Cyclocross

Press Release

This cyclocross season, filmmaker Andy Frothingham is following two professional racers through their seasons, checking in with them at events around the country and at their homes in Colorado between races. The second episode is presented here today.

October 15, 2009 (Louisville, KY) - The series that stoked the exponential growth of cyclocross in the United States and in the Ohio Valley - the U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross - returns to Louisville, KY for it's third consecutive season on October 24th and 25th downtown at Champions' Park.

Press Release

Press Release

Press Release

Professional bike racing in the U.S. is different from just about every European country. When they say "pro" there, it means everyone in the race makes money doing it. Not so in the U.S. For some, becoming a professional means little more than cherry picking a few smaller races and paying USA Cycling $150 for an elite license. It was easy to see the differing ability levels at CrossVegas, as almost half of the field ended up lapped.

Heading into its sixth season, the U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross kicks off Saturday in Madison, Wisconsin, with The Planet Bike Cup, a new event to the series. The timing of the addition makes it possible for riders such as Katie Compton and Jonathan Page, both sponsored by Planet Bike, to participate in the USGP — an opportunity both have had to forgo in the past due to their World Cup racing schedules.

Rabobank rider Bram de Groot is a good sport. The Belgian came to Las Vegas to race CrossVegas, though he hasn’t raced cyclocross in years. To open up his legs for the race, Giant’s Andrew Juskaitis took him for a mountain bike ride on Interbike’s Outdoor Demo Caldera loop — almost two hours of dry, loose trail embedded with rocks as sharp as razor blades. De Groot had never ridden a mountain bike in his life. It was 6 p.m. when he climbed on the big bike, with ace mountain bikers Adam Craig and Carl Decker for riding partners.

Giant Bicycles brought a prototype TCX Advanced SL carbon bike to Interbike for Adam Craig to race in Wednesday night’s CrossVegas event, and VeloNews took an exclusive first look mere hours after team manager Frank Trotter finished building it.

After a challenging summer fraught with sponsorship problems, Katie Compton has her program back on the rails, just in time for cyclocross season. For starters, she signed with Planet Bike as her primary sponsor. Then, a few weeks before opening weekend, a choice blend of product sponsorships fell into place, including Stevens Carbon Team frames; Zipp wheels, bars, and cranks; and SRAM Red drivetrain parts. Planet Bike gave the duo freedom to forage for supplementary sponsors, and they came up golden. “It’s a dream sponsorship for us,” said husband Mark Legg-Compton.

Rabobank ProTour team member Bram de Groot will compete at this week's CrossVegas cyclocross race in Las Vegas, the event organizers announced. The race organizers say the Dutch rider’s appearance will mark the first ever by a Rabobank rider in a U.S cyclocross event. de Groot also will attend the Interbike Outdoor Demo on Tuesday to visit with Giant bicycle dealers. Giant sponsors Rabobank. The 35-year-old de Groot has been a member of the Rabobank team since turning pro in 1999.

Press Release

Editor’s note: This is the second installment of the Mud and Cowbells Road Diary. Part one found the author in Durango for the Singlespeed World Championships, where he witnessed the winners drinking the night before, then getting tattooed after the race.

This cyclocross season, filmmaker Andy Frothingham will be following two professional racers through their seasons, checking in with them at events around the country and at their homes in Colorado between races. The first episode is presented here today. The featured riders are Amy Dombroski of the Richard Sachs team and Jonathan Baker of the Hudz-Subaru Cycling Team.

National level cyclocross begins this weekend with the Full Speed Ahead Star Crossed on Saturday, and the Rad Racing Gran Prix on Sunday. This is also the first of five weekends of the North American Cyclocross Trophy (NACT). Star Crossed is under the lights of the Marymoor velodrome in Seattle, Washington. Racers will put their early-season cyclocross ability to the test. Star Crossed is known for its boisterous atmosphere, thanks to the 360-degree viewing, beer garden, deep prize list and DJs.

