Colt McElwaine » Who's #1? 11/09/10

Hi Colt,

Thanks for covering the USGP this weekend! Fun to watch, and thanks to you I could watch it from my living room.

I'm going to be a home-er (or is it "Homer" as in Simpson?), anyway, I want to give a big shout out to Alice Pennington for her 6th and 10th place finishes at the USPG races this weekend, with a not-so-great call up to boot.

On Saturday Alice placed 6th, ahead of Kaitlin, Meredith Miller, Mo Bruno. On Sunday Alice was 10th, almost 9th place, losing it in a sprint with Amanda Miller and beating Van Gilder. My point? I hope to see her move up in the rankings!

As for Damian Schmitt, he is a fast guy in Oregon, and a fast rider in general; but I don't think he's ever beat anyone this list. Has he beat # 67, Aaron Tuckerman?

Thanks. Looking forward to the rankings this week!

No Damian Schmitt?

@hhc
i have no doubt that Craig is a badass cyclist but these standings are based on previous results and that's what Craig is lacking. looking fwd to this weekend not only for USGP but also for OVCX

Peter,

If it were anybody else other than Craig I'd agree with you, but Adam is an Olympic mountain biker, probably the best we have in the USA. (Wells and JHK are better at fireroad courses..) He is every bit as talented as Johnson and Powers, probably even more so, only he never really focuses on 'cross. It looks like he's decided to give it a go this fall and so I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him right up at the front of the race with the green and black. Trebon on the otherhand has a long history of DNF, DNS, and DFL when he's not winning races. I think his problem is as much mental right now as physical. He doesn't have the best form and/ or Cannondale is just plain better this year and he never races as well as he could when he's not winning races. Guess all our questions will be answered this weekend tho...

Noah,

Luke moves down one spot because Adam Craig moves ahead of him. Luke was impressive at CSI this weekend but Craig took down Trebon and Jones, two riders ranked ahead of Luke coming into this weekend. If he can finish ahead of Wicks or Matter in Ft. Collins then he could break into the top 15.

Luke keough won he should be moved up instead of down!!!

Holy Crap. This is the first time I am hearing that Colt may be living with us for TEN years!

I took a well deserved weekend off but watched the C2 races closely. There certainly were some shockers. Adam Craig is known in the mountain biking world as a guy who can ride "anything". Colt and I were in ultra-muddy Tapatio Springs Texas when he got his first big pro win. It was a day when everyone, and I mean everyone was walking....except Adam. The link below is very cool. It shows Adam at the starting line in a mechanic's shirt since he did not have his team jersey. It also shows Colt, post-race, with the best mechanic in the world....Bassman from Japan. http://www.trailwatch.net/norba05/texas/texas2.html

Adam won in California with his bike handling skills. If you construct a slick and twisty enough course, along with jump-able barriers, Adam is going to prevail. That does not exactly translate well to every cross race and I expect that while he will do well in Fort Collins, we will see the normal pecking order at play there.

Luke Keough. It seems just like yesterday that I though he might pull off a Junior world championship. Racing in the shadow of his brother Nick it was easy not to notice Luke's amazing ascension. Nick was riding well with the big boys before hitting the double whammy of injury and serious illness. He still is not back to where he was but it is obvious he will be in time. For Luke to win bot h races in Northampton is huge. He should move up a spot in the rankings instead of moving down.

Ryan will be fine. I don't expect Todd Wells to pass the Green Machine at this point.

ELITE MEN
1. Jeremy Powers (Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com)
2. Tim Johnson (Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com)
3. Todd Wells (Specialized/ Cal Giant)
4. Ryan Trebon (Kona)
5 Jonathan Page (Planet Bike)
6. Adam Craig (Giant/ Rabobank)
7. Tristian Schouten (cyclocrossracing.com/Blue/Rolf)
8. Jamey Driscoll (Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com)
9. Davide Frattini (Hudz-Subaru)
10. Geoff Kabush (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain)

Georgia is going to be racing at home this weekend. That usually counts for a lot. Unlike earlier match-ups with Katerina, Georgia is now a peak cross fitness. If Katie's injuries from Boulder have healed up OK, she is still head and shoulders above the Luna women. The real battle is likely to be the intra-squad battle between Georgia and Katerina. Do not expect any team tactics from these two. None of the other women are likely to be close to this trio.

