BELGIUM: Lichtervelde EuroCrossCamp - Living the dream life, Waukesha's Lionel Rocheleau is racing his bike in Belgium, writing for Cycling News, and has his own page on Sport.Be! "Being at Euro Cross Camp has been both a cultural and a racing experience. Even though I'm not home for Christmas this year, and I broke two bikes on Christmas day, the whole trip is a present itself. After all, the experience is the greatest gift I can get."
Photo: Cycling News
Danny Gerow of Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan also writes for Cycling news: "My time in Belgium has been incredible. It has been an amazing adventure of culture, making new friends, and bike racing. The racing over here has inspired me to closely study and learn the details of greatness in cycling. The courses and conditions in Europe are demanding physically, mentally, and on equipment. This challenge is a part of what makes racing here very rewarding. In an odd way, part of the fun of the races here is that they push you to your limits. To add to the hard courses, you have lots of passionate fans cheering you on. For example, I was hearing "Allez, allez!" as we were running the muddy run-ups at the World Cup in Namur. The cheers help as you continue to battle in the races, but the smoke from the cigars and cigarettes of the fans hurts a little, especially when you are going really hard."
Jordan Cullen of Hudson, WI is making news here at home while racing in Europe with a great article in his home town's newspaper -The Hudson Star Observer.He is posting some of his experiences over on his own blog as well.
The Camp continues through this weekend with races on Friday and on Saturday.
Photo: Daily Peloton
BELGIUM: Zolder Not to be outdone by any means, Kaitlin Antonneau got her shine in the spotlight on Sport.Be as well by being *Top American* in Zolder with a solid 16th place two days after Christmas!
BELGIUM: Namur - The word has it that it's been raining heavily and the course has lots of standing water. Antonneau says the course is awesome. Tim Johnson - ridiculously hard. The racing on Sunday should be EPIC!
Photo: Euro Cross Camp
Programme
Sunday 18th December 2011
10.00 - 10.40 Men Juniors
11.10 - 12.00 Men U23
13.30 - 14.10 World Cup Women
15.00 - 16.05 World Cup Elite Men
Access to the race track from 8.00 am.
Here's the start list for U23 and Juniors. Gerow and Cullen are listed so you can get their numbers and pick 'em out in the upcoming videos. Here's the elite men and women's start list.
BELGIUM: Lictervelde - Euro Cross Camp - Riders should be arriving in Belgium now for the 9th annual Euro Cross Camp. Midwestern junior riders Jordan Cullen; Hudson WI; (Clif Bar Cyclocross Development Team) , Lionel Rocheleau; Waukesha WI; (Team Geargrinder), and U23 Dan Gerow; Grosse Pointe Farms, MI; (Wolverine/ACFStores.com) are all attending (full roster). Their first race will be in Namur, Belgium this weekend which will not be a World Cup for the juniors or U23 riders, but it is for the Elite Men and Women. Kaitlin Antonneau will also be racing with the Elite Women and has just arrived along with team mate Tim Johnson. CX Magazine has a preview of this weekend's venue as well as Cyclingnews and they state that the course features long run-ups on the stairs, technical twisting and steep drops, and mentions that the weather forecast is for rain and snow. (Awesome! - Ed)
"Dear Mom & Dad, Having a great time at EuroCrossCamp. Send more mud!"
The website "Pave'" gives us more insight to Sunday's World Cup: "Namur, Belgium hosts the fifth round of the Word Cup this Sunday
and is part of a series of firsts. This marks the first time Namur will
host a World Cup round on its famous course. It’s also the first time a
city in the Walloon region of Belgium has hosted a World Cup race.
Finally, it will be the first time former Cyclocross World Champion,
Lars Boom is in the starting grid this season.
The course, made famous by its proximity to the historical citadel
features the same finishing stretch where Philippe Gilbert won the GP
Wallonnie this year. The course in Namur features steep climbs, long
run-ups on stairs, technical twisting and steep drops. It was a round of
the GVA Trophy series last year and on that occasion Zdenk Stybar
picked up the victory a head of Klass Vantournout. Kevin Pauwels was in
the mix all day until he flatted out of the lead group. ...
