USA Cycling has declared the Boulder, Colorado, Valmont Bike Park ready for the national cyclocross championships, which are set to commence tomorrow, January 7th, with the expectation that the “People’s Republic” will put on a good show. The six days of competition will climax on Sunday, January 12th, with the junior (17-18) race, and the elite women’s and men’s races, all of which will be streamed live on USA Cycling’s YouTube channel.
Boulder’s current cold snap, which means that the course is currently under a covering of snow with below freezing temperatures, is set to come to an end. The racing will instead happen in temperatures in the lower to mid 40s fahrenheit, under sunny and cloudy conditions.
Favourite for a tenth straight title in the women’s race is World number one Katie Compton (Trek), who recently secured a second consecutive World Cup title with victory in Rome. Barring accident or mechanical the 35-year-old Colorado Springs resident should dominate the race, there will be a host of riders hoping to mount a challenge.
Kaitlin Antonneau (Cannondale Cyclocrossworld) spent much of the latter part of 2013 in Europe, and rode four rounds of the World Cup, placing ninth in Tábor, Czech Republic, and seventh in Namur, Belgium. Elle Anderson (California Giant-Specialized) too has spent several weeks in Europe, after having won several events in the US abd clinched overall victory in the USA Cycling calendar, and placed third in the Diegem Superprestige, and sixth in the GP Sven Nys.
Crystal Anthony (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) - another rider who has recently performed well in Europe - is also expected to feature, as well as Boulder residents Meredith Miller (California Giant-Specialized) Nicole Duke (Marin-Spy), while Olympic mountainbike medallist Georgia Gould (Luna) is another likely contender.
The men’s race will see Jonathan Page (Fuji-Spyoptics), who has spent most of the season in Belgium as usual, face a strong challenge from the rest of the 2013 top-five, who have raced predominantly domestic programmes. 2013 silver and bronze medallists Zach McDonald (Rapha-Focus) and James Driscoll (Raleigh-Clement), and Danny Summerhill (UnitedHealthcare) and Tim Johnson (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld) will all be looking to take steps further up the podium, while USA Cycling calendar champion Jeremy Powers (Rapha-Focus) and veteran two-time former champion Ryan Trebon (Cannondale-Clement) are also expected to feature.