Cyclocross nationals preview

Note: Watch live streaming video of the women’s and men’s elite races from the USAC Cyclocross National Championships beginning at 11:50 am (Central time) on Sunday, January 8 on VeloNews.com. Go to VeloNews.com/live!

A thick layer of permafrost outside Madison, WI will be beaten into the cold muck of glory by America’s best cyclocrossers this week, as the USA Cycling cyclocross national championships begin Wednesday at Badger Prairie Park in Verona, WI. The championships run all week, through the main event on Sunday.

Katie Compton (Rabobank-Giant) has won the last seven elite women’s championships and seems the clear favorite, but the Elite men’s race will be an icy melee featuring four men who, given the right set of circumstances, could ride away from the rest. The outcome of the elite men’s race has only one guarantee: there will be mud!

Three-time champion Jonathan Page (Planet Bike) returns from a season of racing with the world’s best in Europe. Two-time champion Ryan Trebon (LTS-Felt) will line up after exploding back to form with two wins in Chicago after a November knee injury sidelined the tall man for seven weeks. Three-time champion Tim Johnson (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) proved his form last month in Bend, Oregon. And Jeremy Powers (Rapha-Focus) comes to Madison after his best season ever, ready to finally get the nationals monkey off his back and beat out the old guard.

Current US national champion Todd Wells (Specialized) will not be defending his jersey, preferring to end his cyclocross season early and focus on the 2012 mountain bike season and the 2012 Olympic Games.

Traditionally held in early December, the US championships have hereafter been moved to January to put the United States in line with the majority of European nations holding their championships this weekend. This move opens up the US cyclocross calendar for more races in a discipline that’s getting much more popular in the America every year, said USA Cycling’s Andrea Smith. The move also bridges the gap in racing that American elite crossers have traditionally had to fill by racing in Europe in December and January before the world championships.

The date also gives American masters racers the perfect tune-up to sort everything out one week before the masters world championships in Louisville, KY the following weekend.

The January championships in Wisconsin has elicited a lot of talk of races resembling the Iditarod on cyclocross tires, but the Weather Gods have apparently given Madison their blessing this year. An especially mild winter so far has left the ground dry – with a layer of permafrost beneath the surface, and no snow in the forecast through the weekend. Above-freezing highs forecast every day during the championships could thaw the permafrost into a thick stew, but there will be no trudging through snowdrifts.

The course favors a powerful rider who can pin the long, selective climb and keep the bike upright on the fast, slippery downhill.

FILED UNDER: Cyclocross / News TAGS: U.S. Cyclocross Nationals