Amy Dombroski, Sue Butler, Natasha Elliot, Meredith Miller, Wendy Simms,and Laura Van Gilder are about to sort things out between them. Personally I expect Amy to eventually move to the top of that list. She is a young talent and still improving.

This weekend is also going to show if Nicole Duke is for real. I think she is. It is also going to show whether Teal Stetston-Lee is actually a top ten rider or not. Natasha Elliot is way too good a racer to be stuck down in twelfth. I also predict that Amanda Miller will be moving up.

ELITE WOMEN
1. Katie Compton Planet Bike)
2. Georgia Gould (Luna)
3. Katerina Nash (Luna)
4. Meredith Miller (Cal Giant/Specialized)
5. Laura Van-Guilder (C3 - Athletes Serving Athletes)
6. Sue Butler (Hudz-Subaru)
7. Nicole Duke (Hudz)
8. Amy Dombroski (Luna)
9. Wendy Simms
10. Natasha Elliott (Garneau Club Chaussure-Ogilvy)

Geoff, Page was top 3 and smooking 99% of these fools the first 3 weeks of the season when he was in the US. Since going back to Europe, he smoked CyclingDirt's #2 Tim Johnson at the world cup... Ok, so now he's hurt. happend to everyone. Do you really not think he'll be the top US rider at Worlds AGAIN this year?

And as for being "One of the top riders in the world"... any guy who can finish top 30 at a World Cup is one of the top riders in the world!

Mecx... Silver Medal at the World Championships?? Guess that doesn't count, hu?

I didn't know Harvard had a Bike Racing major. Though that was just Ft. Lewis. Your Friday professors must love you!

Steve- Great points. Rankings have been adjusted.

What are some race results from Shawn Milne? Will he race Nationals?

Luca is out for now with this http://plixi.com/p/55632135. When he races again he will be on the list.

Last week you said you couldn't move Andrea Smith up much based on Canton, BUT I think her 3rd place at Cycle-smart Day 2 proves she should be higher up. She beat Sally Annis and Mo Bruno, while barely losing to Sara Bresnick-Zocchi (who deservingly moved up a lot). Saturday was top 5 despite a mechanical, Sara DNF'd.

SO go back a few weeks to your rough outline of estimating your rankings...
50% of what you did last week- I'd say a 3rd and 5th is at least as good as a 2nd and a DNF
25% of what you'll probably do next week- You agree'd you think she'll be contesting top 10 at nats
15% of what you've done this season- Been better than Sara and just as good as Sally all season.

Again, I think Sally and Sara both deserve their spots, But I think Andrea should be right in the middle. Especially consideing Mo Bruno moved UP two spots from 17th to 15th for a 3rd and 4th. So if a 3rd and 4th at Cyclesmar move her up to 15th, how does a 4th and 5th at cyclesmart move someone down to 28?
Sally may deserve to be better than 20th as well, but Andrea definitely deserves to be no worse than 21st.

Why isn't Shawn Milne in the mens rankings? Hasn't raced a ton, but when he has he's been beating a bunch of the guys on this list.

And why no Luca? If you have Valentin Sherz, you've gotta have Luca!

Watch out for Manny Goguen to keep getting faster too. Seperated his shoulder a few weeks ago and he's still getting faster.

Thanks for the clarification, Adam. Wasn't thinking clearly!

Cross Fan- Where on the list would you put Schmalz and why? Who'd he beat? How long ago? What race??

FYI, Chris Grealish put on the first UCI race in the US, in Mead, CO, circa 1996 or '97. The Supercup followed the next year, then Monkey Hill in Delaware the year after that. I went UCI in '00, then Gloucester in 2001, and the whole Verge Series in 2002.

The West Hill Shop 'cross in Putney, VT, started the same year as my race, in 1991, but has always remained a local race.

So I'm neither the first UCI race, or the oldest race. Just the oldest UCI race!

In the Men's rankings, number 55's name is actually Jared Nieters (not Jaren). Thanks I love these new weekly rankings videos :)