Press Release

The North American Cyclocross Trophy (NACT) series was created as a way to bring some of the best cyclocross races into the spotlight. After a successful inaugural season in 2008, the series is back with an additional weekend of races. In 2008, the eight-race series was decided at the final venue in Southampton, New York. Ryan Trebon took a close win over Jeremy Powers for the men and Georgia Gould bested Amy Dombroski for the women’s overall title.

Press Release

Press Release

Cyclocross star Katie Compton has a new 'cross team and bike sponsor for the 2009-2010 season, and a new competitive focus for the season. But first, Compton has a little something else to focus on: the mountain bike world championships in Canberra, Australia, in two weeks. Compton will ride for the Planet Bike team for this season, joining old friend and fellow cyclocross world medalist Jonathan Page on the squad sponsored by the Wisconsin bike accessories maker.

Daphne van den Brand, Kupfernagel and Compton battle at the 2008 Koksijde World Cup. | Photo: Frank Bodenmüller/CBGPhoto.com

Organizers of the Cincinnati UCI3 Cyclocross Festival have released details of an unprecedented $10,000 women’s prize purse for the three-day UCI event on October 9-11.  The $10,000 in prize money for the weekend will be just a portion of the nearly $27,000 in published prize money for the weekend of races.   

Press Release

Las Vegas' Mandalay Bay resort is sponsoring a prize for riders who score the best overall at the criterium and cyclocross races being held next month during the Interbike trade show. The week in 'Vegas includes the CrossVegas cyclocross race on Wednesday night, September 23, and the USA Crits Finals, held at the Mandalay Resort on The Strip in Vegas on the Thursday night, September 24.

Interbike Partners with GSD to Promote Providence ‘Cross Festival World’s Premier Bicycle Trade Show Brings Consumer Edition to New England PROVIDENCE, R.I. (Aug. 21, 2009) – For cyclists the approach of autumn has brought two things: cyclo-cross and Interbike. New England has always boasted it had the finest cyclo-cross in America, but the world?s largest trade show required a trip to Las Vegas.

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PRESS RELEASE

STANLEY GEAR Expands Sponsorship of The US Gran Prix of Cyclocross for 2009 Organizers of the US Gran Prix of Cyclocross, (USGP) have announced that Stanley food and beverage gear has expanded its support of the country’s premiere cyclocross series by becoming the Title Sponsor of the Stanley Portland Cup in Portland, OR December 5th and 6th and extending its support to the other series events as well.

Three-time cyclocross world champion Erwin Vervecken of Belgium will race the CrossVegas in Las Vegas next month, race organizers announced Friday. Vervecken won the world title in 2001, 2006 and 2007 and, at 37 won the Roubaix World Cup last winter. He has announced that he will retire at the end of this season. Vervecken's teammate Ben Berden also will race in the September 23 event.

Zipp Speed Weaponry of Speedway Indiana announced today that it will continue in its role as title sponsor of the Zipp OVCX Cyclocross through the 2009 season.  The Zipp OVCX Series encompasses the tri-state region of Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky; an area that series officials have noted is larger than Italy.  The announcement marks the third consecutive year that Zipp has sponsored the fastest growing series in America’s fastest growing cycling discipline.  “We feel it’s important to sponsor this race series when it’s in our own back yard,” says Zipp Marketing Manager Andy Paskins,

Five-time U.S. cyclocross champion Katie Compton was hospitalized for an asthma attack on Sunday after racing Alabama’s Bump n’ Grind cross-country race, the third round of USA Cycling’s Pro Cross-country Tour (ProXCT). Compton, who was riding at the front of the race alongside Luna riders Catherine Pendrel and Georgia Gould, was forced to abandon on the third of four laps after suffering breathing problems. Paramedics hooked Compton to an oxygen flow and took her to a nearby hospital.

Saturday’s Blue Sky Velo Cup in Longmont, Colorado and Sunday’s Boulder Cup are part of the North American Cyclocross Trophy series.