With a break in the action before the US National Championships, Tim
Johnson and Troy Wells are headed to Namur to start a European campaign.
They will join Belgian-based Jonathan Page and Jeremy Durrin, who has
been racing in Europe for several weeks now."
Peloton Star will do it's best to follow our midwest riders as they race in Europe and wish them all the best of luck!
Read more...
MICHIGAN: Midland - PHOTOS - Big Bad Wolf 'Cross - This was the last race in the Stomach of Anger series in midstate Michigan. As far as field size goes, it didn't compare to what you'd find in the big city. As far as racing goes, it doesn't get any better! Men's B: the series championship came down to the last day with Jim Hillditch leading Adam McIntyre by a mere 2 points. Both wanted the win. Both wanted the trophy jacket.
" In the first lap it was Mac with the hole shot, but then he was caught and passed after a crash. Here they are churning through one of several sand sections. Most were frozen, some were not. They went at it like this for the first half of the race. Somebody had to crack. There wasn't any sitting in or bullshit racing. It was a throw down from gun to finish. Both guys wanted it pretty bad, and there was no cat and mouse by either one of them. They punched each other in the mouth beginning to end." Head on over to Crazy Bastard Cross to find out how it turned out and about some of the other death matches raced that day.
IOWA: Altoona Iowa State Cyclocross Championships - RESULTSPHOTOSPHOTOS - Nice payout of $1000 to 7 places for the Men's A race this past Saturday, a free T-shirt for every rider, plus they had more snow than anyone!
OREGON: Bend - USGP Cup - RESULTS - While the locals here were slugging it out with frozen limbs, the Sheboygan Boys - Brian Matter and Tristan Schouten - were living the life of the rich and famous out west racing in the final USGP race of the season, the Deschutes Brewery Cup in Bend, Oregon. Well, there were some problems that made for a 24 hour travel day on the way out there, but that didn't seem to affect them in the least as seen here on the right! Brian writes the details of the weekend in his blog. He finished 12th on Sat., 15th on Sun., and 15 in the USGP overall. Tristan faired a bit better with 18th Saturday, 8th on Sunday, and 11th in the overall.
Kaitlin "The Beast" Antonneau also raced in Bend this weekend and finished a solid 5th in the season overall! She is now preparing for a short stint of racing in Europe which she mentions in this interview with Cycling Dirt.
INDIANA: Bargersville - Backyard Cross - RESULTSPHOTOS Held on private land just south of Indianapolis, this is still the Indiana Cross Cup with still three races remaining, and will be the site of next weekend's Indiana State Cyclocross Championships.
Two new riders took the top steps of the elite Indiana Cup podiums Sunday as more than 100 riders battled on a muddy, but fast course.
BikeReg.com rider Elizabeth Cobb led after the first lap, but soon faded. Kiersta Tucker of Team Wood N Wave and Speedway Wheelmen rider Janelle Renschler traded the lead multiple times during the remainder of the hard-fought, six-lap race. But after Renschler suffered a mechanical, Tucker was able to create a small gap, which she was able to hold until the end. It was her first victory as an elite cyclocross racer.
“I wanted to hang with them to see how I felt,” Tucker said. “I had to push myself to stay with them at first, but I did it. … This was the best I’ve felt (on the bike) in the past two years.”
Cobb held on to third place.
Eric Anderson (Photo: Chris Jones)
Nuvo rider Eric Anderson took the elite men’s race Sunday, a week after a nine-second loss to teammate Weston Luzadder at the final Major Taylor Velodrome race. Anderson didn’t look to be in much jeopardy during the race, beating Fredrick Rose of BikeReg.com by nearly 43 seconds. J’s Bikes rider Andrew Boneff took third place, 1:45 back.
The first place was Anderson’s third of the year – he also took the top step of the podium at Apple Cross and Cincy3 Cyclo-Stampede – but his first at a Planet Adventure cyclocross event this year.
Sunday’s race, the ninth in the 12-race Indiana Cup CX series, was a preview of the Indiana State Championship to be held at the same venue Saturday.
For a full list of results or to learn more about the Indiana Cup series, go to www.indianacxcup.com.
