The U.S. has enjoyed a long but unfortunately inconsistent history of top-level cyclocross series, starting with Lyle Fulkerson’s revolutionary Saturn SuperCup. The SuperCup brought the top domestic as well as some international stars to cities throughout the country, and certainly upped the level of production, competition and entertainment in our young sport.
So many have won on Redlines, but nobody put on a bigger show than Jonny “The Cat” Sundt. Seen here as he hops the barriers at the Saturn Super Cup on his Redline Conquest. © Andrew Yee, Cyclocross Magazine
After the SuperCup stopped in 2002, Joan Hanscom and Bruce Fina brought back the big, traveling cyclocross show to cities throughout the U.S. in 2004, with the USGP cyclocross series, which had an impressive run through 2012.
Todd Wells leading the 2009 USGP in Portland, Day 2. © Joe Sales
The NACT series overlapped with the USGP, and offered more high-level racing with eight races.
Ryan Trebon and Scott Tedro brought a cyclocross series back in 2017, with the eight-race, four-venue US Cup CX.
Of course, USA Cycling has had its PRO CX ranking, but given that it counts every UCI event, it wasn’t quite a series that highlighted select events.
Now promoters John Meehan of Jingle Cross and Scott Page of Rochester Cyclocross have teamed up to bring back cyclocross series racing to the U.S. in 2021 in the form of their new USCX Cyclocross Series. It too is a four-venue, eight-race series for pros, but will offer rankings for Juniors and amateurs, and includes nine races for amateurs.
See the full press release below.
Four U.S.-based cyclocross events in North America have joined forces to introduce the new USCX Cyclocross Series. The USCX Cyclocross Series starts in Rochester, New York, at Rochester Cyclocross September 25 – 26, then moves to Charm City CX in Baltimore, Maryland, the following weekend of October 2 – 3. Two weeks later the series continues in Iowa City, Iowa, at the Jingle Cross three-day event on October 15 – 17 – Jingle Cross is also the home of a UCI World Cup on the same weekend. The series wraps up at Kings CX in Cincinnati, Ohio, on October 23 – 24 with final results being awarded on Sunday in Cincinnati.
Series co-owners John Meehan (Jingle Cross Executive Director) and Scott Page (Rochester Cyclocross Executive Director) have been developing the series over the last two years and look forward to its launch in Fall 2021. On the origin of the series, Meehan, whose Jingle Cross event was voted the Best Cyclocross World Cup by the UCI in 2017 said, “The concept was to integrate several US events into a new series for North America, something that racers, teams, spectators and sponsors have been requesting for years. This series is not just for the pros, but for many amateur categories, masters and juniors.”
Page, whose personal goal is to always create first-rate experiences for everyone attending his races, said, “Our overall goal is to produce world-class events showcasing the amazing sport of cyclocross – giving these incredible athletes the platform they need.”
Diether Sweeck and Stephen Hyde sprinted for second. 2019 Rochester Cyclocross Day 2. © Z. Schuster / Cyclocross Magazine
The series will consist of eight pro races for UCI Men and UCI Women with a C1 and C2 race at each of the four venues. A slighter higher emphasis will be placed on the C1’s for the UCI races. UCI Junior 17-18 will also be included for both Junior Men and Junior Women with all races counting equally. The amateur series will consist of nine races with two races in Rochester, Charm City CX, and Kings CX while the three-day Jingle Cross will have three races. All nine amateur races are weighted equally. Athletes will accumulate points within their respective amateur or pro category. Final results will be tabulated and results posted after each venue concludes its weekend of racing. Top athletes will be recognized following the final events at Kings CX in Cincinnati on Sunday, October 24. The USCX Cyclocross Series will feature some of the world’s top cyclocross racers. Race organizers expect professional racers attending from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, England, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the USA.
All events plan on having food trucks, beer gardens, music, professional announcers and children’s activities. Covid-19 protocols will be in place at each event depending on the requirements and guidance of each individual state – please check each event’s website for details.
More info: uscx.us