Alison Dunlap, the last American cross-country rider to bring home a world championship, bid farewell to pro racing in 2005. After more than a decade racing on the road, ’cross and mountain bike, the Colorado Springs resident said she was burned out, largely due to the constant travel and punishing workouts, and that she was ready to step into the next phase of her life — coaching and mentoring aspiring female cyclists.

While usually stuck at his keyboard, VeloNews.com senior editor Charles Pelkey did manage to get out and snap a few pictures while in Hoogerheide, the Netherlands, covering the world cyclocross championships over the weekend of January 31 and February 1, 2009.

The weather in Hoogerheide, Holland, has improved over the last few days … and that may have as much to do with the outcome of this weekend’s world cyclocross championships than the relative fitness of individual riders. “We’re by the ocean,” said British Cycling Federation manager Simon Burney. “Every time I come here the course is different and it’s largely due to the weather. Skies have cleared, the snow is gone and temperatures hovering around the freezing point have turned what a week ago was a nearly unrideable mud bog into another fast worlds course.

Just two days before the race, Jonathan Page has been named to the men's team for this Sunday's UCI World Cyclocross Championships, USA Cycling announced Thursday. Page had been left off the team because his eligibility was questioned after he accidentally missed a post-race doping control after a race in November. However Page was cleared of any wrongdoing in that incident last week.

Americans brought home three medals from the 2009 UCI World Masters Cyclocross Championships last weekend, claiming one world title and two silver medals. Katherine Sarvary (Lunenberg, Massachusetts) earned the gold medal in the women’s pre-1960 class, while compatriot Lillian Pfluke claimed silver in the same category. For Sarvary, it was her second consecutive world title after also winning gold in 2008.

2009-2010 UCI World Cup Cyclocross rankings, updated Jan. 18

Former U.S. national cyclocross champion Jonathan Page has been cleared of charges stemming from a missed in-competition doping test, but it may be a week before he knows whether that will result in his inclusion on the U.S. team for the upcoming world championships.

[nid:86746]Mark Legg is Katie Compton's husband, mechanic and one-man support crew at most races. He also captures Compton's races in still pictures and, more recently, in video. This week he is sharing his video of Compton's dominant win at the Roubaix World Cup on Sunday. Compton is skipping this weekend's Milan World Cup to focus on preparing for the world championships. Legg is preparing her worlds bike in part by removing the SRM Dura-Ace crank and replacing it with a Rotor Agilis crank. Compton will use round chainrings, instead of Rotor's oval rings.

CrossVegas is coming to a TV near you, if your cable package includes Universal Sports. A half-hour program on the international cyclocross race, held September 24 in Las Vegas in conjunction with the Interbike trade show, will air at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday, January 25. Encore presentations are scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Friday, January 30, and 6 a.m. Saturday, January 31.

The North American Cyclocross Trophy will expand in its second season, living up to its name by adding a new weekend in Toronto. The 2009 season will include 10 events over five weekends: • Star Crossed on September 19 (Seattle. WA) • RAD Racing Gran Prix on September 20 (Seattle, WA) • The Erdinger Gran Prix of Gloucester on October 3-4 (Gloucester, MA) • Toronto International Cyclocross on October 17-18 (Toronto, ON) • Blue Sky Velo Cup on October 31 (Longmont, CO)

The fourth round of the UCI Cyclocross World Cup is in Koksijde, Belgium.

The Mercer Cup weekend in New Jersey is the penultimate weekend of the USGP series.

Despite facing charges that he missed an in-competition doping test in November, former U.S. champion Jonathan Page could still earn a spot at cyclocross worlds.

The United States is among those countries eligible to send five riders to compete in the elite men’s division of the cyclocross world championship in Hoogerheide, in the Netherlands, on February 1.

Earlier this week, however, USA Cycling released the names of only four riders planning to compete in the world championships, leaving one additional slot to be filled before the UCI’s roster deadline on January 23.

