GO Cross and the NCGP Team Up to Offer the GOCX/NCGP Cup Time-Based Omnium Series
Total payouts of $1,000 to the Elite Women and Men on the line at the four-race series
Well folks, we didn’t know if we’d get here—and thanks to the Delta variant of COVID, we very well may not—but it looks like we are going to have some Elite cyclocross racing in North America this season.
We currently sit three weekends away from what has become the new opening weekend of North American cyclocross at GO Cross in Roanoke, Virginia. The event was first held as a UCI race in 2018, and it now enters its third season as a UCI event, with two C2 races on September 18 and 19.
While it is exciting enough to have cyclocross racing, GO Cross has sweetened the pot for Elite racers by joining forces with the NCGP, which takes place November 20 and 21 toward the tail end of the domestic calendar, to offer the first-ever GOCX/NCGP Cup time-based omnium series. The series will offer a total payout of $1,000 to the top three men and women based on time across the four races.
“The GOCX/NCGP Cup will excite and motivate the Elite Men’s and Women’s racers to enter the GO Cross season-opening race with fitness and then keep that all the way through the final race, the NCGP!” said Tim Hopkin, NCGP promoter.
“We are looking forward to partnering with the NCGP to give Elite racers the chance to bookend the ProCX Calendar with added incentive,” said Frank Deal, race director for GO Cross. “The Cup adds higher stakes for Elite riders and will weave an exciting narrative for the 2021 cyclocross season.”
While not an official replacement per se, the GOCX/NCGP Cup will replace the Parkway Trophy series collaboration between DCCX and Charm City Cross that took place the previous two seasons. The Roanoke-Hendersonville nexus is a bit farther south than the D.C.-Baltimore connection, but the events still share the same Mid-Atlantic(-ish?) geographical location.
[As an editorial aside, with Roanoke basically on the Blue Ridge Parkway and Hendersonville pretty darn close, the organizers missed a huge opportunity to keep the “Parkway” series lineage alive with the Blue Ridge Parkway Cup. Just sayin’]
One rider who has been a Parkway Trophy mainstay who will also help write the story of the first GOCX/NCGP Cup narrative is Kerry Werner. Werner and his wife Emily (and beagle Sherman) recently moved to Roanoke and is no doubt well-acquainted with the grounds at Fallon Park.
“I am really excited because I’ve never had a series so close to home,” Werner said. “The Roanoke venue is now a mile from my front door and the NCGP is the UCI race I’ve done the most times in my career, so to combine both is really special. Not to mention, I’ve had pretty good luck at both venues in years past!”
With the GOCX/NCGP Cup joining the North American cyclocross calendar, 2021 is shaping up to be the year of the series. The New England Cyclocross Series returns with four races at Northampton and the Really Rad Festival of Cyclocross; the USCX Series has eight races spread across Rochester Cyclocross, Charm City Cross, Jingle Cross, and the Cincinnati Cyclocross weekend; and the UCI World Cup has a whirlwind week in Waterloo, Fayetteville, and Iowa City.
For more information regarding the GOCX/NCCX Cup visit the Go Cross website at www.gocrossrace.com Frank Deal (540) 765-9195 or NCCX website at www.nccyclocross.com Tim Hopkin (828) 674-9782.
This will be a nice boost in what should be a great CX season. Tim Hopkin is an unsung hero of the sport helping grow it from the grassroots level. If I am not mistaken this is the 25th season for NCCX.