WISCONSIN: Verona - Midwest Regional Cyclocross Championships RESULTS SATSUNPHOTOS It was a cold one that's for sure, with a low of +8F degrees greeting the early racers on Saturday, warming into the upper 20's, but staying below freezing. Sunday was better with temps starting in the 20's and rising into the 40's. With this being the same course, that will be used for the National Championships on January 4 - 8, this was a great opportunity to test it out.
For officials and riders, this was a very complex weekend for racing with lots riding on the line. First for many, it's a chance to ride the course that will be used at Nationals. Next, besides it being a double header race weekend, both races offered points towards the season long Wisconsin Cycling Association (WCA) overall championship which had some very close competition leading into this weekend. As you will see, some upsets were made on these final two races. Lastly, Sunday's race was the inaugural Midwest Regional Cyclocross Championships with riders traveling from all across the Midwest (WI, MI, MN, MO, IN, IL, KY) to compete.
We start with the Men's Category 4 which was setting up as a sprint finish between three riders for the WCA overall title.
Jon Weinandt (Team Fond du Lac/Oshkosh Cyclery)
187
Tyler Stein (Team Fond du Lac/Oshkosh Cyclery)
180
Garrett Roth (ISCorp Cycling Team )
177
Coming into this series, Garrett Roth had momentum in his favor having won two of the last three races, with Tyler Stein picking off last week's Wizard 'Cross. Jon Weinandt had won the UW race earlier, and was the only one of the three that scored points in all of the races up to now. This weekend, Stein grabbed the win on Saturday bumping him from second to first in the WCA overnight and he held it for the overall championship by getting second on Sunday to Ryan Giuliano (Vergigris) of Shaumburg, IL who gets the Midwest Championship for Men's Category 4. Weinandt dropped from 1st in the overall to third, placing 7th on Saturday and 5th on Sunday. According to the rules, only points from a rider's top 13 races out of a possible 16 count (Baker's Dozen) which mixes it up a bit in some cases. (Full results should be updated shortly on WiCycling.Org)
For the elite women, Abby Strigel has been tearing it up with wins in the last 5 straight WCA races with Alyssa Severn a close second in every one and the WCA overall looked like this:
With Schneider focusing her attention in the Chicago Cross Cup and not racing in Wisconsin, it was going to be interesting to see how the A-Team (Abby and Alyssa) would stack up against her this weekend. Well, put two more notches in the win column for Schneider as she swept the weekend once again by winning on both Saturday and Sunday giving her the Regional Championship and moving her up from 6th to 4th in the WCA overall. Meredith Peterson has the worst weekend of her season placing 12th and 14th, but hangs on to third in the WCA overall.
Alyssa Severn (Photo: Justin Lackner)
Here is where it get's interesting. Abby Strigel, leading the WCA overall by a mere 5 points coming into the series, also has an disastrous weekend placing 4th Saturday and 7th on Sunday opening the door for Alyssa Severn to overtake her. Severn did what she needed to do by beating Strigel on both days picking up the needed 5 points on Saturday to tie the overall race and an additional 7 on Sunday to get the lead, 355 pts to 337! Severn wins!
Wait. However ...
There is this rule, that states only points from the top 13 races (Baker's Dozen) count in the overall series competition. Strigel has raced 13 races, so her total remains the same. Severn has raced 15 races so she looses points gathered from her worst two races, two 4ths or 30 points, leaving her with 325. Severn gets 'Baked' and remains in second. Strigel Wins!
For the Pro men, recall that Matt Schriver led Chad Hartley by a mere 2 points coming into this weekend. Shriver, the new WI State 'Cross Champion, had just won the last 4 races and seemed to be a sure bet to get the WCA overall championship and perhaps the Regional Championship to boot ... if he had raced. He did not.
Matt Shriver 195pts
Chad Hartley 193pts
Corey Stelljes 168pts
Hartley takes the win on Saturday and Stelljes the win on Sunday for the regional championship.
It's a chilly one for the Midwest Regional Championships this weekend. At least the sun is shining! Good for testing setups to be used at Nationals this coming January.
(This should be Madison, WI but it keeps defaulting to Chicago. Let's give it a chance.)
