2021 North American Cyclocross Racer Anonymous Survey
Riders offer their thoughts on power rankings, most feared riders, and life's existential question
With the return of domestic cyclocross, it also means the return of the CX Heat Check Power Rankings (right, Bill?) (RIGHT, BILL??) Those power rankings subject riders to the sometimes cruel whims of the algorithm and place them in a pecking order for all to see.
While we have seen what the algorithm does, we thought we would turn the tables a bit and see what the riders think. No, we did not do the CX Media Power Rankings, although I am going to go ahead and channel my inner Michael van den Ham by claiming the spot as your second-favorite cyclocross media member.
No, we had the riders offer up their own power rankings and offer insight on their favorite courses, most feared competitors, and what is really one of the existential questions of the universe. The surveys were completely anonymous, so riders were able to pay homage to the land of our 2021 Cyclocross Nationals and be as honest as ol’ Abe.
Questions we asked included:
Top 6 riders for 2021
Best technical rider
Rider you least want to go into the last lap with
Favorite domestic course
Favorite domestic event
Favorite Euro course
Bike you’d ride with no sponsor obligations
And of course, cantis or discs?
Elite Women
While we generally give the women credit for things such as better Euro results, having PhDs, and other such things, they lagged behind in responding to our survey. We got a total of six responses, although one respondent offered their Euro power rankings, which we do not really care about until, like, December. That person’s responses are included for some, not all of the categories.
Also, for many of the categories, the women had a variety of answers, while the men were more in lockstep with one another, which was definitely an interesting outcome of this exercise. Men, always having just one thing on their minds: cantilever brakes.
Power Rankings
Clara Honsinger
Maghalie Rochette
Rebecca Fahringer
Kaitie Keough
Katie Clouse
Madigan Munro
Caroline Mani
Katerina Nash
Raylyn Nuss
One of the storylines we are absolutely stoked about in 2021 is the potential on-course rivalry between Clara Honsinger and Maghalie Rochette. Honsinger came into her own during the pandemic season last winter, while Rochette absolutely dominated domestic cyclocross in 2019. For this survey, 2 people went with Rochette and 2 with Honsinger, while a third had Keough. The tiebreaker came down to Honsinger finishing further up that person’s list.
Keough has announced this will be her last season of racing, and even though last winter was a tough one for her, her competitors still respect her riding and clearly expect the final domestic season of her impressive career to be a good one. As such, it probably is fitting Keough is getting her preseason reps in by racing in the Wisconsin scene where it all started for her, winning twice over the weekend in the Milwaukee area.
Best Technical Rider
For the best technical rider, Honsinger technically got 1.5 votes, with the half coming as a respondent’s top choice in the mud, but otherwise, the responses were varied. Riders receiving a vote included:
Katerina Nash
Ellen Noble
Maghalie Rochette
Clara Honsinger
Katie Clouse (in the dry); Honsinger (in the mud)
Rider You Don’t Want to Go Into the Last Lap With
The men had two men in mind for this one above all else, but again for the women, it was a push, with different riders snagging votes
Clara Honsinger
Katie Clouse
Caroline Mani
Marianne Vos (??)
And finally, “I would be ok with anyone on this list, because it probably means I’m having a good race.” We definitely appreciate the honesty.
Most Likely to Have a Breakout Season
The return to racing and the shifting domestic field means 2021 is the perfect time for a good breakout season or two.
For this category, two riders chose Clouse, which is interesting because she has already won UCI races, so look out for what a breakout season might look like. Others receiving votes include Munro, Nuss, and mountain bike star Haley Batten, who will be racing some cyclocross this season, but she is not quite sure when those races will be yet.
Favorite Course
After responses that were kind of all over the place, we finally get some groupthink from the Elite Women. Receiving three votes for favorite domestic course was the famed Jingle Cross course that features the Grinch’s Lair and Mt. Krumpit. The event is likely helped by its World Cup status, but we think even without the World Cup it would likely be the winner of this category.
Other events snagging votes were the Trek CX Cup, Resolution, and Devou Park in Cincinnati (RIP).
Favorite Event
Scoring half the votes for favorite event were the Trek CX Cup and World Cup Waterloo. Friend of the Bulletin Chad Brown is no doubt stoked to hear the work his team and him have put in since 2017 has paid off, as Trek has created a cyclocross party that rivals those of Europe, even if, say, the entire Trek property turns into Woodstock ‘99.
Other events scoring a nod were Charm City, Rochester, and Resolution.
The Existential Question of the Universe
There are certain existential questions that really defy definition when you really start to ponder them: What is the meaning of life? Are we alone in the universe? Who, if anyone, let the dogs out?
These are all important questions, yes, but they pale in comparison to that one question that gets at the meaning of the universe. Our purpose on this planet, and that question is, obviously:
Mathieu or Wout?
I am not one to pretend there is a higher meaning to one’s choice in the great Mathieu v. Wout debate, but I do know you have to pick one. You just do.
It’s not a particularly contentious choice—we’re not talking cantis v. discs circa 2015 here—but it is a question one must make a decision on. And it is a question that seems to have a relatively even split in the ‘cross community.
And you know what, the women were completely split: 3 for Mathieu and 3 for Wout. Just like you, Cat 3 hero, the best of the best are split on that most existential of questions.
Elite Men
As I mentioned above, the Elite Men were more in lockstep with their thinking for pretty much all the questions we asked. IDK if that says something profound about our male cyclocross heroes or if it’s a reflection of reality, but it is what it is, as they say.
