Tobin Ortenblad (Santa Cruz / Donkey Label Racing) came into the Charm City Cross weekend with a 20-point lead in the US Cup-CX standings after winning twice at the KMC Cross Fest. He cemented his series lead on Saturday by winning for a third time, but then on Sunday, the Men’s standings got their first real shake-up.
After some close calls, Stephen Hyde (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com) broke through on Sunday for his first win since the season’s opening race in Rochester. Ortenblad finished fourth and just like that, his comfy 30-point lead after winning on Saturday was cut in half.
US Cup-CX racing has been exciting thus far. 2017 Charm City Cross Day 1 © M. Colton / Cyclocross Magazine
As it stands now, Ortenblad has a 15-point lead on Hyde, but Sunday showed how one fourth-place finish can have a huge impact on the series standings.
With racing in the Men’s field taking an “off the chain” tenor, the last three races of the series are shaping up to be must-see events. The last three series races will be October 28 and 29 in Cincinnati and then November 4 at the Derby City Cup.
Big ol GIANT shout out to @ShoAirCG for making the #uscupcx happen. The racing is off the chain right now.
— Stephen T. Hyde (@stephenthyde) October 9, 2017
Stay tuned to Cyclocross Magazine for our continuing coverage of the US Cup-CX series.
Men's US Cup-CX Standings - After Four Races
| Place | LAST | First | Team | KMC-1 | KMC-2 | CHM-1 | CHM-2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ORTENBLAD | Tobin | Santa Cruz / Donkey Label Racing | 75 | 70 | 75 | 55 | 275 |
| 2 | HYDE | Stephen | Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com | 60 | 65 | 65 | 70 | 260 |
| 3 | WERNER | Kerry | Kona Factory CX Team | 55 | 55 | 60 | 60 | 230 |
| 4 | PETROV | Spencer | Aspire Racing | 70 | 20 | 55 | 65 | 210 |
| 5 | WHITE | Curtis | Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com | 45 | 60 | 50 | 45 | 200 |
| 6 | DRISCOLL | James | Donnelly Sports | 50 | 25 | 40 | 50 | 165 |
| 7 | KISSEBERTH | Jack | JAM Fund / NCC | 65 | 11 | 25 | 40 | 141 |
| 8 | WILLSEY | Cooper | Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com | 40 | 45 | 15 | 35 | 135 |
| 9 | POWERS | Jeremy | Aspire Racing | 40 | 70 | 110 | ||
| 10 | SELANDER | Bjorn | Borah Teamwear / Bingham Built | 35 | 50 | 13 | 5 | 103 |
| 11 | LINDINE | Justin | Apex/NBX/Hyperthreads | 25 | 7 | 30 | 25 | 87 |
| 12 | COWIE | Tristan | Triple Oaks Racing | 45 | 30 | 75 | ||
| 13 | KAISER | Cody | Lange Twins | 35 | 20 | 55 | ||
| 14 | STEPHENSON | Denzel | Boulder Junior Cycling | 15 | 35 | 50 | ||
| 15 | RIVEROS | Hector | EVOC / QARV Imports Racing Team | 30 | 15 | 45 | ||
| 16 | VAN DEN HAM | Michael | Garneau - Easton Cycling p/b Tr | 20 | 15 | 35 | ||
| 17 | MILLBURN | Garry | Speedvagen MAAP | 20 | 14 | 34 | ||
| 18 | ELLWOOD* | Grant | BCS Elite Cross | 30 | 30 | |||
| 19 | HOLMGREN | Gunnar | Team Ontario / Centurion Next W | 13 | 1 | 13 | 27 | |
| 20 | WELLS | Troy | TEAM CLIF BAR Cycling | 11 | 12 | 3 | 26 | |
| 21 | DURRIN | Jeremy | Neon Velo Cycling Team | 12 | 13 | 25 | ||
| 22 | DINIZ | Nicholas | NCCH Elite p/b MGCC | 6 | 12 | 6 | 24 | |
| 23 | CHABANOV | Daniel | HOUSE IND / NOKIA HEALTH / SIMPLEHUMAN | 2 | 14 | 7 | 23 | |
| 24 | GERCHAR | Garrett | 14 | 9 | 23 | |||
| 25 | RICE | Byron | Storm Racing Team | 8 | 12 | 20 |
