Rider Diary: The North American World Cup Selections from the View of an Elite Racer

Amanda Nauman (SDG/Bellwether/Krema Peanut Butter) has had a clear view during every lap of Women’s Elite A so far this season. © Philip Beckman/PB Creative

The rider diary that follows comes from Amanda Nauman’s blog A Panda’s POV, which focuses on riding elite women’s cyclocross racing with a home base in Southern California. Her latest post focused on her favorite race of the year, Clif Bar CrossVegas, becoming a World Cup event for 2015. The excitement of the World Cup scene coming to the United States is tempered with the fact that only eight riders from every country will get the honor of competing.

One addendum we need to point out is that there is a good possibility that the UCI will change the wording/implications of what Nauman found on the USAC website. Last year, this rule prevented Christine Vardaros from participating in the Valkenburg and Koksijde, but after hard efforts and reaching out to Mike Plant of the UCI Commission, she was able to race in Milton Keynes even though she was ranked outside the top 100 (in part because of not racing in the previous two World Cup events). Later in the year, Elizabeth White and Erica Zaveta raced at the World Cup in Zolder. What likely won’t change, however, is giving precedence to the riders ranked in the top 50, which was a rule designed to eliminate some of the politics involved with the World Cup selection.

Our addendum also won’t change the fact that CrossVegas is going to be a very desirable race to compete in this year.

The following is by Amanda Nauman:

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 the 2015 Cyclocross World Championship kicked off is that Clif Bar CrossVegas has been given a World Cup status!

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:

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:

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 van Aert, 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 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 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

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!