Men's 2021 Way-Too-Early North American Cyclocross Rankings
The men are up this week as we count down the Elite Eight for the 2021 North American cyclocross season
Last week we unveiled our first-ever Women’s Way-Too-Early North American Cyclocross Rankings. Seven days closer to the return of North American cyclocross (146 days, if you are counting at home), we head to the men’s field to speculate, prognosticate, and probably mostly get it wrong.
If you missed the first WTENACXR, these rankings are inherently not definitive, but rather based on a combination of past results from the two most recent seasons, expectations for the coming season, and whatever other intangibles sneak into the black-box-like algorithm.
And since the idea came from the college basketball version of the Way-Too-Early Top 25, the college hoops themes and motifs will continue. And again, as a disclaimer, all references and analogies are specious, at best, and meant for dramatic effect*.
*(In case you’re wondering why I keep saying this, back when I was at Cyclocross Magazine, when the merging of ERA-Circus and Marlux-Bingoal into the team we now know as the Sauces occurred, I facetiously referred to them as a super-team in the vein of the LeBron-DWade-Bosh Heat or Steph-Klay-KD Warriors, and a commenter wrote something to the effect of, “YOU ARE SUPER-TEAMING WRONG!!11!! DO YOU EVEN WATCH NBA BASKETBALL????” I guess that comment has stuck with me.)
Anyhoo, without any further adoo, let’s tip these men’s Elite Eight rankings off.
8. Tobin Ortenblad
Sometimes a freshman arrives on campus and plays like an upperclassman in their first year only to have their play drop off precipitously their second season. Tobin Ortenblad suffered the ultimate Sophomore Slump during the 2018 domestic season after he took the North American scene by storm in his first year as an elite in 2017. We documented the culmination of the Year of Tobin in our ‘Cross Classics look at 2018 Reno Nationals.
One could argue there are other more deserving athletes for this number 8 spot, but the WTENACXR are all about potential, and we are going out on a limb to predict that Tobin will be BACK in 2021. Speaking with Ortenblad, he said he is finally feeling strong on the bike again, and he turned in some nice results during the two weekends of US Cup Mountain Bike racing that took place this month. Also, the Californian gets a bump for his maturation as a human being from admitted California bike bro to advocate for causes such as Black Lives Matter (which we talked with him about on a great podcast episode last summer).
But most importantly, there is a good argument that North American cyclocross needs Tobin to be BACK. A strong racer who embodies his privateer roots, during the Year of Tobin, Ortenblad was a wild card who shook up the ‘cross hierarchy and made racing much more exciting.
7. Eric Brunner
Back in the day, the most hyped high school recruits might sign their national letters of intent with a small ceremony in the school gym, but as social media has become king, ceremonies have grown more elaborate with hat tricks, overdone productions, and even tv audiences.
Quiet and unassuming yet mega-talented, Eric Brunner is a throwback to the old days. If Brunner were to announce his signing, there is a good chance he would be one of those kids who announces where he is going to play by just showing up at the first practice.
Brunner graduates to the elite level this season after an accomplished U23 career. He was the Big Man on the CX Campus at Collegiate Nationals, winning titles in Louisville and Lakewood, and he also capped his U23 career with a Natty in Lakewood. Despite his accomplishments, Brunner does not have the hype he probably deserves, perhaps because as a Coloradoan, he has had to cede the spotlight to five-star standout Gage Hecht.
Brunner had some nice results during the 2019/20 season, including a 13th-place finish at U23 Worlds—ahead of Hecht—and 2021 U23 Worlds podium finisher Timo Kielich—and he enters his freshman season at the elite level with a lot of potential and a good chance to make a splash at the next level.
6. Lance Haidet
Superstars are a must for any elite-level basketball team, but those teams equally need players who grab the rebounds, bring energy off the bench, play lock-down defense, and do the dirty work. These players are often called “Glue Guys,” and in cyclocross, few athletes embody the Glue Guy mentality better than Lance “Lancy Pants” Haidet.
