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Pro CX: Keough Maintains Lead for Women; Sweeck Overtakes Hyde for Men's Title

By: Jackie Tyson  December 05, 2017

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Sept. 26, 2017) — The third week of the USA Cycling Professional Cyclocross Calendar (ProCX) found its way to Las Vegas, Nevada for the popular Clif Bar CrossVegas Category 1 races on Sept. 20. Two days later, Category 2 events were held at the Trek CX Cup in Waterloo, Wisc. Both events provided dry conditions, with cool temperatures for night racing in Nevada and unusually hot temperatures for the afternoon competitions in Wisconsin.

The women’s ProCX standings saw the most movement for the week, however, Kaitlin Keough (Racine, Wisc./Cannondale p/b CyclocrossWorld.com) controlled the top position in the standings with a Top 10 finish at her hometown race, Trek CX Cup. Ellen Noble (Kennebunkport, Maine/Aspire Racing) moved up one position to second, switching spots with Caroline Mani (Besancon, France/Van Dessel), now in third. First-week points leader, Maghalie Rochette (St-Jerome,Quebec/CLIF Pro Team), moved to fifth position, while the fourth-place slot in the ProCX women’s individual standings was taken by Crystal Anthony (Newbury Park, Calif./Maxxis-Shimano).

Clara Honsinger (Portland, Ore./Team S&M CX) and Katerina Nash (Prachatice, Czech Republic/Clif Pro Team) were the big movers for the women. Nash used her win at the C1 contest at Clif Bar CrossVegas to earn her first ProCX points of the year and vault her way to eighth position. Honsinger moved from 14th to seventh position in the standings with a sixth place finish in Las Vegas. Katie Compton (Colorado Springs, Colo./KFC Racing p/b Trek-Panache), who took the C2 win at Trek CX Cup for a second year in a row, moved up on position to sixth in the ProCX standings.

Using a runaway victory at Clif Bar CrossVegas, Laurens Sweeck (Leuven, Belgium/ERA Real Estate-Circus) jumped four spots to take the top position in the men’s ProCX standings. Stephen Hyde (Easthampton, Mass./Cannondale p/b Cyclocross-World.com), who did not compete in the ProCX races this week, lost his lead and moved to second place. Jeremy Powers (Southampton, Mass./Aspire Racing) finished third in Las Vegas and used those points to move from fifth to third overall. Tobin Ortenblad (Santa Cruz, Calif./Santa Cruz-Donkey Label Racing) moved down one spot into fourth and Rob Peeters (Dessel, Belgium/Pauwels Sauzen-Vastgoedservic) moved down three notches to fifth.

Up next for ProCX is the KMC Cross Fest in Thompson, Conn. (Sept. 29-Oct. 1) and the new West Sacramento Cyclocross Grand Prix in West Sacramento, Calif. (Sept. 30-Oct. 1). This year KMC Cross Fest will launch competitions for the ShoAir US Cup-CX Series, and UCI races for the nation’s top juniors. WSCXGP is one largest cyclocross races in California and the largest USAC-sanctioned race on the West Coast.

Two American Cyclocross Calendar (ACXC) events will also be contested next weekend, the GO Cross presented by Deschutes Brewery in Roanoke, Virg. and the Tri-Star CX in Memphis, Tenn. The inaugural GO Cross presented by Deschutes Brewery takes place in Virginia’s Blue Ridge at Fallon Park. This venue features to only permanent cyclocross course in the state. Tri-Star CX will be held for a sixth year at Shelby Farms Park, which features 4,500 acres and is one of the largest urban parks in the U.S. It is the first year Tri-Star CX has been upgraded to the ACXC. Both races take place Sept. 30-Oct. 1.

USA Cycling ProCX features the premier cyclocross events in America and uses an overall ranking system to determine the best individual male and female ‘cross racers over the course of the season. The ProCX calendar includes 43 UCI-inscripted Category 1 and Category 2 races in the country. For information on the ProCX, visit https://www.usacycling.org/procx/. For information on the ACXC, visit https://www.usacycling.org/usa-cycling-cyclo-cross-national-calendar-cxnc.htm. Follow Pro CX all season on Twitter - @USACProCX (#ProCX).