Local favorite Stephen Hyde got the second call up, just behind Jeremy Powers (check out Powers’ bike here), but it was Hyde who proceeded to dominate the men’s elite race. Word around the pits was he had been out riding the course for the full two weeks prior to race day, and while conditions were drastically different on Sunday, that practice paid off. Some frozen cleat issues on the last lap had everyone on edge, as did a crash and broken derailleur hanger on a flat front tire moments before the finish, but his commanding lead got him across the line first to great fanfare. And he did it all on a nearly stock Cannondale SuperX…
Hyde warms up in his tent while the Elite Women battled it out in the snow. (We checked out Katie Compton’s women’s winning bike too.)
Sometimes we get lucky and folks are riding prototype parts or frames, but this year seemed to be between nearly everyone’s launch cycle. The SuperX was revamped this past summer, and Hyde had six of them prepped and ready to go. This is bike 6 of 6 and the one he started the race on.
A front-end Zipp cockpit with their grippy Service Course bar tape and SRAM Force 1 drivetrain. Note the upward angle of the shifter/levers. We saw about half and half in the pits, with the other half of riders running them mostly level.
The seat post is the SAVE carbon flex post that comes stock on the bike, with a carbon railed Fabric saddle. Fabric is owned by Cannondale’s parent company, as is Sugoi, which outfitted his team with apparel, base layers, gloves, etc.
Hyde swapped in the lighter RED cranks with a 42-tooth 1x chainring and 11-32 cassette. Shimano XT pedals were the only non-SRAM or Cannondale part on the bike save tires…
…which were prototype Team Edition Challenge Baby Limus. These get a 100% cotton casing with thinner protective laminate to make them lighter weight and more supple. Hyde started the race on these, but switched to file tread Dunes a little more than half way through.
Other team bikes in their pits had Team Editions of the Grifo and Limus, too.
Congrats on the win, Stephen!
