On the day of the feast of the patron saint of cyclists, the Madonna del Ghisallo, Barry Wicks and Katie Compton powered their way to win handily, leaving the epic battles behind them for second. In both cases, a fire bolt start, exceptional handling, and unmatched strength saw the two to victory.

The battles on day one of the first ever Ohio UCI double 'cross weekend took place in Middletown, Ohio in an intimate setting on a gentleman's course: a 3.2 km loop with beautifully groomed grass, which the top competitors unanimously declared to be the perfect blend of fun, technical challenges and hard racing

As 'cross fans might have predicted after last weekend's close duels with world champ Erwin Vervecken, Barry Wicks exploded off the line, lead through the first obstacle, an off-camber hairpin, and took command. From that point, he blasted the first few laps, with Danish national champion Joachim Parbo just seconds in arrears.

"It was super cool; I've never been to Ohio before. The crowd was awesome, and I saw a few topless guys on the course," Barry Wicks laughed. "The course was really good." The runner-up, Danish national champion Joachim Parbo, was not quite as optimistic about the course. "That was a fast course, and I had fast legs today. The problem is, it was really fast for me, I screwed up a little bit on the turns, that's why I lost it," said the Denmark native. "But I tell you – it was perfect – don't change a thing".

Through the almost-unridable 90° turn sandpit, Wicks laid down the power to cruise through, while Parbo dismounted. Finally, after much effort, Parbo caught Wicks on the backside climb; or perhaps Wicks allowed him to make contact, hoping for a partner against the breeze. But the connection was to be only for a half lap; back onto the pavement Wicks had again established a lead of five seconds.

This gap expanded, at fifteen seconds by the pavement on the fifth lap. With a two laps remaining, Barry Wicks had a solid twenty-one seconds' lead which proved indestructible, and which allowed him to soft-pedal across the line, upheld arms barely clearing the banner. Joachim Parbo held off a late-charging Brent Prenzlow, who managed to shake fourth place Brandon Dwight and surge to the final podium spot.

In the women's field, all went exactly as expected as reigning national champion Katie Compton left none of the first-time 'cross spectators wondering whether that stars and stripes jersey was for real. Compton lead at the end of the start stretch by 10 meters and never relinquished an inch of turf between herself and second.

Katie Compton, the silver medalist at last year's World Championships, said, "I thought the course was great, twisty, technical, fast, and really fun up and down sections."

To the crowds complete disbelief, when she hit the sand pit which not a single person had managed to ride all day long in the B and Masters events, Compton literally floated right through to the bend and powered the second stretch, an almost heavenly picture of power and grace on the bike.

A good battle for second ensued as Melissa Thomas, Sue Butler, and Wendy Williams kept within close sight of each other for the majority of the race. In the end, Katie finished strongly riding through the brutal sand every lap (the only woman to do so), finishing a full minute ahead of the competition. Behind her, Melissa Thomas took the silver in a close move at the final obstacle, beating out Wendy Williams by a mere three bike lengths.