North American Cyclocross Power Rankings, Week 10

Courtesy of Gateway Cross

1. Jeremy Powers (1) – With two back to back USGP wins, Jeremy Powers is looking dominant. An on-form Ryan Trebon and a Ruta del Sol-winning Todd Wells may have been able to keep pace with him, but Powers showed his ability to ride away from a star-studded field (albeit with company) and then grind out last-lap victories. The man’s got an array of very big arrows in his quiver.

2. Geoff Kabush (8) – In a 3rd place and a 4th place on a huge USGP weekend, Kabush demonstrated more capability than midpodium results might show, but he rode two very strong races. On Saturday he broke away from a talented chase group, and on Sunday, he pushed the pace for the first half before soloing after Powers and Wells for the second half. Incredibly strong performances. With Powers and Trebon riding the way they are it will be difficult for Kabush to squeeze out a victory, but don’t let that fool you about the Canadian’s form.

3. Ryan Trebon (2) – the tall man from Bend takes a slight drop in the power rankings following a pre-ride crash on Sunday. It ran him down to a 10th place finish and put a question mark on the next couple of weeks while he recovers. Trebon’s been on the form of his life. His recovery will be crucial and closely watched.

4. Todd Wells (9) – Wells shows what he can do when he’s near peak form. A flat tire on Saturday prevented him from throwing down two great results this weekend. He’s riding high on the form that took him to a victory at the Ruta de los Conquistadores. It’s a reminder that his National Championship was no fluke – he can ride with the best of the country. His 2nd place on Sunday adds to the disappointment we feel that he’s not racing a full cyclocross season or defending his jersey.

5. Ben Berden (5) – Saturday’s mighty bridge effort from the chase group to Trebon and Powers was spoiled by a flat tire about a lap later. However, Berden came back on Sunday with resilience to put him at #5 on the Power Rankings. There are still guys getting the better of him but Berden is a consistent top performer.

6. Tim Johnson (4) – Johnson might still be looking to crack a season-long winless streak, but his form is definitely growing. Unfortunately this is complicated by a couple issues and questions – is his form growing faster than anybody else’s? Is it growing fast enough? He dropped a chase group and rode himself into 3rd place on Saturday – good, but not good enough. 

7. Chris Jones (nr) – A strong weekend for the Rapha-Focus rider who’s been climbing the results sheet of late.

8. Jamey Driscoll (3) – If other riders are building form, we can’t help but wonder if Driscoll is losing it a bit. He keeps scrabbling out decent results, but it’s a far cry from multi-win seasons he’s had in the past.

9. Danny Summerhill (nr) – we are impressed with Summerhill’s weekend, which featured 5th place on Saturday. He was one of the few riders hopping the barriers, demonstrating a combination of skills and strength.

10. Tristan Schouten (7) – Schouten’s results against big, national-level fields are respectable, and indications are that he could have better results with a bit more luck. A higher start would benefit him, but as a workingman, he’s having a hard time playing the UCI points game.

Dropped this week: Zach McDonald, Barry Wicks.

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5 Responses to North American Cyclocross Power Rankings, Week 10

  1. Lozy says:

    I dare hate to ask because I know all this hard work takes a ton of time to write up…for little pay I am sure…but would it be possible to get a women's ranking going?

    • grolby says:

      Oh, that's a fantastic idea from Lozy, I would love to see that if you guys could make it happen.

      • mattio says:

        Thanks for the enthusiasm, folks.
        We'd love to cover women's CX thoroughly, since there's such excellent racing in North America and Europe, but we don't currently have the capacity(/contributors/knowledge) to do that well.

  2. sasha says:

    Pretty sure that Todd Wells won La Ruta des Conquistadores, not La Ruta del Sol.

    (incidentally, I agree on the women's racing)

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