Haidet’s name rang out early in his career when he won the U23 Cyclocross National Championship in Hartford in one of the best-ever championship races at US Nationals. (Click the link and read the story! You shan’t be disappointed.)
Haidet’s success is not limited to cyclocross, however. You need him to win a U23 Road Natty? He’ll do that. Top 25 at the gravel bike race formerly known as DK? Racing on Zwift? Yep. “Really be out here jumping off rocks,” for the LA L39gion? You get the picture.
Haidet had a solid first season as a cyclocross elite in 2019, picking up 6 Elite podiums and finishing 5th at Nationals in Lakewood. His achievements perhaps went a bit overlooked because a. It was the Year of Curtis v. Kenny and b. Again, Gage Hecht. Haidet is still looking to break through and join that top of the North American ‘cross conversation, but no matter what, he is one of those Glue Guys you would love to have on your team.
5. Michael van den Ham
The obvious comp for Van den Ham—our second favourite Canadian—is Steve Nash, who grew up in British Columbia, played college ball at Santa Clara University, and then went on to a Hall of Fame career with the Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns. That would be too obvious though, so we are going to dig deep and go with another Canuck in Bill Wennington.
Wennington was a backup center during the Chicago Bulls’ second run of three championships in the 1990s. Like Wennington, Van den Ham has won three (Canadian Nationals) titles, and like Wennington, Van den Ham is an affable, friendly representative of the country known for its affability and friendliness. Unlike Wennington, Van den Ham has not had a McDonald’s hamburger named after him, and also unlike Wennington, Van den Ham is decidedly not 6’11”. Details details.
Van den Ham got off to a slow start during the 2019 domestic season, but he came on strong later in the year, and he raced an abbreviated 2020/21 campaign in Europe highlighted by a career-best 17th World Cup finish at the slog in Dendermonde. Van den Ham’s results have been a bit more variable than Haidet or Brunner’s, but he has shown he has the ability to WIN BIKE RACES at the Elite level, and for that reason he comes in as the 5th member of the WTENACXR wide-angle podium. And like fellow Canuck Jenn Jackson, he gets the podcast bump for his Canuck CrossCast podcast.
4. Stephen Hyde
Thanks to the COVID pandemic and the uncertainty it has caused in scheduling sports seasons, the NCAA made a rule that all seniors can return for a 5th year of eligibility in 2021/22. The special rule allows players to return to cement their respective legacies and in some cases, take care of unfinished business.
For 34-year-old Stephen Hyde, the coming season has that unfinished business and legacy cementation vibe. Hyde won National Championships in 2017 and 2018 following dominant seasons and then gritted out a third title in Louisville in December 2018 after a season marred by injury. In 2019, injuries again forced him to take a backseat to Curtis White on the Cannondale p/b CyclocrossWorld team, and in early 2020, he learned his time with the top domestic program had come to an end.
With Worlds scheduled to be in the U.S.—for now—Hyde has had this season marked as a target for success. On the line is an opportunity to join Jonathan Page, Jeremy Powers, Don Myrah, and Clark Natwick as the men with four national championships and truly cement his legacy as one of the greatest U.S. male cyclocross racers of all time.
The three men ranked above Hyde definitely make a fourth Natty a formidable challenge, but he did race well at the end of the 2019/20 season, and if he is healthy this coming season, there is no reason for him not to achieve super results during one of his remaining super-senior seasons.
3. Gage Hecht
Winning the NCAA Tournament requires getting hot and staying hot for 6 games spread over 3 weekends. In a way, cycling championship races are the ultimate condensed version of March Madness, since you only have to get hot for one day.
Comparing Gage Hecht to a 2014 UConn (7 seed), 1985 Villanova (8 seed), or 1983 North Carolina State (6 seed) is a bit unfair in painting him as an underdog, but 2019 was the Year of Curtis v. Kenny, and Hecht had not won an Elite race all season heading into Lakewood Nationals—he did finish 2nd 5 times and win U23 Pan-Ams, to be fair. Aided by the course-taping heard ‘cross the ‘cross continent, Hecht won Elite Lakewood Nationals and ended what had been a 3-year Natty drought for him.