Katie Compton is America’s best hope to bring home hardware from this year’s UCI Cyclocross world championships, which will be held in Hoogerheide, the Netherlands, on January 31-February 1. Just last month Compton (Spike Shooter) had her best ever run of European racing, racking up a slew of UCI podium finishes, including a win at the World Cup in Nommay, France.

Jeremy Powers (Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale) and Brian Matter (Gear Grinder) have joined Ryan Trebon (Kona) and Matt Shriver (Jittery Joe’s) on the U.S. men’s team that will contest the 2009 UCI Cyclocross World Championships on February 1 in Hoogerheide, Netherlands. Trebon, Powers and Tim Johnson (Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale) all earned automatic nominations to the team as the top three Americans in the UCI rankings. Johnson has declined his nomination and will not compete.

Jonathan Baker (Vitamin Cottage) has been suspended from racing for three months for his involvement in a mid-race tussle with Adam Myserson at the cyclocross national championships in Kansas City last month. Baker, who is in Belgium, will serve the suspension starting Jan. 17, meaning he will miss any remaining 'cross races he had planned for this season. "It is with some disappointment that I will be ending my 'cross season early, but I will take this as a good opportunity to spend some quality time with my family," Baker told VeloNews.

Matt Shriver (Jittery Joe's) learned Monday that he has been named to the U.S. men's team for the UCI Cyclocross World Championships later this month. Shriver will join Kona's Ryan Trebon on the team. Trebon is the only automatic member of the the team, by virtue of his winning the national championship and leading the USA Cycling national cyclocross calendar. Jonathan Page (Planet Bike) is another likely team member, although his status is uncertain because of a missed doping test in November. Jeremy Powers (Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale) also is expected to be named to the team.

Hanka Kupfernagel (Itarea-Stevens) won her eighth German national cyclocross title on Saturday, confirming her position as one of the favorites heading into this month’s world championship in Holland. The 34-year-old Kupfernagel, the reigning world champion, scored her win ahead of 18-year-old Sabrina Schweizer in the cold and wintery conditions that have swept across Europe in recent days.

Last month Olympic mountain biker Georgia Gould headed to Northern Europe with a small band of American cyclocross racers to tackle the busy two weeks of ’cross racing that book-end Christmas.

The U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross is adding a fourth weekend to its schedule this year, adding the Planet Bike Cup in Wisconsin to its lineup. The 2009 series will return for a third year to Louisville, Kentucky, Mercer County, New Jersey and Portland, Oregon. "The addition of the Planet Bike Cup is tremendous for the series. Madison has a great cycling community and the Planet Bike Cup was already a wonderful event. We are thrilled to have added such a strong early season weekend of racing to our schedule,” said Bruce Fina, the series' executive director.

Former U.S. cyclocross champion Jonathan Page has been notified that he missed an anti-doping test at the World Cup at Koksijde, Belgium, on November 29. UCI anti-doping officials have forwarded a report of the missed test to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for review. UCI anti-doping coordinator Peter Van den Abeele told the Belgian website Sport.be that Page failed to appear for a drug test despite being notified that he had been randomly selected. Page, however, said that he had not heard anything about the test until he was informed that he had missed it three weeks later.

The 2009-10 USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships have been awarded to Bend, Oregon, the national governing body announced Tuesday. The 'cross nationals were last held in the Pacific Northwest when Portland hosted the 2003 and 2004 editions. Since then, the event has been held in Providence, Rhode Island (2005-06), and Kansas City, Missouri (2007-08).

USA Cycling has announced the first round of nominations to the United States National Team for the 2009 UCI Cyclocross World Championships in Hoogerheide, Netherlands, Jan. 31-Feb. 1. Five athletes were named to each of the elite women's, U23 men's and junior men's squads based on competitive performances over the course of the last year. The elite men's nominations will be announced on Jan. 14. Elite Women Katie Compton (Colorado Springs, Colo.) Georgia Gould (Fort Collins, Colo.) Rachel Lloyd (Fairfax, Calif.) Laura Van Gilder (Cresco, Pa.)

