With the announcement that Jingle Cross has joined CrossVegas as part of the 2016-2017 UCI World Cup calendar, the United States now plays host to the first two rounds of the nine-race series. Five countries will organize a World Cup as Italy and German rejoin the series and the mainstay countries of Belgium and Holland return. Cyclingnews spoke with riders, CrossVegas race director Brook Watts and vice president of events at USA Cycling Micah Rice to understand what the globalised schedule means for the sport, in general, and North American cyclo-cross specifically.
“I think the new calendar looks fantastic,” said British cyclo-cross champion Nikki Harris (Boels-Dolmans), who has twice finished in the top-five at the Cyclo-cross World Championships. “If our biggest goal is to make ‘cross an Olympic sport, the only way we can do that is to truly make ‘cross a global sport. For me, the news of World Cups in new nations is very welcome.”
While Harris didn’t race CrossVegas last September, she plans to race both CrossVegas and Jingle Cross at the start of the 2016/2017 season.
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“I opted out last year because my team [Young Telenet-Fidea] refused to pay my costs,” said Harris. “I love racing my bike, but I can’t accept having to travel half-way across the world to a race at my own expense.”
“I’m in a much more professional environment right now [at Boels-Dolmans],” Harris added. “I’m quite certain I’ll start next year in the USA.”
Meredith Miller (Noosa CX) calls the addition of Jingle Cross to the World Cup schedule an important step forward for North American cyclo-cross.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
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