Canadian Maghalie Rochette (Canyon Collective) and USA’s Curtis White (Steve Tilford Foundation Racing) won the 2023 elite titles in the US Cyclocross Series (USCX) with convincing victories on the final weekend in Falmouth, Massachusetts. The pair earned equal shares of the $15,000 prize purse, which was on offer for a second time in the third year of the series.
Rochette rocketed into the lead of the elite women’s division by winning the first two races at Virginia’s Blue Ridge Go Cross in mid September, and never let up, sweeping all eight events. Defending USCX champion Caroline Mani (Groove Off-road Racing) had a steady string of five runner-up finishes and a third place at Charm City Cross to secure second place overall. Sidney McGill (Cervélo Orange Living) also collected six podiums, four of them third places, and finished third overall, seven points short of overtaking Mani. Lauren Zoerner of Groove Off-road finished fourth and Raylyn Nuss (Steve Tilford Foundation Racing) fifth.
"I’m super grateful for everyone involved in the USCX series for making it happen and for creating a series that brings the best riders together and brings visibility to the sport," Rochette told Cyclingnews. "I think that’s what we need to grow cyclocross, and I’m super thankful they made it happen.
"It was a privilege for me to be a part of it and I honestly had so much fun at each of the 4 stops. Being able to win the series is the cherry on top for me. I’m proud of how I raced and progressed throughout the series, and it gives me confidence as I head to Europe for the rest of the season."
With each weekend of racing, the USCX standings oscillated in the elite men’s division. Switzerland’s Loris Rouiller (Heizomat - Kloster Kitchen) was the opening leader with back-to-back victories in Roanoke at Go Cross and clung to a two-point lead after Vincent Baestaens won both races at Rochester Cyclocross. White was well behind in third place at the mid-way point.
With Rouiller missing from the second day of Charm City Cross in Baltimore, Baestaens took advantage with a fifth place and second place on the weekend to grab the series lead, the Swiss rider dropping to second and USA’s Andrew Strohmeyer (CXD Trek Bikes) using a win in the C2 race to move into third.
White used his two impressive solo victories at Really Rad Festival of Cyclocross to vault into the top spot of the USCX, as Baestaens, Rouiller and Strohmeyer were not in the field. Baestaens held on for a paycheck with second overall, 50 points off the total from White.
"The racing has been exciting throughout the entire series," White told Cyclingnews. "For the first six rounds, we had three strong Europeans come over, as well as a younger American, Andrew Strohmeyer, rise to a winning level. The racing was dynamic and exciting, and it helping us raise our level as athletes.
"I am very happy to win the series for the second year. I was disappointed with not having the level I wanted in the opening rounds, but I was able to stay consistent enough to take the overall."
Canadian Michael van den Ham (Giant x Easton), who had seven top 10s in the collection of races, grabbed third overall. Jules van Kempen (Cervélo Orange Living) finished fourth and Rouiller was fifth.
The USCX was comprised of eight races at four established events on the east coast of the US, taking in stops at Virginia, New York, Maryland and Massachusetts.
North Americans score 10 gold medals at Pan Ams on road, track, MTB
Canada had a hugely successful two weeks in Santiago, Chile for the Pan American Games in late October, winning a total of six medals in track and mountain bike events, five of them gold.
The men and women swept gold on the track in Team Pursuit. The men’s team broke the Pan Am record twice on their way to victory. The group of Chris Ernst, Michael Foley, Carson Mattern, and Sean Richardson set the record first in qualifying. After 18-year-old Campbell Parrish replaced Ernst for one round to advance to the finals, a foursome defeated Colombia with another Games record, 3:53.59. On the winning women’s team were Devaney Collier, Kiara Lylyk, Fiona Majendie, and Ruby West.
The men also won the Team Sprint, rounds completed between the trio of Nick Wammes, James Hedgcock, and Tyler Rorke. The women took a bronze in their Team Sprint with Emy Savard, Sarah Orban and Jacklynn Boyle.
Canada swept gold medals in the cross-country races in the mountain bike events. Jennifer Ming Jackson dominated the women’s race with a 2:45 margin over runner-up Catalina María Vidaurre Kossmann of Chile.