It might have been something like what a visiting left fielder at Fenway Park experiences, but some long-time 'cross fans were shocked by the heckling — and then by a following scuffle amongst some expensive bikes — after the men's elite race at U.S. Cyclocross Nationals on Sunday. Although no criminal charges are being pursued, frame builder Richard Sachs may sue to recover what he says was thousands of dollars in damage to his team's bikes, which were trampled in the scuffle. At least one of the participants, Cale McAninch, says he's willing to pay his share of the damages.

Photog Ben Ross was on the job Saturday at the USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships in Kansas City; here's some of what he saw through the lens.

Two things were topics of discussion at the cyclocross nationals' host hotel breakfast buffet Sunday morning: the weather and The Hill.

Saturday 8:00 A.M. Course Open 9:00 A.M. U23 Women 40 min 10:00 A.M U23 Men 50 min 11:00 A.M Master Men 30-34 45 min 12:00 P.M. Awards/Course Open 1:00 P.M. Masters Men 35-39 45 min 2:00 P.M Masters Men 40-44 45 min 3:00 P.M Masters 50-54 45 min 4:00 P.M. Awards/Course Open Sunday 7:00 A.M. Course Open 8:00 A.M. Single Speed 45 min 9:00 A.M. Collegiate Men D2 45 min 10:00 A.M Collegiate Women 45 min 11:00 A.M Collegiate M D1 45 min 11:45 A.M. Course Open

Friday's racing at the USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Championships crowned 16 national champions in both junior and master categories and locked up a spot on the U.S. World Championship squad for one junior rider. Cyclists from as young as nine to 67 years of age contested the muddy course at Kansas City's Tiffany Springs Park on the second day of competition at the 2008 national championships.

While many of the nation's top racers are at the cyclocross national championships in Kansas City this week, USA Cycling announced the dates and locations of 17 national championship events for next year. The organization, however, did not announce a location for the next cyclocross nationals, which are tentatively scheduled for Dec. 11-14 next year. 2009 USA Cycling national championship schedule: *All dates and locations subject to change March 21: USA Cycling BMX National Championships – Desoto, Texas

This Sunday’s mens national elite cyclocross championships are as wide open as any in recent memory, with four former champions, all in peak form, lining up. Defending women’s champion Katie Compton won’t face any former champs in her race, but she will contend with an increasingly deep women’s domestic field, most notably the powerful Georgia Gould. (Womens Favorites) When deciding on favorites, we looked at: - their history at nationals, - the top racers' own opinions of their relative strengths

The USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Championships opened on Thursday with just over 50 master-aged riders tackling the demanding course at Kansas City's Tiffany Springs Park. Gary Thacker (Louisville, Colo./Chipotle-Titus), Phil Bannister (Putney, Vt./Putney-West Hill), Rob Lea (Taneytown, Md./Team Fuji), Walt Axthelm (Durango, Colo./Durango Wheel Club) and Ronald Riley (Aptos, Calif./Team Santa Cruz) won the first of 35 stars-and-stripes jerseys to be awarded at this year's competition.

American Olympian Georgia Gould (Luna) has her eyes on the 2009 UCI world cyclocross championships, held January 31-February 1 in Hoogerheide, the Netherlands. The 28-year-old Gould, who finished eighth in cross-country mountain biking at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, announced her intentions to race cyclocross’ biggest race on her Web site.

The Crank Brothers U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross returns this weekend to Portland, Oregon, the scene of 2007’s epic finale, when snow, rain and heavy winds battered spectators and riders alike. This time around, the racing is expected to be equally fierce, but the weather should be a little less so, says KOIN meteorologist Bruce Sussman. “It's going to be a lot drier than last year,” Sussman said. “In fact, Saturday looks dry. Then on Sunday a system from the north will bring some rain at times, but nothing major.”

