North American World Cup Selections

Panda Thoughts on the North American World Cup Selections

Hi All,

I didn't make an end-of-season post regarding my mediocre performance at CXNats.
I don't want to dwell on the negative. Things didn't go as planned during that race and I can sum it up in a photo from Motofish Images:

Some blood and a lot of mud. [dailybikes]

Instead I'm very happy with finishing the season ranked 110th in the UCI rankings, 24th female American in the UCI overall, and 24th female in the USAC Pro CX Calendar rankings. With what little racing I had to work with last season I'm proud of those results.

I'm now looking forward to the future and what's next...
I've been doing a lot of thinking about next season and want to share a little analysis I've put together.



Recent news from this past week just before CXworlds kicked off is that Clif Bar CrossVegas has been given a World Cup status! Read more here.

This is great news! It's great for North American cyclocross, it's great for the globalization of cyclocross, it's great for Interbike attendees, it's fantastic for the American bike industry, and it's great for cyclocross fans and spectators everywhere.
But for those of us aspiring UCI Elite racers, it's great news w/ a little bit of a sting.

Here are the USAC rules/information regarding the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup Registration.

Interesting rule at the top:

"The UCI mandates that each federation’s current top eight Elite men and women UCI points scorers, if ranked in the top 50 overall, must be allowed to start each World Cup if they choose to. If any of the top eight USA riders ranked inside the top 50 UCI overall choose not to start a World Cup, we are NOT allowed to fill those unused spots with additional riders. If the USA does not have eight riders ranked inside the top 50 UCI overall then we may add additional riders to the start list. Because of these UCI regulations, USA Cycling has adopted the following Selection Guidelines to determine an order of riders for entering World Cup events."

On the Women's side:

1	5	Katherine COMPTON	United States	37	1308
2	15	Kaitlin ANTONNEAU	United States	23	721
3	17	Rachel LLOYD	United States	40	628
4	23	Meredith MILLER	United States	42	505
5	24	Crystal ANTHONY	United States	35	498
6	27	Arley KEMMERER	United States	31	365
7	30	Courtenay MCFADDEN	United States	30	356
8	36	Elle ANDERSON	United States	27	301

If these rules are truly the case for next year and the selection criteria does not change, then here are your likely female starters for CrossVegas (and more than likely Montreal too) as these women sit inside the top 50 on the overall UCI rankings as well as top 8 Americans.


On the Men's side:

1	9	Jeremy POWERS	United States	32	1063
2	34	James DRISCOLL	United States	29	409
3	38	Jonathan PAGE	United States	39	373
4	45	Logan OWEN	United States	20	340
5	47	Curtis WHITE	United States	20	336
6	49	Daniel SUMMERHILL	United States	26	334
7	50	Zach MCDONALD	United States	24	329
8	51	Stephen HYDE	United States	28	317
9	55	Cameron DODGE	United States	24	267
10	66	Kerry WERNER	United States	24	217

The men's field is going to come to a selection. Of the top 8 Americans right now, two are U23's (Owen and White).  I'm assuming there will be a U23 World Cup Race. This means the next two on the list are Dodge and Werner, however they fall outside of the top 50 according to the UCI/USAC rules. Thus Hyde, Dodge, and Werner's spots are technically up for selection based on the nomination rules. Another possible scenario is eliminating the U23's from the overall rankings to see where they line up but who knows which U23 riders will want to race Elites next year given the path paved by the likes of LvdH, Wout, and MvdP.


Other World Champs:
Keep in mind that UCI Road World Championships in 2015 is going to be held in Richmond, Virginia, USA Sept 19-27. Also, UCI MTB World Championships is going to be held in Andorra (fun fact: Europe's 6th smallest nation) Sept 1-6, 2015.
That means that if any male or female top 8 American riders also in the top 50 overall UCI rankings choose not to start the North American World Cups, USAC isn't allowed to fill those spots.
This throws a whole different wrench into the mix and now we begin the discussions of will roadies stay roadies and crossers be crossers, and will the mtb-ers be on point to race like last year. Or will they all somehow juggle these events.
Regardless, this will also mean that any other road-focused riders from other countries (coughworldchampionPFPcough) will most likely miss the North American World Cups as well.

Oh well, I guess we'll see what happens.


CrossVegas is...

