Words and Photos by Brett Rothmeyer
Tucked away in the shadows of the Blue Ridge Mountains along the French Broad River a few miles outside of Asheville, NC the US Cyclocross National Championships took place on the grounds of the Biltmore Estate. On a course that many of the top racers noted to be the most difficult in years, demanding not only the top of their fitness levels, but also razor sharp technical handling skills.
Leading into the weekend Jeremy Powers and Katie Compton were the obvious favorites with both riders having established their dominance at the National Championships over the last several years. Powers was in search of his fourth national title, and Compton was looking for an outstanding twelfth title.
With continuous rain the night before and four races prior to the main events, the already challenging course began to deteriorate even further causing the tricky chutes and off-camber section to become downright treacherous. A day that started with a warming sun, grew cloudy and windy while the temperature dropped into a winter chill as the elite women took to the starting grid. Elle Anderson would push the pace on the opening lap, followed by Georgia Gould the first time up the steep Ingles hill. Gould’s effort would separate herself and Compton from the rest of the field for the remainder of the race. With Gould and Compton exchanging blows, Katie Antonneau was chasing the duo for the remainder of the race to finish third. A slight bobble by Gould down the technical muddy descent on the far side of course opened the door for Compton to put space between herself and Gould on the last lap resulting Compton’s twelfth national title.
As snow flurries began to blow around as the elite men were called to staging, the only question that stood in the way of Powers path to a fourth national title was Stephen Hyde. Hyde was the only rider to defeat Powers this season – on a technical and muddy course in Louisville. A few weeks back, Hyde showed that his form was on track when he found himself in the lead group at the World Cup in Zolder, only to be removed by a puncture. Much like the women’s race, the lead group would be established early and never look back.
Powers, Hyde and the young Logan Owen would trade some early efforts to gain a sizable gap, but it was Powers that was in clear control of the front group. He dictated the pace for almost the entire race, and when Hyde made a mistake on the same descent that cost Gould a chance of standing on the top step, Powers opened the throttle and never looked back – making it three in a row and adding a fourth title to his resume. Owen was able to hold onto third place, and veteran Jonathan Page secured a spot on the Worlds team with an impressive fourth place finish.
With the last few weeks and the World Championships coming up, US fans are hoping for big results out of their newly crowned champions.
Here’s Brett’s rad gallery of some of his images from the weekend!
