The Trek USCX series wrapped up Sunday at the Trek CX Cup in Waterloo, Wisconsin. Hélène Clauzel (Van Rysel Racing Team) capped off a perfect USCX on the grounds of the Trek Bicycle Headquarters by sweeping the weekend and running the table on the eight-race series. Andrew Strohmeyer (CXD Trek Bikes) rebounded from a last-lap collapse on Saturday to take the win, his sixth in the series, and secure the overall title.
For this year’s edition of the Trek USCX series, all four rounds were held on consecutive weekends, as opposed to 2023, when the first three events of the season were series races, but the finale wasn’t until a month later. Having all four rounds in consecutive weeks created a cohesive atmosphere that kept racers and spectators engaged. It also meant that any European riders participating in the series had more incentive to race all four rounds instead of going home after three.
For the elite women, this meant that Clauzel and Manon Bakker (Crelan Corendon) raced all four rounds. Although Clauzel’s overall victory wasn’t in doubt, Bakker was in a tight battle with Sidney McGill (Cervèlo Orange Living) for second place. A similar battle played out in the men’s field between Kerry Werner (Groove Off Road) and Scott Funston (Cervèlo Orange Living).
These battles for series rankings not only made for a compelling narrative but were also important to the riders, which is key. Funston, Werner, Bakker and McGill all knew what was at stake yesterday, which meant they were racing with one eye on the victory and the other on their rivals for the second spot in the overall.
Elite Women
In an odd bit of irony, all the talk from the weekend was about headwinds and tailwinds, where you would think at least one person would mention crosswinds. Dad jokes aside, Saturday’s headwind, which affected Bakker’s tactics in the decisive part of the lap, turned into Sunday’s tailwind, which, in theory, could change how the course raced and where moves were made.
There are two major attack zones on the Waterloo course: (1) the long uphill drag from pit one to the flyover and (2) from the second flyover through the planks and up to Factory Hill. For the latter, on the last lap, you want to attack the planks, take the lead before Factory Hill, survive the nasty rut, climb the hill’s steep exit and sprint to the finish. With her ability to ride the planks, this was Bakker’s pregame plan.
Unfortunately, for the Dutch racer’s chances of notching her first victory in the Trek USCX series, the opportunity to take advantage of her barrier-hopping abilities never materialized, as early mistakes and mechanicals allowed Clauzel to ride clear in the opening laps.
I made a mistake on Factory Hill, and I couldn't ride to the top. I had to jump off my bike and jump on afterward, and then [Clauzel] had a gap. Also, in the first lap, I felt that my tire pressure was too low, so I had to pit, but I didn't because the group behind me was quite close, and I didn't want to be a target for them.
Chief among those who Bakker didn’t want coming back was McGill, currently sitting second in the series standings.
That was my only goal today: to be in front of Sidney. It didn't matter if it was [second or fourth], just be in front. So that's why I didn't want to pit at the beginning, because she could come back on my wheel, and I didn't want that. I kept riding, even though I knew it wasn't the best because my tire pressure was way too low in the corners. But, yeah, [second in the] final is good.
Riding in the chase group with McGill was Maghalie Rochette (Canyon), whose DNF the day before was weighing heavy on her mind during Sunday’s race.
I've just been struggling physically but also mentally. And so I feel like I'm kind of going through some personal changes right now. I mean, nothing strange. Just like trying to work on my mindset. And I think yesterday I was pretty nervous, and so I made amateur mistakes. And I thought I'm going to try to approach the race differently—because sometimes I take it too seriously, and that affects me negatively—so I tried to be relaxed about it, and to do that I kind of changed my pre-race routine, and I ate something completely different, and I did everything a little bit differently.
And I felt like such a piece of shit. I wanted to puke the whole time, and I felt really, really bad. And it started spiraling, and then whatever. I decided to pull out because at some point I wasn't racing anymore.
At that moment, it felt like the right decision because I thought that this did not work, so I'm going to try to do better tomorrow. Looking back, maybe it was disrespectful to my competitors to pull out, because maybe I wasn't racing with the same people as normally, but like the other people I was racing with, they're still strong as hell. And I should have kept fighting them.
You know, a battle is a battle, and like when you're training you want these battles, you want to have wheels to follow and people to challenge you, and I had that. So I felt not so great about it, but that was my call, so you live with it.
After returning to a more normal routine, Rochette righted the ship on Sunday and earned a hard-fought third place. After more reflection, she gave herself a little more slack for Saturday’s performance.
I was still trying to stay relaxed, but I stuck to the basics, which I mean, I know is so amateur, but sometimes you try things and you get lost. So today felt better, and I was really just focused on executing things well. That kept me super engaged the whole time, and I had such a blast, so it was actually super fun. And that gives me momentum, so I'm happy about that.
Regarding the race specifics in the battle for third, Katie Clouse (Steve Tilford Foundation) had a strong race and looked to be in the best position for the final step on the podium, which would have been her first Trek USCX podium of the year.
Clouse played her cards perfectly, gaining an advantage over Rochette when she came into Factory Hill for the final time. But in a bid to secure the victory, she rode the rut at the bottom of the hill too aggressively and crashed, opening the door for Rochette to make the pass and take third.
It was super fun to battle with [Katie], and we wanted to attack at the same place, but she went just a bit before me, so I'm like, “Okay, you know what, I'll let her go. I'll try to rest on her wheel,” and I noticed that every lap on the Factory Hill, I was climbing a little bit better than her, so even if I was behind, I could get to the top kind of at the same time. So I decided to let her have a little bit of a gap so I could kind of let go of the brakes, pedal at the bottom, and try to catch it on the top, but then she crashed. Thank God I had that little gap because then I could run and get around her, and that's how I got her, but it was, yeah, it was an actually super fun battle.
Clouse recovered from her late race mishap to finish fourth on the day and fourth in the series.
The storylines in the elite men’s race were twofold: (1) would Andrew Strohmeyer be able to finish strong after late-race collapses in his last two outings, and (2) who would win the battle for second in the series between Funston and Werner.
For the first item of business, Strohmeyer looked like the same racer who ticked off five races in a row earlier this season. He looked in control of the race and dictated when and how he attacked for the win. The one noticeable change was the timing of the race-winning attack. For a rider who makes it clear he doesn’t want to leave it to the last lap to make a decisive move, the tactical nature of the racing and his current form had him waiting longer than usual to make the move that stuck.
It was super tactical because of the wind, and I think everyone was pretty smoked from yesterday. The wind kept everything together, and on the second or third lap, a group of 10 guys or more would come back to the front. So you would go from first to 10th and then back to the front.
Eventually, Kerry was a little way back, made a mistake, and Scott attacked. Because they were two points from each other, whoever won would get second in the series. So that played a big role in the race, too, because they were marking each other really hard. And I just kind of sat there and let them do that.
I just followed Scott for a while. I tried to give him a pull here and there, just to see what would happen. But Kerry was really strong this weekend. So he came back, and then it got tactical.
I wanted to wait until the last lap today, with how I've been feeling. And yeah, I made a move up the hill, but it was a headwind and I couldn't get that big of a gap. I tried to ride the run-up. I was able to do it in pre-ride today. So I thought if I could do that, that would solidify it. But even if I can't, then they just come back to the wheel and it's all together. So yeah, I tried that. They came back. Scott made a move for the front. I passed him back and just sent it down the off-camber.
I got two bike legs at the bottom of that. And that was enough that on the next two hills, I was able to open up the gap.
Throughout the weekend, every rider faced the cries of the spectators on the run-up to ride the feature in the same manner Thibau Nys and Strohmeyer had done the year before. Different conditions made it a much more difficult feat than in 2023, but Strohmeyer figured he might as well give it a go. According to Funston, Strohmeyer was determined to make it work no matter how many attempts it took.
Apparently he did it in practice. I want to see the footage. But he tried it like literally three times. [On the last lap] he made it to the root, tipped over to the drive side, and had to get off. So then I ran and almost passed him there. But then like a couple of turns after, he kind of was sitting up and I was like, "Well, I'm just going to pedal right here and get in the lead." But then he passed me right back at the stairs.
And then I was pretty cooked from then on. We hit those hills on the backside and [Strohmeyer] got a couple of bike lengths. Kerry also got by me and I don't know, I didn't have much left after that. And so yeah, I don't know. They were both better than me this weekend.
Early on it looked like Werner’s goal of catching Funston and securing second place in the series may not be in the cards.
I compressed pretty hard into a rock coming up the run-up. And I think I got a front flat. So I came in and grabbed a bike. And then I think the next lap, I dropped my chain on a higher speed section and jammed it. So I had to get off and fix it. And then I dropped my chain right before pit one and came into the pit again. The universe was like, “Kerry, if you want to sweep this weekend, you're going to have to really work for it.”
Also, Funston was on the gas from the gun. As soon as I had my first setback, I could see him look back and just drop bombs. And then I knew Strohmeyer was just sitting on playing the game. I'd bring it down to within five seconds and then have another situation. Then, bring it down again, but it's just one thing after another. And finally, I caught up with maybe four laps to go. And tried to sit on for a lap, and then tried to go again.
I knew it was going to come down to the end. And it did with one lap to go. Strohmeyer attacked really hard out of pit one. And I could see Scott coming unglued a little bit. And I just sat on his wheel.
It came back together up the run-up. And then Scott's head gasket blew coming up out of the woods. It sounded like his breathing was tough, and I was like, shit, this is it. I knew he was going to drop anchor. So I came around him. But yeah, by that point, Strohmeyer had five to 10 bike lengths. And it was just like I didn't quite have the legs to close it down after everything in the beginning of the race.
It’s a bummer. I wanted to give it to him. But I just couldn't.
For Funston, he may have been disappointed with falling to third place in the series, but his focus is farther down the road.
It's early season cross. It's never really been my thing. So I'll take it. It would have been cool to get a win, but I don't know. Consistency is great and three weekends off at home before Pan Ams and Nationals and Europe is what matters. This is fun and cool and stuff, but I don't know.
If Strohmeyer doesn't win either jersey [Pan Ams or Nationals], will we really remember at the end of the year? You know, his dominance, it'll be maybe just a footnote. So just a lot of big racing to come.
Final Elite Men Series Standings (Top 25)
If you haven’t seen the video recaps of the weekend’s racing, Bodie has it all cataloged on the Wide Angle Podium Instagram feed. Because both of us are traveling today, we will push back the Cyclocross Radio podcast recording one day. It should be out in audio and video formats Thursday afternoon.
Woah...did he really say this? "If Strohmeyer doesn't win either jersey [Pan Ams or Nationals], will we really remember at the end of the year? You know, his dominance, it'll be maybe just a footnote. So just a lot of big racing to come." I don't know how you can win 7 out of 8 races in the one pro CX series in this country and have your competitors be like, "well, if he doesn't win nats, who cares?"
Funston's a real one. Keeping it spicy.
Woah...did he really say this? "If Strohmeyer doesn't win either jersey [Pan Ams or Nationals], will we really remember at the end of the year? You know, his dominance, it'll be maybe just a footnote. So just a lot of big racing to come." I don't know how you can win 7 out of 8 races in the one pro CX series in this country and have your competitors be like, "well, if he doesn't win nats, who cares?"