Nice Bikes and CXHairs Devo / Trek Bikes Join the Ranks of UCI Teams for 2022/23
Nice Bikes and CXHairs Devo / Trek Bikes Join the Ranks of UCI Teams for 2022/23
Two new U.S.-based cyclocross teams are stepping up to the UCI team level this season
Heading into the 2021/22 domestic cyclocross season, it is clear this one is going to be a year of transition. The Fayetteville World Championships served as a swan song for a number of cyclocross mainstays. A number of athletes, programs, and folks around the scene, they are all going to be absent when racing returns in less than a month.
Among those riding off into the proverbial sunset in Fayetteville was the Cannondale p/b CyclocrossWorld team that was a mainstay in the domestic scene from 2006 through Cantigny Nationals last December. The team counted a who’s who of North American cyclocross racers as its athletes and really served as a settling presence in a scene that has seen so much change in the past few decades.
The team was also the sole U.S. UCI cyclocross team during the past few seasons. With Cannondale ending its sponsorship of the program and things moving more and more toward a privateer model, it appeared the death of U.S. cyclocross teams was continuing its harsh spiral.
However—as I seem to like to write—not so fast my friend.
When the UCI released the 2022/23 UCI cyclocross teams last week, news broke that there would be not one, but two U.S. UCI teams this season—Nice Bikes and CXHairs Devo Trek Bikes.
Not only are the two programs stepping up to the UCI level, they both have a mission of helping advance the sport in the U.S. For CXHairs Devo, it’s providing opportunities for young riders, and for Nice Bikes, the mission is to support women’s and nonbinary cycling.
Nice Bikes
Last season, there was a new steel bike on the cyclocross scene from Rhode Island builder Pratt Frameworks. Founded by the eponymous Max Pratt, the company provided support for Austin Killips and served as a bike sponsor for Brannan Fix’s privateer program.
This year, Pratt has gone in a different (Nice) direction. Max Pratt explained the program’s goal and mission:
“Pratt Frameworks and Pratt Racing are merging and the whole thing is reorganizing as a non-profit called Nice Bikes, with a mission of supporting women and nonbinary athletes and staff at the professional level. The team will be riding handmade steel frames from Providence as before, but as a non-profit, we are shifting our focus from selling bikes to customers to providing free equipment for athletes we support.”
The team’s 2022/23 roster reflects the program’s mission, with a team of six women riders. Headlining the program are 3 riders who finished in the top 10 at Nationals last December.
Taylor Kuyk-White, who finished 6th at U.S. Nationals, will likely be at home on Nice’s steel frames after years with the Richard Sachs program. Kuyk-White, the 2018 Louisville Baby Masters National Champion, is coming off the best cyclocross season of her career where she became a regular in the top 10 of U.S. UCI ‘cross races.
Caitlin Bernstein is also coming off the best season of her career, which included a 3rd-place finish at the Pan-American Championships and a 2nd at the Really Rad Festival of Cyclocross.
Austin Killips returns to the program after a strong rookie season on the national scene that included being selected for the Jingle Cross World Cup and several impressive results on the road this year.
Rachel Rubino returns to the program after racing with Pratt last year. Rubino started racing on the national scene in 2015 and has been a regular at UCI ‘cross races in the U.S. since then.
Samantha Fox is also a returnee. After dabbling in racing at the national level in 2019, Fox expanded her national schedule and got results that included a top 10 at the Really Rad Festival of Cyclocross.
The final team rider is Danielle Morshead. Morshead is best known as a road racer for the LA Sweat team, which has been her home on the road since 2019. She is planning on doing a handful of races this season to stay sharp during the offseason.
CXHairs Devo Trek Bikes
The other new UCI cyclocross team is a name readers of the Bulletin might be familiar with, IDK.
CXHairs Devo was an offshoot of the D.C. area Crosshairs Cycling team that launched in 2018 through the efforts of team manager Chris Merriam and this site’s co-founder Bill Schieken. The team has grown each season with Trek as its main sponsor as it continues to sponsor young riders on the regional and national scene.
The team has had a number of impressive results in recent years that have helped establish it among the top devo programs in the country. Ella Brennemann won the Junior Women’s 13-14 race at Louisville Nationals in 2018, Andrew Strohmeyer won the Junior Men’s 17-18 race at Lakewood Nationals, and Katherine Sarkisov won the Junior Women’s 17-18 race at Cantigny Nationals last December.
With that success as a backdrop, Merriam talked about the decision to step up to the UCI level this year.
“We felt that this was a logical next step for the team. Cyclocross continues to thrive in the U.S., and is a fantastic way for young riders to develop skills that translate to all types of competitive cycling. Trek has been with us since the beginning, and we're excited that they continue to make a world-class cyclocross bike—while other companies have moved away from 'cross. We will also be working again with Verge and Challenge, two sponsors who have been a tremendous presence in cyclocross for many years. Moving up to UCI cyclocross team status is a recognition of the support that our sponsors put into the team, and to the sport generally.”
Merriam also shared a lighter take on the UCI upgrade. “An important reason for CXHAIRS Devo to make the move to UCI team status was to formalize the spelling and pronunciations of "CXHAIRS" with the international governing body of the sport. We hope that having the definitive version secure in a Swiss vault will help reduce the number of times we're called ‘Crosshairs,’ ‘Cyclocross Development’ or "Hairdo Devo.’”
The team’s roster features six riders at the U23 and Elite level and five at the Junior level for the coming season.
Leading the way is the team’s elder stateswoman in Libbey Sheldon. The 2021 Masters 55-59 National Champion and 2017 Masters World Champion continues to race on the Elite level and provide mentorship for the young riders.
Headlining the devo riders are Andrew Strohmeyer and Katherine Sarkisov.
Strohmeyer had a breakout campaign in his first year as a U23 that included a head-turning 4th place finish on the opening day of the season at GO Cross and a 3rd-place finish in the mud on Day 2 of Kings CX.
Katherine Sarkisov won 6 Junior Women’s races last season and the National Championship at Cantigny. She also finished 2nd in the Junior Women’s race at GP Sven Nys at the beginning of this calendar year. Sarkisov graduates to the U23 level this year after a summer of racing on the road with Lux Cycling.
Owen Brenneman is another returning rider. Brenneman has been with the program since it started in 2018 and will continue racing on the national scene with the program while racing for Lees-McRae.
The two newcomers at the U23 level are Daxton Mock and Dillon McNeil.
Mock had a breakout U23 campaign last year where he finished 5th at Pan-Ams and 3rd at U.S. Nationals while earning starting spots at World Cup Waterloo and the Fayetteville World Championships.
A Nebraska native, McNeil finished 3rd in the Junior Men’s race at the 2018 Reno Nationals and is coming off a successful Nationals trip, where he finished 4th in the Collegiate Club race and 6th in the U23 Men’s race.
Miles Mattern joins the team from upstate New York via the Cannondale p/b CyclocrossWorld Devo team. Mattern won the Junior Men’s race at Lakewood Nationals in 2019 and finished 2nd in the Junior Men’s 15-16 race last December at Cantigny. This season will mark his first in the UCI Junior Men’s 17-18 category.
Also returning to the team will be Lidia Cusack, Alyssa Sarkisov, Skylar Bovine, and Nathan Cusack.
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