ILLINOIS: Chicago - Progress continues on the little velodrome on Chicago's south side with big dreams. Here's the latest media coverage from the windy city. Keep promoting cycling here in the Midwest.
WISCONSIN: Madison - With two races remaining in the WCA 'cross season, the overall series standings in the WCA 'Cross season have been updated (click on 'print' to get a viewable pop-up). In the Men's Pro 1/2 division, Matt Shriver (3D Racing) leads Chad Hartley (Kenda Pro) by a mere 2 points, 195 to 193. Shriver, the new WI State 'Cross Champion has won the last 4 races, so this may be just a formality, but Hartley has the talent and the pedigree to make this a horse race to the very end. In the Women's Category 2 division, Alyssa Severn (Cyclocrossracing.com) leads her team mate Abby Strigel by 5 points. While Strigel has 7 wins this cyclocross season, winning the last 5 over Severn, it is not over quite yet as Severn has beaten Strigel once this season, so again, this could also come down to the last race. If that weren't enough, a similar situation has developed in the Men's Cat. 4 division as well, but this time with three racers, each with wins this season and the experience to make the upset.
Jon Weinandt (Team Fond du Lac/Oshkosh Cyclery)
187
Tyler Stein (Team Fond du Lac/Oshkosh Cyclery)
180
Garrett Roth (ISCorp Cycling Team )
177
If all that weren't enough, to add to the suspense, Sunday's race is the Midwest Regional Championships
which will certainly bring more talent into the mix, perhaps from Iowa,
Minnesota, or Chicago. This should be a very exciting weekend of racing
this week in Madison. Stay tuned!
OHIO: Cincinnati King's Cross - PHOTOS While more of a fringe area of the Midwest as far as coverage here on the Star, many Indiana riders race in the Ohio Valley Cyclocross series and one of the photographers from that area, Joe Quimby, does a great job of covering those races. Some of his work, with permission, is shared here for your enjoyment.
Familiar faces dominated Saturday’s muddy NUVO CX race at Major Taylor Velodrome in Indianapolis.
Marian University student and pro rider Coryn Rivera, wearing her Exergy TWENTY12 kit, scorched the muddy course to take first place. With the air pressure too low in her tires and clumps of sticky mud clogging her bike, Rivera grabbed her pit bike two laps in.
“I’d planned to grab it anyway, as practice for nationals,” Rivera said. “I was using this as a practice race so I could experiment. After I got back on the bike, I focused on picking off the (male) riders in front of me.”
Category 3 male riders were racing alongside the elite women, and Rivera managed to beat all but two of them, Dave McComb and the eventual Cat. 3 winner, Shamrock Cycles’ Will Sherman.
Rivera’s fellow Marian Student Jackie Kurth rolled in 2:45 later, followed shortly by Bob’s Red Mill racer Nicole Borem.
In two previous races at the velodrome, Rivera had come in second to her Marian teammate and Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com racer Katie Antonneau. Antonneau didn’t race Saturday, but was on-hand to pit for Rivera and cheer on her teammates.
Photo: Robert Annis
In the men’s elite race, Marian student Weston Luzadder, racing for NUVO, Bissell Cycling’s new feeder team, managed to hold off the double-barreled assault of Eric Anderson and Josh Johnson. Luzadder took the hole shot, but wasn’t able to create a large gap, allowing the two to work their way up to his wheel. The three stuck together for nearly seven laps, until Luzadder was able to create some distance.
“I’d been throwing down small attacks (throughout the race),” Luzadder said. “About halfway through the seventh lap, I attacked again and Josh went off the back. On the next lap, I attacked again, right before the big hill (on the course), and I managed to get a gap.”
Luzadder was able to hold the gap to take the win, with Anderson coming in nine seconds later. Johnson had won his last two races on the course, but had to be content with the third spot on the podium.
Both Luzadder and Rivera praised the course, which featured a couple of steep climbs, more than a quarter-mile of pavement and lots of mud.
The NUVO CX race was the third and final cyclocross race at the Velodrome this season. The next Indiana Cup series race, the Fort Wayne Outfitters-Depot Cross, will be held this Saturday, followed by the Backyard Cross in Bargersville on Sunday. Racers can pre-register at truesport.com.
