Trinity Returns as UCI CX Team - Blevins and Batten to Race Cyclocross?
It is safe to conclude Cyclocross Nation sure hopes so.
The 2021/22 season presents a unique opportunity for American cyclocross to expand its contingent of cyclocross racers with the World Championships scheduled to take place in Arkansas next January. Throw in the near wiping out of UCI points after September 21 thanks to COVID, and the time was seemingly ripe for riders from other disciplines give cyclocross a serious try.
We got a glimpse of what this could look like in 2019 when bajillion-time cyclocross national champion Logan Owen hopped in a couple of races at FayetteCross and then raced his hometown Nationals in Lakewood where he finished a respectable 7th. Not earth-shattering, but it was still cool to see the EF Nippo rider return to his roots, if even for a few weekends.
One discipline where the U.S. appears to be particularly ascendant at the moment is mountain biking. Haley Batten made a huge splash at the first two World Cups this season, Christopher Blevins won the first-ever short track World Championship, and Riley Amos has been tearing it up in the U23 Men’s World Cups this year. With mountain biking skills lending themselves to cyclocross, it only makes sense to look at the discipline and wonder what some of those athletes would look like on a cyclocross bike.
One rider the Bulletin has had its collective eyes on is Blevins. The last time we saw Blevins race cyclocross, he burned bright like a supernova, winning the U23 Men’s race at Reno Nationals in part thanks to a race-winning attack that included jumping the stairs located at the start of that course’s circuit. With Blevins continuing to show he is the real deal at the international level in mountain biking—he won Short Track Worlds, after all—it’s been hard not to wonder what he could do on a cyclocross bike now that he is an Elite.
Fortunately, it appears our desires may be answered this season. Our friends over at Cyclocross24 have been tracking the UCI Cyclocross teams as they register for the coming season, and this week, the newest edition was a five-rider squad for Trinity Racing. Among the team members are both Blevins and fellow mountain bike star Haley Batten. We definitely agree, excitement level: Squeeeeeeee.
As Bill has highlighted during our coverage of the mountain bike season in The Media Pit, Trinity is the perfect place for riders such as Blevins and Batten because it allows them to focus on developing their main discipline while also showcasing their versatility in others. As an example, Blevins is currently racing the Tour of Britain with the Trinity road squad.
The team has had success with the approach as well. Its first featured rider was Tom Pidcock, who—as you may have heard, IDK—has been quite successful across three disciplines now.
[As an aside, if you enjoyed the classic Jingle Cross website, you’ll love Trinity’s site, especially on desktop]
While Blevins has more of a track record with 15 cyclocross races to his name (on CrossResults, at least), Batten is more of an unknown with just two cyclocross results. Her most recent result was a 9th-place in the Elite race at the one year RenoCross was held in 2018.
Batten blossomed in the biggest way this spring, finishing third in the season-opening World Cup at Albstadt and then winning the Short Track race and finishing 2nd in the XCO race at Nove Mesto to earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic team. In Tokyo, Batten scored a 9th-place finish in the first of what seems likely to be several trips to the Olympics.
We will be keeping our eyes out for the races Blevins and Batten are planning on attending. The Snowshoe World Cup takes place the weekend of Virginia’s Blue Ridge GO Cross, and it seems like the Trinity duo will race that event. Turning around and racing Rochester and Charm City in an effort to qualify for the U.S. World Cups seems like too much of an ask, but we will see. Even if it’s a few races, it will definitely be exciting to see Batten and Blevins race this fall.
[Update: Blevins confirmed he is registered for Charm City and plans on racing the U.S. World Cups]
Richards, On Brand, Ceylin, KBV, Pidcock, MVDP, Batten, Blevs. Rochette, SVA, Werner - just need Neff Tullet and Courney to say yes to the cx multi discipline gig.