Cyclocross Racers

The Best US Cyclocross Racers Ahead Of Nationals

Who’s the best racer in the US? It’s hard to say, this season. In some ways, this year in American cyclocross is in what could be deemed a ‘rebuilding year.’

The era of a few dominant riders with huge personalities—Tim, Jeremy, Ryan, Georgia, Meredith, Katie—who getting results on a global scale seems to be behind us,. Many of America's top riders have been plagued by either illness or injury in the last two seasons.

The top American men have all opted to stay stateside this season, racing domestically rather than heading to Europe as riders like Stephen Hyde or Tobin Ortenblad have done in past years.

This makes the rankings easier to argue in some ways, since each weekend, we’ve gotten to see the top American men going head-to-head. There’s no absenteeism or debates over whether finishing on the lead lap of a World Cup in Belgium has the same merit as winning a UCI C2 race in the US. 

However, it does dilute the strength of the field, since the only world-wide results to use for comparison are the early season World Cups.

The women’s side of racing is more unknown: The fields have been divided for a lot of the season, with frontrunners like Katie Compton and Kaitie Keough racing in Europe. And domestically, Canadians like Maghalie Rochette, Jenn Jackson and Ruby West have been shaking up the racing. 

(Rochette, who doesn’t factor in these US cross rankings, has won all but a couple of the races she entered in North America this season.)

With Nationals on the horizon, it’s hard to guess what the race will look like with all of the top American women on the start line—sans European or Canadian racers.

But in this ‘rebuilding year,' there is still a hierarchy in US ‘cross. So with the National Championships looming, let’s assess who’s the strongest cross racer in America, men and women combined.