“I just got to the front set my pace and just tried to have a really calm ride… It was perfect," said Jackson, the 2021 and 2023 Canadian champion in cross-country.
Gunnar Holmgren scored a convincing solo victory, 53 seconds faster than U23 World Champion Martín Vidaurre Kossmann of Chile. Both Ontario riders celebrated their first career wins at the Pan Am Games.
“We’ve raced each other all season long in the World Cup circuit,” Holmgren told Canadian Cycling about his battle with the Chilean home favourite. “I spent the first few laps figuring out where he was strong, maybe where I was stronger, and then put it to work.”
Ranked 34th in the world, Holmgren finished fifth at the official Olympic test event for Paris 2024.
Team USA
On the track, Team USA earned one silver and four bronze medals across four days of competitions. The US women earned the silver in the Team Sprint, the squad of Keely Ainslie, Kayla Hankins, and Mandy Marquardt also set a new National Record. Marquardt went on to third place in the women’s Sprint.
Both the men and women took bronze in the Madison events, Chloe Patrick and Colleen Gullick for the women and Colby Lange and Grant Koontz for the men. Lange and Koontz were also part of the men’s squad that finished with the bronze in the Team Pursuit, teaming with David Domonoske, Brendan Rhim and Anders Johnson across four rounds.
Team USA also won a pair of golds in the women’s road races, Lauren Stephens in the road race and Kristen Faulkner in the time trial.
Team Mexico
Mexico amassed 10 medals in Chile and all on the track. Jessica Salazar Valles, Yuli Paola Verdugo Osuna and Luz Daniela Gaxiola Gonzalez teamed together to win the gold in the women’s Team Sprint, while Yareli Acevedo Mendoza earned a gold in the women’s Omnium. Gonzalez also took silver in the women’s Keirin while Osuna won silver in the Sprint.
Maria Antonieta Gaxiola Gonzalez teamed with Lizbeth Yarely Salazar Vazquez for second place in the women’s Madison, and the same pair joined Mendoza and Victoria Velazco Fuentes to grab silver in Team Pursuit.
The gold in the men’s Madison went to Mexico, the winning duo consisting of Fernando Gabriel Nava Romo and Ricardo Peña Salas, who also earned silver in the men’s Omnium. A pair of bronze medals went to the men, Juan Carlos Ruiz Teran third in the Keirin while he joined Edgar Ismael Verdugo Osuna and Jafet Emmanuel Lopez Gonzaga for a podium spot in the Team Sprint.
Stetina's Paydirt 2024 offers free entries for juniors
The third edition of Stetina’s Carson City Paydirt gravel event returns to Nevada in 2024 with a $5,000 exclusively for the elite women, post-race challenges to earn time bonuses and, this year, free registration for juniors.
The announcement about fees waived for juniors was made on the event Instagram account, in partnership with the Nevada North Interscholastic Cycling League. Registration opens on October 31 for the Nevada off-road event founded by Peter Stetina.
“We'll have a new Junior Men's and Women's podium for the medium course, which Pete believes is the better route to foster Junior racing development. When registering you'll see a donation box and we sure hope you'll throw a few bucks their way to #GetMoreKidsOnBikes.”
The long course will again take in 69.2 miles with three segments across the Pine Nut mountain range while the medium course will be 56.5 miles and that route is still to be confirmed.
Calendar set for 2024 USA Cycling National Championships
USA Cycling announced the complete schedule for the 2024 USA Cycling National Championships, with 18 events providing stars-and-stripes jerseys and medals across eight disciplines.
The Pro Road National Championships, which were announced earlier with new courses in Charleston, West Virginia from May 14-19, will include the Junior 17-18 races for men and women, a men’s Under-23 event and continue with the women’s U23 winner crowned from the elite women’s races. The remaining Junior events and the entirety of the Masters events (ages 11-16 and 35+) will combine in Augusta, Georgia July 22-28.
Both the gravel and cyclocross nationals are scheduled to return to the same venues as this year, the Gravel National Championships returning to Gering, Nebraska on September 8, and the Cyclocross National Championships slotted for back-to-back years in Louisville, Kentucky, next year December 9-15.