MICHIGAN: Davisburg Michigan State CX Championships - Located somewhere between Detroit, Ann Arbor, and Flint, the 2011 Michigan State CX Champs were coined the muddiest in recent memory. No official results have been posted yet, the Wolverine Sports Club gives us these preliminary results and while lacking in details, they sure provided plenty of video to enjoy!
Sven Baumann, Elite Men's State Champion and Overall Series Champion
Kelly Paterson, Elite Women's State Champion
Jeff Weinert, 2nd place Elite Men, Silver Medal
Simon Bailey, State Champion (35-39) and overall Masters 35+ Series Champion
Matt Baroli, State Champion (50-54)
Richard Rainville, Series Champion Men's Super B's
Luke Mullis, Junior Men's State Champion
2011 IL State CX Champion - Scott McLaughlin (SRAM) (Photo: Velogrrl)
Photo: Velogrrl
ILLINOIS: Chicago Montrose Harbor RESULTSPHOTOSPHOTOS Held right on the windy lake shore, in the windy city, this was the Illinois State Cycling Championships. Riding practically in his backyard , SRAM's Scott McLaughlin took the win and his 5th state title. He tells us the rest: "I won my fifth elite state championship in cyclocross on Sunday. My
first title was in 1997. I never would have thought I'd still be in
contention for an elite win 14 years later!
Montrose harbor was the final stop in the 12-race Chicago Cyclocross Cup
and also the Illinois state championships. The venue is around 2 miles
from my house, and I pass by every day on my ride to work. I also use
the sledding hill there, which always features in the race,
for occasional interval workouts. This year's course and conditions were
the best ever - after several years of bitter cold, this year it was
around 45 degrees and the ground was greasy but not sloppy after some
rain a day earlier." "It's hard to believe the 2011 Chicago Cyclocross Cup is over. Huge
thanks to the series directors, race promoters/clubs/teams, and the
countless volunteers who made this year's series the best ever!"
In the Women's race, Samantha Schneider again took the race win, her 15th 'cross win this season. Her winning streak ended at Ted's Excellent Double Cross Adventure with 14 straight wins in a row followed by mediocre results at Jingle Cross. For the state championship, however, seeing as though 3 of the top 5 were from outside of Illinois, we have to dig deeper in the results to pull out the podium.
2011 IL Cross Champ Jessica Hill (Bill Draper - photo)
In 2010, Jessica Hill (Pony Shop) got second place to Sam Schneider and was crowned state champion. This year, once again, Sam Schneider took the race win, 16 year old stand out Corrie Osbourne (IS Corp) of WI took second, but as the first Illinois resident, Jessica Hill is your 2011 Illinois State Champion, with Kim Brokhof (Spider Monkey), and Kimberly Thomas rounding out the podium in second and third.Two championships in a row for the Evanston resident!
In the Chicago Cross Cup Series overall race, it is the same top 3 women on the podium, but in a slightly different order. Let it be noted that Sam Schneider raced 10 of the 12 races in the series ... and won all 10 of those. On the Men's side, Scott McLaughlin raced 11 of the 12 races, earned 4 wins and 5 second place finishes.
Women Overall - Chi Cross Cup
1 Samantha Schneider Cyclocrossracing.com 600pts
2 Jessica Hill The Pony Shop 480pts
3 Kim Brokhof Spidermonkey Cycling 300pts
Men Overall - Chi Cross Cup
1 Scott McLaughlin SRAM Factory 565pts
2 Kevin Klug The Pony Shop 506pts
3 Michael Hemme Chicago.CX 428pts
Photo: DJohnnymac
WISCONSIN: Madison Wizard Cross RESULTSPHOTOS Eight wins in a row now for the 2011 Wiscoinsin State Cyclocross Champion Abby Strigel (Cyclocrossracing.com). The overall series competition between her and Alyssa Severn is tight and looks like it will come right down to the wire on the last race. The same can be said for the Pro Men between Chad Hartley and Matt Shriver which appears to be down to single digits separating them with two races remaining. Hopefully we will get updated totals soon. Stay tuned!
