Kiremko Nacht van Woerden kicked off week nine this past Tuesday. The Dutch riders defended their home soil with Lars van der Haar winning the mens race and Maud Kaptheijns winning the women’s race. This weekend, there are 15 races in nine countries.
The third and final C1 race in North America takes place on Saturday in Cincinnati. On Sunday, there are two C2 races, one in Cincinnati and the other in New Jersey. There are a pair of National Championships this weekend in Russia and Lithuania.
Elsewhere in Europe, there are a pair of races in Belgium, including another round of the Superprestige. There are a pair of C1 races in both Spain and Slovakia. The third round of the National Trophy Series takes place in Irvine. There’s the Grand-Prix de la Commune de Contern race in Luxmbourg. Last, but not least, the Sagae Round Tohoku CX Series takes place in Japan.
With another action packed weekend, there were a lot of options to choose from. We decided to pick the C1 in Cincinnati and the Superprestige round in Gavere. Both races promise to be extremely muddy and very important races.
CincyCX Festival (Saturday)
Elite Men
The third, and final, UCI C1 race in North America takes place on Saturday in Kingswood Park. It looks like a muddy affair much like last Sunday’s race at DCCX. We pegged Hyde as the best North American male in the mud. So he’s a natural favorite. Kerry Werner and Curtis White have been battling at the front of virtually every races thus far. Outside of those three riders like Gage Hecht and Lance Haidet have a chance at the podium. We went with the favorites…and against our own statements.
- Curtis White
- Stephen Hyde
- Kerry Werner
Elite Women
Rebecca Fahringer has rattled off four straght UCI wins and is a favorite heading into the weekend. Maghalie Rochette returns stateside after finishing 11 last weekend in Bern. This is another week of long travel for her, so it will be interesting to see how she does. She has five wins this year and is second overall in the World Cup, so she’s still a contender. Behind those two riders it’s a usual who’s who of North American racing. Clara Honsinger, Caroline Manu and Jen Jackson, among others, are podium contenders.
- Maghalie Rochette
- Rebecca Fahringer
- Jenn Jackson
Superprestige Gavere
Elite Men
It goes without saying, Eli Iserbyt is the favorite on Sunday. In seven races this year he has won five and finished second in two. He has been unstoppable. Behind Iserbyt, Toon Aerts is a regular on the podium. With only one victory thus far he can be a bit overlooked, but he has only finished off the podium twice this season. After Aerts and Iserbyt, there are a number of riders who can land on the podium. We went with a somewhat obvious pick of a rider who does well in the mud.
- Eli Iserbyt
- Toon Aerts
- Michael Vanthourenhout
Elite Women
It’s a bit of an open race for the elite women. Annemarie Worst was last weekends World Cup race in Bern. She finished just off the podium in fourth last year. Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado has a stellar season and is really coming on strong. However, last year, she finished seventh. Finally there’s Sanne Cant. She’s had typical slow start to the season, but always performs well in Superprestige races. As with most elite women’s races, behind those three there’s a dozen riders who can land on the podium.
- Annemarie Worst
- Sanne Cant
- Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado
