Week eight of the 2019/20 season kicked off this past Thursday in Ardooie. The mid-week race was won by Gianni Vermeersch and Kim an de Steene. This weekend, there are eight UCI races in seven different countries.
In North America, DCCX offers a pair of UCI C2 races in the nations capital. Sweden gets in on the action this weekend with a pair of C2 races. CX Täby Park takes place on Saturday followed by Stockholm cyclocross on Sunday. Also on Sunday, the Il Melo Cup takes place in Italy and Tage des Querfeldeinsports will take place in Austria.
Despite there being six races in Europe this weekend, all eyes will be on two races. The Superprestige series continues on Saturday in Boom. Meanwhile, the World Cup returns with a round in Bern, Switzerland.
In an effort to continue to pick races on both sides of the Atlantic, we will predict the World Cup round in Bern and Sunday’s DCCX race.
DCCX (Sunday)
Elite Men
Picking up where they left off in Baltimore last weekend, Stephen Hyde and Kerry Werner lead the way in Washington, DC. Noticeably absent is Curtis White who won Sunday’s race in Baltimore. Werner is the heavy favorite and Hyde should definitely be in contention. With White absent, it opens up a podium spot for any number of riders.
- Kerry Werner
- Stephen Hyde
- Lane Maher
Elite Women
Like the elite men, most of the women who raced in Baltimore last weekend are back in action in DC. Rebecca Fahringer picked up the win on both days last weekend and is the favorite heading into DCCX. Carla Williams and Caroline Nolan also finished on the podium on both days last weekend. All three are favorites to repeat that feat this weekend.
- Rebecca Fahringer
- Caroline Nolan
- Courtenay McFadden
World Cup Bern
Elite Men
Eli Iserbyt has been the man to beat this season. He dominated the World Cups in September and has continued to have strong performances through the early part of October. Behind Iserbyt has usually been Toon Aerts. Aerts has found himself on the podium in all but two races. However, he has yet to pick up a victory. After those two, there are half a dozens riders who can land on the podium. Our first two picks are obvious, once again we are taking a risk with number three.
- Eli Iserbyt
- Toon Aerts
- Quinten Hermans
Elite Women
The winners of the first two rounds of the World Cup, Maghalie Rochette and Katerina Nash, will be on the front row in Bern this Sunday. However, unlike in the US, the bulk of the top European women will be racing in Bern. The likes of Sanne Cant, Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado and Annemarie Worst are going to be in the start grid. The only noticeably absent rider is last years winner Marianne Vos. However that comes as no surprise since she just raced road worlds. There’s a lot of variables in Sunday’s race, so it’s anyones race to win.
- Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado
- Sanne Cant
- Maghalie Rochette