MINNESOTA: Crystal - State Champs / Zac Daab - RESULTS A two day series with the Minnesota 'Cross Champs on Saturday and the season final on Sunday. Read the entire race blow by blow on MCF.Net: " For the 2nd year in succession, a Wisconsin rider spoiled the party
at the MN State Cyclocross Championships. Last year it was Specialized
rider Mark LaLonde. This year, it was 16 year-old Jordan Cullen (Clif
Bar Development Cross Team) taking the win at Minnesota's
biggest cyclocross event of the year. The rider, who hails from just
across the border in Hudson, WI, overcame a 20 second deficit, catching
CJ Faulkner (Crossniacs) just after the barriers as they approached the
finish. Jesse Rients (Kuhl/Bicycle Fit Guru), Matt Peterson
(Balance/Eriks), and Matt Allen (Behind Bars/LGR) finished 3rd, 4th, and
5th, respectively. As Cullen is a Wisconsin resident, the 2011 MN State
Cyclocross Elite Men's title goes to Faulkner. Snowy, blustery, and cold conditions were a factor in the races later
in the day. Nothing compared to the blizzard conditions of last year,
but it certainly wasn't just any day in the Park. The biggest challenge
for riders was iced up cleats, making it difficult to clip back
into their pedals, which made for a scary ride down the hill after the
stair run-up. Jenna Rinehart (specialized) chose to ride her mountain bike, and it
proved to me the right choice. She made quick work of the Elite Women's
field, riding away almost immediately, and growing her gap all the way
to the finish. The battle for 2nd place was much tighter, with Bianca
Bergman (Texas Roadhouse) out-sprinting Linda Sone
(CycleSmart.com/Flanders) for the honor. Jeanne Fleck (Velo Duluth), and
Terra James (Sweet and Salty Cycling) finished 4th and 5th,
respectively."
WISCONSIN: Hales Corners - WI 'Cross Champs RESULTS PHOTOS Chilly temperatures but well above freezing greeted racers for the Wisconsin State 'Cross Championships. Matt Schriver took his 3rd race win in a row, and along with that, the Elite Men's State title. In the WCA season overall race, despite Brian Matter's 3 wins early on, Chad Hartley's consistent finishes over 6 races earned him the season overall title. On the women's side, Abby Strigel took her 4th race win in a row along with the Elite Women's state championship title. For the season long, overall title, consistency again rules supreme as Alyssa Severn takes that by just 15 points over Strigel. A few missed races early on by Strigel as she was securing her WORS mountain bike series championship, made the difference. Severn recaps the championship race on her blog: "There was a good group on the start line and I knew that I'd have to try
and get out in front quickly. I wanted to try and hold on as long as I
could before Abby disappeared from me. I got out in front and there was a
group of us for awhile during the first lap. That was nice.""It was a good race for me with a solid second place finish. I learned
some more things, I had a great time and I know exactly what I'd do
differently. "
IOWA: Urbandale - Survivor Cross - PHOTOSPHOTOS Nearly 200 racers competed in the first ever Survivor Cross held on a 7 mile, one lap course which included no less than eight (8) water crossings, some waist deep. "Fun and punishing course, glad I only had to do 1 lap!" Kinda looks like 'Cross Nationals held in Milwaukee back in the '80s.
Photo: Ron Cook
ILLINOIS: Fox River Grove - Ski Jump Cross - PHOTOS Highly anticipated and highly approved of, the inaugural Team PSIMET Ski Jump Cross was a rousing success."Outstanding race today. So much fun. Great venue, great crowd, amazing
course. Thanks to all of the organizers for putting on what was probably
the most interesting and demanding race of the season." J.B.
"That venue is like made for cross races. Private land, owned by nice ski
club locals. (A couple of them actually raced, and a few neighborhood
kids raced as well.) Liquor license and a great natural bowl for
spectating. The terrain could be used to make totally different unique
courses each year. The course required a lot of finesse, and balance. Lots of short up and
downs, and great technical stuff. The good bike handlers really
separated themselves from the also-rans today." J.A.
Jordan Cullen of Hudson, WI is making news here at home while racing in Europe with a great article in his home town's newspaper -The Hudson Star Observer.He is posting some of his experiences over on his own blog as well. 
