike length apart, as they waged their own private battle on the slopes of Windham Mountain.
Bishop leads Wells as the two separate from the field of competitors.
As the two headed out onto lap five of the six lap race, Bishop drilled it up one of the courses many steep climbs and beat Wells into a very technical wooded section, left wet and muddy from recent rains earlier in the week. From there JB let his Scalpel 29 work the most demanding sections of the course to slowly inch away from Wells.
Heading out onto the last lap, Bishop had broken the elastic and was clear from Wells by over forty seconds. With half a lap to go, Jeremiah backed it down at the advice of team director Ty Kady in order to protect the equipment and insure him and the team the victory, along with the series points leads.
As he crosses the finish line, Bishop remembers South African rider Burry Stander – winner of the 2012 Windham World Cup.
With his win, Bishop catapulted to the top of the series standings taking over the number one plate by sixty points with only two rounds left to go in the series.
Post-race, Bishop had this to say,“Windham is a really good course for me and the conditions today fit the Scalpel 29 and Maxxis tires to perfection. I wanted to rebound strong after dodging a bullet last weekend. I don’t want to win this series by merely taking second’s and thirds, I want to win! A special shout out to team owner Scott Tedro who’s at home recovering from a foot injury. This win is dedicated to him.”
With his win in Windham, Bishop regains the lead of the 2013 USA Cycling Pro Cross Country Tour.
Photos by John Muller. For more from race news and photos, visit Team SHO-AIR.