This coming season is an exciting one because Hecht has been a star since he was literally like 11 years old, and U.S. ‘cross fans have watched him grow up and get to this point where he is set to enter his first season as an Elite. One could argue Hecht deserves the top spot in the WTENACXR, but here at the Bulletin, we feel it is the Year of Curtis v. Kenny Part II until proven otherwise, and Hecht slots in at number 3 for now.
2. Kerry Werner
After watching the epic rivalry between Kerry Werner and Curtis White in 2019, it is tempting to compare it to some of the all-time collegiate rivalries such as North Carolina v. Duke, Michigan v. Ohio State, or Oklahoma v. Texas. However, those rivalries make sense based on proximity and years of competing against one another.
The rivalry between Werner and White is more one of necessity borne out of mutual success than a long-term clash dating back generations. The best comp here is probably the Women’s rivalry between Geno Auriemma’s UConn program and Pat Summit’s Tennessee Lady Vols. Two teams from different conferences and regions, pitted against one another year in and year out thanks to their respective spots at the top of the Women’s game.
The rivalry between White and Werner was especially interesting because the two have very different cyclocross skillsets. Werner grew up as a mountain biker and brings technical ability and smooth riding to to ‘cross course, while White is a road powerhouse who has continually improved his ‘cross bike handling to get to where he is today.
Werner arguably got the better of the Year of Curtis v. Kenny, as evidenced by the Pan-Ams champion’s jersey he will be wearing this season, but White gets the nod here due to their respective 2020/21 seasons. Werner made the decision not to head to Europe and no doubt had more fun bike packing, mountain biking, skiing, and hanging with the most famous beagle in cyclocross while White was slogging it out in the mud in the Belgian winter, but from a purely cyclocross perspective, we have to give the nod to White’s cyclocross racing over Werner’s bikepacking and what not. Maybe it is not fair, but you know, life isn’t fair sometimes and all that.
1. Curtis White
Like Gage Hecht, Curtis White is a rider cyclocross fans watched come up through the ranks, and like Hecht, White is a rider for whom the hype was very real. After a strong season in 2017 in his first as an Elite, White then finished 2nd at Elite Nationals at both Louisville and Lakewood.
There are the one-and-doners who come to college ready to play in the pros, and then there are those who are supremely gifted but need to add a little bit to their game to become elite. White came to the Elite ranks with insane power and years of experience in winning bike races, but he has become truly elite by polishing his bike handling and focusing on the details necessary to compete at the highest level. We saw the progression of White’s game during the Year of Curtis v. Kenny when he went toe-to-toe with Werner no matter the course and conditions.
White continued his growth into a true PTPer in the most recent season when he took on the challenge of racing full-time in Europe and working on the skills necessary to progress toward top 10 Euro finishes. He had a career-best 13th-place finish at the Dendermonde World Cup and progressed as the season progressed. Based on his continued development and the experience gained from racing full-time in Europe, White earns the top spot in the WTENACX Rankings. And of course, let us not forget the vaunted podcast bump he gets for his excellent In the Red podcast he started this season.
And in closing, it is hard not to harken back to two of the most personally heartbreaking sports moments of my life when thinking about White. The 2004/05 Illinois Fighting Illini and 2014/15 Wisconsin Badgers are two of the greatest college basketball teams to not win the National Championship, both losing in the title game to the vile North Carolina Tar Heels and extra vile Duke Blue Devils. Like those teams, White is probably the greatest cyclocross racer to never win a National Championship thanks to unfortunately being the same racing age as Logan Owen and then experiencing disappointments of various kinds at Nationals in 2016 through 2019.
Fortunately, while Dee Brown, Deron Williams, and Frank the Tank Kaminsky will never regain their college eligibility, White has plenty of cyclocross years ahead of him, and there is little question he will one day, likely soon, finally win that well-earned Stars-and-Stripes jersey.