He's been there before and, he concedes, he might just thrive on it. Jonathan Page, America's most successful international male cyclocross racer, is having another relatively quiet season, with a few top performances but a spate of frustrating mechanicals, illnesses and other bad luck, plus an unusual mid-season bike sponsor switch. Now, with a week to go before the national championships in Kansas City, the Planet Bike pro is looking to break out with a fourth elite national title, and then carry the momentum into the world championships.

For American cyclocrosser Katie Compton, the pieces are coming together in her long pursuit of a world 'cross championship, a chase she hopes to conclude successfully Feb. 1 in Hoogerheide, Netherlands. Compton, who turns 30 on Wednesday, says she feels stronger than ever this season — and she's been racing bicycles since she was 10 years old.

Ryan Trebon (Kona) and Georgia Gould (Luna) lead the national standings after 34 events on the USA Cycling Cyclocross National Calendar. This past weekend saw Jamey Driscoll (Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale) and Maureen Bruno-Roy (MM Racing-Seven Cycles) win the UCI C2 Bay State Cyclocross on Saturday in Sterling, Massachusetts.

New York City is the proud home of the House that Ruth Built, The World's Most Famous Arena, and a legendary marathon that concludes with a final sprint into Central Park. To that world-class sports heritage you can add one more landmark: The Cinnabon of Despair.

[nid:85117]It was already raining Friday at West Windsor, New Jersey's Mercer County Park as top riders checked out the course prior to the middle weekend of the three-city 2008 Crankbrothers US Grand Prix of Cyclocross series: the Mercer Cup presented by Knapp's Cyclery. "It's muddy, the sand is like oatmeal," Jeremy Powers (Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale) told VeloNews Friday.

Beth Lyndon-Griffith (Hagens-Berman) and Zach McDonald (Classic Cycles) emerged triumphant on Sunday as the Seattle Cyclocross series visited a gooey course at the Bremerton fairgrounds. With several inches of rain in the week leading up to the race and many local rivers on flood watches, the course was already wet. Sunday began with showers that diminished as the day wore on, and as temperatures reached the low 50s the conditions created a course to test nearly every ’cross skill in the book.

After 25 races completed on the USA Cycling Cyclocross Calendar, Jeremy Powers (Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale) and Laura Van Gilder (C3 Sollay) lead the points race. At the most recent calendar event, Christopher Jones (Sonic/jittery Joes/Louis Garneau) earned the pro men's victory while Rachel Lloyd (California Giant Berry Farms-Specialized) took the women's pro win at the Dam 'Cross on Sunday in Los Angeles. Men's Standings:

The Mid-Atlantic Cross Powered by SRAM Cyclocross Series visited New Jersey for the Beacon Cyclocross and its iconic “Amphitheater of Pain” on Saturday. In a switch from past years, the event was run under domestic sanctioning instead of its traditional UCI sanction. But the lack of international stature didn’t seem to hurt, as the event drew record entries and the largest Elite fields in years, which were won by the C3-Sollay.com duo of Wes Schempf and Laura Van Gilder.

Which of the four riders currently leading America’s two premier cyclocross series have you not heard of: Georgia Gould, Ryan Trebon, Jesse Anthony or Amy Dombroski? If your answer was Dombroski, you’re probably not alone. Dombroski, who is leading the North American Cyclocross Trophy (NACT) series, has shown herself to be the revelation of the 2008 cyclocross season so far, having taken big wins at the October 11-12 Erdinger Gran Prix of Gloucester. Just 21 years old, the two-time U23 national ’cross champ stands a mere 5 foot 1 inches. So just who is Amy Dombroski?

The premier event for single speed cyclocross enthusiasts returns to Portland this weekend, November 8th and 9th. A weekend of racing dedicated solely to those who race with just one gear, the Single Speed Cyclocross World Championships (SSCXWC) gathers top-level racers from across the country and beyond to compete for the top prize in this category. Registered riders include Adam Craig, Ryan Trebon and returning champions Wendy Williams and Barry Wicks.