COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Iowa City and Waterloo will host the who’s who of the cyclocross in back to back UCI World Cup races on U.S. soil. The UCI World Cup schedule begins this weekend in Iowa City, Iowa on Saturday, September 14th then moves to Waterloo, WI on Sunday, September 22nd. Nine races form the 2019 calendar ending on January 26, 2020 in Hoogerheide-Provincie Noord-Brabant, Netherlands.
Fifteen-time National Champion Katie Compton (Colorado Springs, Colo.; Trek p/b Knight Composites) will headline a deep group of U.S. women, including reigning 2018 Iowa City Champion Kaitie Keough (Racine, WI.; Cannondale p/b cyclocrossworld.com)), three-time National Champion Ellen Noble (Kennebunkport, Maine; Trek Factory Racing) and 2018 Nationals 2nd place finisher Sunny Gilbert (Niwot, Colo.; Van Dessel Factory Team). We also have several promising U23 athletes including Clara Honsinger (Portland Ore.; Team S&M CX) who is our reigning National Champion, and first-year U23 rider Katie Clouse (Park City Utah, Cannondale p/b cyclocrossworld.com) who won her first C1 race last year as a junior rider.
Similar to the women, the top three men from last year’s USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships will be toeing the line in Iowa City and Waterloo. Three-time U.S. Cyclocross National Champion, Stephen Hyde, (Easthampton, Mass.; Cannondale p/b cyclocrossworld.com), 2018 Pan American Cyclocross Champion Curtis White (Duanesburg, NY.; Cannondale p/b cyclocrossworld.com) and 2018 U23 Pan American Champion Gage Hecht (Parker, Colo. Alpha Bicycle/Groove Subaro CX) will be competing in the first two rounds of UCI World Cups.
ELITE MEN:
· Curtis White (Duanesburg, NY.; Cannondale p/b cyclocrossworld.com)
· Kerry Werner (Advance, N.C.; Kona Bikes)
· Stephen Hyde (Easthampton, Mass.; Cannondale p/b cyclocrossworld.com)
· Lance Haidet (San Luis Obispo, Calif.; Donnelly Cycling)
· Jamey Driscoll (Park City, Utah)
· Cody Kaiser (El Dorado Hills, Calif.; Specialized)
· Tobin Ortenblad (Santa Cruz, Calif.; Santa Cruz Bicycles)
· Drew Dillman (Fairdale, Ky.)
· Brannan Fix (Fort Collins, Colo. Alpha Bicycles/Groove Subraru)
· Eric Thompson (Asheville, N.C.; MSPEEDWAX CX Team)
- Kevin Bradford Parish (Mead, Wash.)
ELITE WOMEN:
· Kaitie Keough (Colorado Springs, Colo.; Cannondale p/b cyclocrossworld.com)
· Ellen Noble (Kennebunkport, Maine; Trek Factory Racing)
· Katie Compton (Colorado Springs, Colo.; Trek p/b Knight Composites)
· Clara Honsinger (Portland Ore.; Team S&M CX)
· Rebecca Fahringer (Concord, N.H.; Kona Bicycles)
· Sammi Runnels (Austin, Tex.; Squid Bicycles)
· Sunny Gilbert (Niwot, Colo.; Van Dessel Factory Team)
· Crystal Anthony (Newbury Park, Calif.; Liv Racing)
· Courtenay McFadden (Bellingham, Wash.; Pivot Maxxis CX)
· Regina Legge (Salem, N.H.; Trek Cyclocross Collective)
· Caroline Nolan (Reno, Nev.)
· Raylyn Nuss (Lake Saint Louis, Mo.)
- Jennifer Malik (Columbus, Ohio)
“We changed the qualifications for the US World Cups to include more development riders this year. The purpose of this is to provide our top development riders with high level racing experiences in a familiar environment,” said Jesse Anthony, USA Cycling’s Cyclocross Manager. “We have a very talented group of young athletes coming up through our cyclocross development program, and as we build toward Fayetteville 2022, we are focused on providing them with the pathway for success.”
U23 MEN (racing in the Elite Men's race):
· Gage Hecht (Parker, Colo.; Alpha Bicycle/Groove Subaru CX)
· Eric Brunner (Boulder, Colo.; Stages Cycling)
· Scott Funston (Maple Valley, Wash.)
· Sam Noel (Shelburne, Vermont; Cannondale p/b cyclocrossworld.com)
- Ben Gomez Villafane (Scotts Valley, Calif.; Squid Bikes)
U23 WOMEN (racing in the Elite Women's race):
· Katie Clouse (Park City, Utah; Cannondale p/b cyclocrossworld.com)
· Hannah Arensman (Brevard, N.C.)
· Ellie Mitchell (Anchorage, Alaska)
- Turner Ramsay (Rutland, Vt.)
JUNIOR WOMEN (racing in the Elite Women's race):
· Madigan Munro (Boulder, Colo.; Boulder Junior Cycling)
· Aubrey Drummond (Tulsa Ok.; Soundpony Triad Bank/SPCX p/b R.K. BLACK)
- Lizzy Gunsalus (Dudly, Mass.; Corner Cycle Cycling Club/ AP Junior Development)
Anthony also commented on the juniors, “Six junior women will compete between Iowa and Waterloo in the Elite Women's World Cup events. This is an excellent opportunity for them to experience high-level international competition and gain UCI points which will start them on a good trajectory toward the first-ever Junior Women's Cyclocross World Championship coming up this February.”
2019-2020 Telenet UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup schedule:
· Round 1 - September 14th: Iowa City, USA
· Round 2 – September 22nd: Waterloo, Wisconsin, USA
· Round 3 - October 22nd: Bern, Switzerland
· Round 4 – November 16th: Tabor, Czech Republic
· Round 5 - November: 24th: Koksijde, Belgium
· Round 6 – December 22nd: Namur, Belgium
· Round 7 – December 26th: Heusden-Zolder, Belgium
· Round 8 – January 19, 2020: Nommay-Pays de Montbéliard, France
- Round 9 – January 26, 2020: Hoogerheide-Provincie Noord-Brabant, Netherlands
For more information about the upcoming UCI Cyclocross Season, visit uci.ch.
Visit USACycling.org for more information on the athletes, events and membership programs, and follow @USACycling across all channels for the latest on Team USA.
For more information contact Guillermo Rojas (grojas@usacycling.org)
