Savery Third at Masters Worlds

Mark Savery (right), finished third behind Boulder Cycle Sport teammates Pete Webber (center) and Brandon Dwight. Photo by Steve Anderson

The first time we rode with Mark Savery, way back in May of 2009, we gapped him on most of the hills. The former elite-level racer had fallen out of shape and hadn't done any real training in years.

In the months after that first ride, Louisville, Ky., was awarded the 2012 UCI Masters World Cyclocross Championships. Since then, the Omahan has used every ride as a stepping-stone toward the world championship race. And now we can't keep up with him on any terrain, let alone a hill.

On Sunday, more than two years and thousands of miles later, Savery (Trek Midwest CX) stepped onto the podium after a third-place finish in the Masters 40-44 championship race. It was the capper to a season in which he defended his Nebraksa cyclocross title, finished second in his US Grand Prix of Cyclocross category and placed fifth at Nationals.

"I set three goals at the beginning of the year," Savery said. "To win the USGP, finish top-five at Nationals and top-10 at Worlds. There were 10 guys who could have been on the podium on Saturday. I was still going to be really happy with a top-10."

While the qualifying race on Thursday was a power-rider's dream thanks to the wet, heavy mud, the championship race required a bit more finesse. Many of the ruts from the previous day's race were frozen, making it tough to find a good line. The event organizers filled most of the ruts with sand, but the ability to race the course came down to an equipment choice.

"It was all about how often to pit, which tires you were going to use," Savery said. "I made the decision earlier in the day to run a (Challenge) Fango (dry tire) and had my bike set up that way. But I got to the start line I second-guessed myself. Everybody on the line had a wet tire on.

"As it turned out, the Fango was an amazing tire for the day. The other guys were getting flicked in the ruts because their tires were grabbing, while I just kind of slid through them."

So confident was Savery in his equipment selection, he took the race lead on the second lap and saw a leading group of eight riders form. Toward the end of the race, though, he felt like he was losing grip in the corners and called for a mud tire on his next trip through the pits.

"Totally the wrong call," Savery said. "The mud tire was slower on the pavement and suddenly I was the one getting flicked in the ruts."

Savery estimates he lost 30 seconds in the last lap-and-a-half after the change. Still, he rolled across the line in third place. It was another strong finish on the Louisville course. His first USGP podium came there in 2010, and in this year's USGP stop he registered a win and another podium finish.

"Louisville has been really good to me," he said.

Savery said he expects to take the next week or so pretty easy, but he's already thinking about how to go faster next year, when Masters Worlds is held alongside the UCI Elite Worlds in Louisville.

"I'll do a lot more motorpacing to really develop the fitness end of it," he said. "I don't feel like I was maxed out from an ability standpoint. I think those guys are beatable."