USA Cycling will host the second cyclo-cross national championships of 2018, after the elite, under-23 and junior categories competed for the stars-and-stripes jerseys in Reno, Nevada in January, they will line up once again to race for the championship titles this weekend in Louisville, Kentucky. Stephen Hyde will try and defend his title for a third time in a row, while Katie Compton will attempt to add an astonishing 15th consecutive national cyclo-cross title to her long list of accomplishments.
The elite men's fields in the US have been decimated with injuries and illness, with defending champion Hyde and four-time national champion Jeremy Powers suffering setbacks. Last year's fourth-place finisher Tobin Ortenblad is out with a fractured collarbone, Jamie Driscoll is out with a broken leg, and Jonathan Page has retired.
It leaves the race more open and the pre-race predictions a bit hard to call, but Cyclingnews has picked four riders to watch from the elite men's field.
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Stephen Hyde (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld)
The defending US 'cross champion had a rough start to the season, crashing in the opening World Cup in Waterloo and suffering a fractured sternum. Just as he was recovering, he slipped on a run-up in Cinncinati and ended up with a concussion, sprained ankle and a dislocated rib.
But the 31-year-old seems to have put all of those injuries behind him, taking back-to-back victories at the NBX GP of Cyclo-cross in Warwick, Rhode Island, and the Joe Creason Park course is where Hyde claimed his Pan American Championship victory in 2017.
"It's a much different course (than Louisville's Eva Bandman) - there are almost no parallels drawn," Hyde told Cyclingnews. "It's very hilly - it has a lot of elevation gain and a much more slick mud texture, with mud and grass, as opposed to the silty river bottom sand like [Eva Bandman Park].
Gage Hecht (Alpha Bicycle-Groove Subaru)
Curtis White (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld)
Kerry Werner (Kona-Maxxis-Shimano)
Compton aims for 15th consecutive national title
Katie Compton (KFC Racing-Trek)
Kaitie Keough (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld)
Ellen Noble (Trek Factory Racing)
Rebecca Fahringer (Kona-Maxxis-Shimano)
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/riders-to-watch-at-the-us-cyclo-cross-national-championships
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