As sports fans, we watch sporting events for any number of reasons. Fun, diversion, camaraderie, weird obsessions, whatever it might be.
One of those reasons for many is the hope that if we watch enough events, we will get to witness something special. It does not happen often, but every once in a while a great game or race comes along that stands out as an event we will remember not just next week but next year.
So what makes a cyclocross race achieve greatness? That is a good question.
In ’cross, the races we remember seem to come down to battles between two riders—Nys v. Stybar, 2014; Vos v. Cant, 2017, the races may start with large groups, but they usually seem to come down to a duel between two. The chess match between the two, the attacks and counters push riders to their limit and force them to raise their respective ’cross games to another level.
We remember the examples above because the stakes were so high. Great races can happen locally on any given Saturday or Sunday, but true greatness is usually reserved for those races when the most prestigious titles are on the line.
Finally, there are the storylines. Every athlete comes to the line with a story—where they are in their career, what they've accomplished that season, what they have not accomplished that season. These stories can elevate a race to something that is about much more than just a race.
This calendar year, there have been a number of cyclocross races that were nothing short of barn burners. Today, we look back at six classic races that have a good chance of being remembered years from now.
Use the next button to read about each.
Curtis White v. Michael van den Ham – 2018 Pan-American Championships, Midland, Ontario
The Pan-American Championships were first held in 2014, but the race has quickly become one of the two most important races on the domestic calendar for U.S. and Canadian cyclocrossers.
The race has also become a very important one for Canadian cyclocross. With the sport growing up north and stars such as Maghalie Rochette, Michael van den Ham, Ruby West and Gunnar Holmgren asserting themselves on the domestic scene, winning Pan-Ams titles has become a very real goal for Canadian ’cross.
This year’s race had extra significance for Canadians because it was held on home soil in Midland, Ontario at the site of the annual Silver Goose CX race.
One of the Canadians coming into their own is Michael van den Ham. Van den Ham won his first Canadian Nationals in 2017 and then a week later rode out of his mind at the Pan-American Championships in Louisville to finish on the podium in third.
Van den Ham rode out of his mind and finished third at Pan-Ams in 2017. 2017 Pan-American Championships. © D. Perker / Cyclocross Magazine
This year, Van den Ham headed to Midland as one of the podium favorites. To say that he really wanted to win the Pan-Ams jersey would be an understatement.
Curtis White is another rider on the upswing of his career. White has been a force in the Vittoria Series dating back to his U23 days, but he came into the 2018 Pan-Ams as a bit of an underdog thanks in part to his disappointing 2017 Hartford Nationals race, a flat at 2018 Reno Nationals (see above) and missing the 2017 Pan-Ams due to illness.
White was looking to Pan-Ams as a chance to get a marquee Elite result and remind everyone that he is one of the top Elite male riders on the continent.
Curtis White as hoping to add a marquee result after sweeping the weekend at Gloucester. 2018 Gran Prix of Gloucester Day 1. © Peter Pellizzi
Joining White and Van den Ham were two other athletes with something to prove in Midland. Kerry Werner was the star of the first half of the domestic Elite Men’s calendar, but there were still questions about how he would race with North America’s big hitters racing with a jersey on the line.
Stephen Hyde was supposed to be the star of the first half of the domestic calendar, but after winning both days at Rochester, he broke his sternum at World Cup Waterloo and spent most of October recovering from his injury. Hyde finished third on Day 2 of Cincinnati and then second at the Silver Goose CX on the day before Pan-Ams, but fans—and Hyde himself—still had questions about whether or not he could defend his two-straight Pan-Ams wins.
Stephen Hyde was hoping to bounce back from an injury at Pan-Ams. 2018 World Cup Waterloo. © R. Clark / Cyclocross Magazine
Sunday’s race at the Pan-American Championships had a similar vibe to the 2018 U.S. National Championship, with a large group at the front. One by one, riders popped off the ground, and with three to go, it was Hyde, White, Van den Ham and Werner at the front.
The lead group dropped to four midway through the race. 2018 Pan-American Cyclocross Championships, Midland, Ontario. © Z. Schuster / Cyclocross Magazine
Any questions about how Hyde was feeling were quelled in Lap 6 when he attacked early in the lap. The other riders strained to keep Hyde’s wheel nearing the stairs and the midpoint of the circuit.
Then the season of the injury struck again.
Hyde slipped while dismounting at the first flight of stone stairs and crashed hard into the steps. His race, once again, was over.
White avoided Hyde’s spill and opened up a gap on Van den Ham and Werner. Van den Ham took up the chase while Werner reached his limit.
White got the lead after Hyde’s unfortunate slip at the stairs. 2018 Pan-American Cyclocross Championships, Midland, Ontario. © Z. Schuster / Cyclocross Magazine
With two to go, White’s lead was 10 seconds.
In Lap 7, Canada cyclocross delivered an impressive effort to make the 2018 Pan-American Championships a special race.
With the Canadian crowd boisterously—yet nicely—urging Van den Ham on, the Canadian valiantly erased White’s lead and pulled even with him on the start/finish straight. After the race, Van den Ham said he would not have been able to catch White without the incredible support he received from the home-country fans.
Van den Ham used a valiant Lap 7 effort to catch White with one to go. 2018 Pan-American Cyclocross Championships, Midland, Ontario. © Z. Schuster / Cyclocross Magazine
The last lap was one for the ages. White led early, but then Van den Ham went to the front. With a medium-length finish and the powerhouse White on his wheel, Van den Ham knew he had to drop White before the finishing stretch.
Van den Ham tried to drop White in the last lap. 2018 Pan-American Cyclocross Championships, Midland, Ontario. © Z. Schuster / Cyclocross Magazine
Van den Ham hit the technical sand section just a hundred meters before the finish straight first, but White stuck to the Canadian’s wheel like glue. On that fall afternoon, White had not only the power but also new technical skills he has worked hard to hone.
Van den Ham was first onto the finishing straight, but White was right on his wheel. Van den Ham drifted to the right close to the metal barriers before having second thoughts of slamming White into the sharp metal corners.
With just 50 meters left to go, White called on his crit experience and got the jump on Van den Ham to win the final sprint. An hour race had come down to a matter of centimeters.
White edged Van den Ham in the sprint. 2018 Pan-American Cyclocross Championships, Midland, Ontario. © Z. Schuster / Cyclocross Magazine
The performances both men turned in in Midland were not flukes. Van den Ham went on to win Canadian Nationals the next weekend, and White battled Hyde deep into the Elite race at U.S. Louisville Nationals.
Curtis White was all smiles after winning Pan-Ams. 2018 Pan-American Cyclocross Championships, Midland, Ontario. © Z. Schuster / Cyclocross Magazine
Their battle at Pan-Ams was one to remember and hopefully a harbinger of future classics at the hotly contested battle for Continental cyclocross supremacy.
The close loss was a tough one for Van den Ham as he talks to Canadian reporters. 2018 Pan-American Cyclocross Championships, Midland, Ontario. © Z. Schuster / Cyclocross Magazine
For more from Midland, you can read our race report and hear what Van den Ham and White had to say about the race.
