Sure, there's plenty more cyclocross racing on the horizon with the 2016 Cyclocross National Championships and of course the World Championships at the end of January 2016. But the end of the calendar year has us thinking back over the last 12 months and reflecting on those moments that had the cyclocross community talking.
Here, we look back over some of 2015's main events, our favorite moments from the last year and the tech that shaped this season thus far.
Have a favorite cyclocross moment for 2015 of your own? Share it with us on our Facebook Page or over on Twitter. #cxm2015lookback
Fresh Faces and New Hopes for 2016
If Gage Hecht was the breakout star of 2014 for the American Junior Men, for 2015, especially after the last few weeks, that designation may have to go to Spencer Petrov.
Petrov has been nothing short of consistent. With a second place showing at Azencross, a third place finish at Diegem, 11th at Zolder, and fourth at Namur, he’s shown he has the talent and knows how to dictate a race. Of course, Hecht is still around too. Together he and Petrov could be the one-two punch the Junior Men need to start a renaissance of sorts for men’s American cyclocross.
Spencer Petrov has shown skill and grit in his racing as 2015 winds to a close. © Bart Hazen
For the women, there’s a group of riders perhaps ready to unseat America’s most dominant cyclocross racer ever, Katie Compton. Katie Antonneau, Emma White and Ellen Noble are all poised to be “the next big thing” in American women’s cyclocross.
Katie Antonneau was all smiles after her second place finish at the 2015 Valkenburg World Cup © Bart Hazen
Of course, each of them in their own right already are pretty big deals. White won at the NBX Grand Prix of Cyclocross, ahead of Noble, and was top 15 at the third round of the Bpost Bank Trofee in Hamme. Noble won the U23 race at the 2015 Pan American Championships and the Cycle-Smart Northampton International, ahead of White.
Antonneau is the top UCI ranked American racer in 9th. At least, the top ranked American rider named Katie whose last name isn’t Compton. Compton is ranked 5th. Still, Antonneau has shown she has what it takes with rides such as her podium finish at the World Cup at Valkenburg, where Compton was 13th.
2015 seemed to be the year that these young women were knocking on Compton’s door. Will 2016 be the year one or more of them unseat her? We’ll all find out.