One way the men dominated the women was by responding at a stronger clip, with nine total men responding to the survey. Way to go duders!
Power Rankings
Curtis White
Kerry Werner
Gage Hecht
Lance Haidet
Stephen Hyde
Eric Brunner
Tobin Ortenblad
Dizzle Dillman
Michael van den Ham
Brannan Fix
Christopher Blevins
Even though the Curtis v. Kenny battles of 2019 were evenly matched—and one could argue Kerry Werner got the best of the rivalry by winning the 2019 Pan-American Championships—their peers went with Curtis in the top slot, with six of the nine men choosing White as their top rider. Werner scored two top nods, and Gage Hecht got the other one. Hecht appeared on every ballot and came in a strong third, even if he is a bit of a wild card coming into the season after not racing last winter.
Perhaps most surprising, for me at least, was Lance Haidet scooting past Stephen Hyde into the 4th spot. What was interesting was Haidet was nominated by all nine respondents, while Hyde only got a top-six spot from five of the respondents. Tough crowd for a three-time American champ who is still coming off a third-place finish at the 2019 Nationals.
I don’t necessarily believe in karma and kismet and all that new-agey stuff, but there was at least one coincidence that was hard to ignore. Michael van den Ham responded to my email with something along the lines of, “Starting some CX Beef, eh?”
One could argue that even more so than Hyde, the man with the beef is Van den Ham. The three-time defending Canadian Champ and 2018 Pan-American Championships runner-up scored just one 5th-place vote to drop him well down the power rankings. And now that I think about it, fellow Canuck Jenn Jackson got exactly zero votes from the women.
Folks, the Canadians have CX Beef with the Americans. Yes, it will likely be polite and civil, but beef is beef.
Optional Soundtrack of CX Beef Interlude
Oh yeah, it’s good at least one respondent picked Christopher Blevins. After our story last week about Trinity Racing, we verified with the MTB Short Track World Champion that he will be in Baltimore for Charm City in early October and is hoping to get a nod for the U.S. World Cups. There is a good chance he will be moving up these rankings in due time.
Best Technical Rider
Lance Haidet has raced anywhere and everywhere this year, including on Zwift, on a mountain bike, in road races, in criteriums, and on gravel. While Haidet has established himself as L39ion’s answer to Lachlan Morton, if you talk to the Californian, he’ll tell you that cyclocross might be his favorite discipline.
And after hearing from his competitors, that makes sense, as Haidet garnered the vote of five respondents for best technical rider. No one else cracked the one-vote threshold, with others receiving a nod including:
Cody Kaiser
Tobin Ortenblad
Eric Brunner
Gage Hecht (dry)
Brannan Fix (mud)
Rider You Least Want to Go Into the Last Lap With
One could argue that there are a number of North American Elite Men who are cool last-lap customers, but Curtis White and Tobin Ortenblad stood out among their peers. White scored four nods and Ortenblad three (although one vote was Tobin!, so let’s call it 4-3.5 for that extra exclamation point).
Ortenblad is admittedly coming off two seasons that failed to recapture the magic of 2017, but he had a strong mountain bike campaign this summer—including a win at the Wisconsin Pro XCT race that I can assure you is basically a cyclocross race but with fatter tires—and Ortenblad himself said he is feeling strong heading into the 2021 domestic season. That Ortenblad got the respect from his competitors suggests his place on BACK Watch is well-deserved.
Rider Poised for a Breakout Season
Among all the categories, this was where the men deviated from one another the most. Riders again validated Ortenblad’s spot on BACK Watch by giving him two nods, and Brevard College alumnus Scott McGill also scored two votes. Others receiving votes included
Caleb Swartz
Jules Van Kempen
Eric Brunner
Andrew Strohmeyer
Lance Haidet
Favorite Domestic Course and Event
In case you were wondering what race the Elite Men are stoked about this year, never fear guessing wrong, because there is a strong consensus that Iowa is their consensus field of dreams. The strong nod to Jingle Cross (5 votes for favorite course, 6 votes for favorite event) is perhaps fitting with the Field of Dreams baseball game between the White Sox and Yankees (with the White Sox crushing the vile Yankees, of course) held in Dyersville in early August being one of the most talked-about non-Olympic sporting events of the summer.
Speaking of homages, we’d be remiss if we didn’t pay respects to this bit of brilliance from the Trek folks:
Some other events receiving votes for favorite course included Cincy and Trek and the two most recent Nationals: Lakewood Nationals at Ft. Steilacoom Park and Louisville Nationals at Joe Creason Park. (If we’re talking past Nationals, disappointed y’all didn’t pick Badger Prairie in Verona, Wisconsin—looking at you Caleb Swartz)
Events receiving best event votes included Cincy, Rochester, and Providence (RIP).
Mathieu v. Wout
When it comes time for election season, we often hear about the “margin of error,” as it pertains to election polling. For the men, the tally on that most existential of questions comes down to the margin of error, as Mathieu van der Poel outpolled Wout van Aert by a tally of 5-4.
If we sum the men and women, we get a near-even split of 8-7 in favor of Van der Poel, which again, as is the thesis of this publication, is the story of Wout’s cycling life thus far. Great, but always just a bit shy of Van der Poel.
I said early I don’t believe in kismet, but maybe I actually do.
A fun way to start the day!
great stuff, zach!!