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Jeremy Powers is gearing his training toward next year's World Championships in Louisville.

With road cycling in its annual ho-hum rut of contract negotiations, suspensions, and pre-season training camps, we focus on the Top 5 reasons why it’s great to be US International CycloCross Series leader Jeremy Powers (Rapha-Focus Team)

5. He Gets More Cowbell: Powers on why all the hooting, hollering, and cowbell ringing at cyclocross races make for a big day out: “For a spectator it’s a great sport. It’s really fun to go out to the races. We have great venues and great personalities. It’s an 8-minute lap max, and they are able to see a lot of the racing really close. Whereas with road racing it’s more like tailgating. You’re hanging with your friends and then the race goes by. It’s not a circuit like cyclocross. Plus, it’s not just watching somebody going up a hill at 400 watts. It’s more like, 'I can’t believe that guy made it through that section.'"

4. He Loves The Pressure: “I love being able to ride sections that other people can’t. Cyclocross is so much about being able to apply pressure where other people falter. So if we’re going through a section that’s very technical or a wooded area, and I can ride the section, jump the barriers and get 10 seconds, that’s always been my favorite part. Getting that gap is best part.”

3. He Still Gets Time To DJ: "I’m about to go DJ at this '80s party for my girlfriend’s work, so right now I’m listening to DJ Vice’s “Breakfast Clubbin” mixtape. I’m trying to get in that mood just now.

2. He Has His Own Reality TV Show: “’Behind The Barriers’ was created to showcase cyclocross in the United States, so fans could see something and we could give it an identity. We’re doing the Behind The Barriers Imitation Challenge because I’m getting people pretty consistently showing me their Behind The Barriers videos that they’ve made. It’s like a movement. It’s so funny. So I just thought, ‘Why don’t we crack this thing wide open, step it up and see what happens.’”

1. Because Cyclocross Is Not Just For Belgians Anymore: Having nabbed an impressive top 10 place at the World Cup event in Plzen, Czechoslovakia (highlights here), Powers talks about the sport’s growing impact here in the states: “Cyclocross is still the youngest discipline in cycling. We don’t have a World Cup venue yet, so we still have a lot of growing to do. It’s mostly a Benelux sport…France, Belgium, and Holland. When guys like Francis Mourey, or Bart Wellens have come to the United States, they’ve been competitive but haven’t won. They’re not as dominant as they have been in Europe. So next year when the World Championships come to the States for the first time (http://www.louisville2013.com), I think you’re going to see a lot of riders who don’t know how to deal with jet lag and who are blown away by the way we race cyclocross here. Danny Van Haute, my team director at Jelly Belly, knows that my goal next year is Louisville and he’s going to help me put together a program that’s suits my racing towards that."

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