USGP series kicks off in Louisville

Jeremy Powers took last year's opener in Louisville. (Image credit: Mitch Clinton)

By Mark Zalewski, North American Editor

In its third year, the US Grand Prix of Cyclo-cross returns as one of the highlights of the North American 'cross schedule, with three weekends of six UCI races – three of which are rated C1. The first stop is this weekend in Louisville, Kentucky on the site of an old golf course in the city's Champion's Park that makes for a challenging and spectator-friendly course. The festivities begin on Friday with an elite rider number pick-up ceremony as well as a kids' cyclo-cross clinic with riders from Team Clif Bar.

Last year's men's winners in Louisville, teammates Jeremy Powers and Tim Johnson (Cyclocrossworld-Cannondale) will be back to defend, but the series' defending champion Ryan Trebon (Kona) is rolling this season with a number of top wins. The first round of UCI points released this week, show that Powers has only a narrow lead on Trebon, with each taking wins last weekend in Delaware and Pennsylvania. These three have established themselves on top of the North American scene so far this season.

On the women's side, many of the top riders have shifted over to Europe for the UCI world cup series, with another race this weekend. The top UCI women from North America includes the top UCI rider overall – the now four-time Canadian champion Wendy Simms (Kona.) A pleasant surprise this season is Sue Butler (Monavie-Cannondale), who is the top American in ninth place. Outside of the top ten, and definitely not starting this weekend, is US champion Katie Compton (Spike) who pulled out of last weekend's world cup in the first lap with a leg injury.