Yesterday was the World Championship of Cyclocross, the first ever raced on the US shores. We had an awesome year of professional racing in the US this year. Jeremy Powers, as the reigning US champion, put on an amazing season littered with wins and easily led the US in points for the Elite men. His Rapha-Focus teammate, Zach McDonald, in his final year as a U23, also raced incredible as national champion. Unfortunately neither was able to defend their title for 2013/2014, but they did race and win in style all season. Zach almost took home the Elite national title with an amazing ride to finish behind Jonathan Page. Flash forward to the Worlds, and surprising it was Tim Johnson who managed to grab the highest finish for a US Elite, coming in 19th, ahead of Page and Powers who finished in the mid 20s.
Going into the races I, like most cross fans, figured our best bet for a win rested on Katie Compton - the most dominant US crosser for the past for years. Katie was on a roll and managed to win the World Cup this year - no easy task. Yet, in the Elite Women's race, she was unable to hang with Marianne Vos - perhaps the winningest woman in cycling history.
Similarly, in the juniors race, an incredible Logan Owen raced well, but had to settle just off the podium in 4th place.
Not the finished we were all hoping for, but impressive non-the-less, and hopefully next year we have better luck.
Read more here -
http://www.cxmagazine.com/