• the first cyclocross race I ever spectated in 2012
• where I fell in love with cyclocross
• the first UCI Elite Womens race I ever raced in (2013)
• my first top 10 C1 finish (2014)
• my absolute favorite UCI race

Photo from Cyclocrossrider

Here's to hoping I'll get another chance in 2015 by some stretch of the imagination...
I've got my fingers crossed that they'll somehow select me after I submit my request.
Those riders who submit the request to race will be notified 3 weeks prior to the event. August 26th, 2015 we should have a roster of the Americans selected to race Cross Vegas and shortly after that for the Montreal race.


In the meantime, here's a layout of all the UCI races currently on the calendar for next season:



Taken via The Chain Stay on their recent post titled, "2015 / 2016 UCI Cyclocross Calendar – Analysis" Check out their analysis for a great breakdown on the race locations and statuses.

Time to look for money, more sponsors and plan the upcoming season!!!

Love,
 Panda

SoCal & #womenscycling

Racing LoCal in SoCal & Thoughts on #womenscycling

Local Racing Recap:
          #socalcross O’Melveny Park Weekend ~Recap
          #socalcross Cross at the Beach – Long Beach ~Recap
          #SPYclocross Chino ~Recap
          #socalcross #SPOOKYcross Weeekend ~Recap
          #SPYclocross #UdoCross
                  & USAC SCNCA District Championships ~Recap

          After racing the Trek CXC Cup, I was sidelined on the West Coast and stuck racing at home. Stuck? Unfortunately, yes.

          Don’t get me wrong… I absolutely love racing at home. The O’Melveny Park weekend felt like homecoming and it was so good to see everyone in the SoCal ‘cross scene back together again, racing their bikes around a taped off park on the side of some hill.

          But as awesome as it was to see friends and familiar faces on bikes again, I really really wanted to be racing my bike on the pro CX tour with the best in the country. I had quite a few people ask me why I was home and not on the east coast when the New England Holy Week of Cyclocross kicked off and it was hard to explain to people that I simply can’t afford it.

          So I wasn’t “stuck” in the sense that I wasn’t able or not allowed to go race with the big dogs… I was stuck financially because I didn’t want to go in the red in my own bank account from racing. I don’t have the team support that some have and I want so badly to have the opportunity to race my bike and not worry about the stress that comes along with the rest of the logistics. David has been an amazing help and when it comes down to it, I would be absolutely nowhere without him. It would be impossible to try and be a one-man show cyclocross racer. Cyclocross is a team sport on so many levels and I appreciate everything David does to help and push me to be the best I can. Racing bikes isn’t cheap and cyclocross especially requires so much support to tackle appropriately

          I think aspiring professional female racers are in an interesting place in the cycling world right now.  We are here. We exist. We want to race. We want the opportunity to be the absolute best we can be and race against the best in the country and rest of the world. And we want to do it without taking money from our savings accounts to do it.

          Let’s take Erica Zaveta as a shining example of this scenario. Last year she had some support but not a full team support like she has this year. She raced decently, traveled when she could, and had a pretty good year. But there was nothing unbelievable/astonishing about her year… she didn’t win a race or get on the cover of Cyclocross Magazine. But look at her now! She was given an opportunity to race with one of the best teams in the country, represent the Amy D Foundation, and worry about one thing only: racing fast and throwing down everything she’s got on the cx track. She’s since won a UCI race, had an amazing display of finishes in the Pro CX tour so far, and has completely proven that if you give a strong woman the support and tools she needs to excel, she will! Courtenay McFadden is another example of how to take the bull by the horns, create your own opportunities, and do your own damn thing. Read more on her blog.

          I’ve had a handful of great finishes at UCI races, I’m well-known and I do well in my local ‘cross scene. I’d like to consider myself a good ambassador for anyone who sponsors my team or me personally. I’m so proud of all of those things and I’m extremely happy with where I’m at right now. But I guess the question comes down to wondering at what point it no longer becomes worth chasing points and looking for a good overall finish in the Pro CX standings. When does the scale tip from more money going out than in to actually making money or even netting zero?

          There are more people talking about Equal Pay for men and women, there are more opportunities for women to race (i.e. AmyD Foundation!), the bike industry realizes the potential market growth from the female customer… and the fact that women are being talked about in every cycling discipline is awesome. The discussion is far from over, but it’s happening and we’re in a good place to see potential change. Yeah, there are going to be bumps in the road like the flesh-colored kits, but if they lead to more thoughtful discussions like that article, then we'll head in a more positive direction.

          If you’ve gotten this far, thanks for taking the time to read my rambling thoughts on the real struggle of racing cyclocross and raising awareness for the aspiring professional female racers who just want a chance to race fast and not worry.

Check out the Notes section of our #SDGteam Facebook page for more individual race recaps from the past couple months... Click here >> NOTES

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