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CrossVegas, known in 2018 as RenoCross, was a Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) sanctioned Cyclo-cross race that took place in Las Vegas on a Wednesday evening in September after the first full day of the Interbike trade show. In 2015 CrossVegas became the first UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup race outside Europe.
CrossVegas started in 2007. The night-time race took place under the lights in September each year at the Desert Breeze Park, just minutes from the famous Las Vegas Strip. As the first UCI Cyclocross World Cup race of the season, [1] the race course included many unique features not found in other cyclocross races, including a "ramp" providing a curved velodrome banking. Other course features included 4 sets of stairs, 1 set of barrier (planks), a sand pit and 2 flyovers.
In addition to the UCI elite men's and women's category races, CrossVegas had a USA Cycling race categories and a Wheelers and Dealers Race for representatives of the cycling industry. [2]
CrossVegas saw impressive growth since its inaugural race in 2007, and each year attracted an increasingly elite field of U.S. and foreign racers as well as over 10,000 spectators. It was sponsored by Clif Bar since 2011. [3] Despite its relatively short history, CrossVegas quickly ascended to the top of the international cyclocross racing scene and boasted the accolade of being America's biggest cyclocross race. [4]
In 2015, the UCI designated CrossVegas the first UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup race outside Europe [5]
| Year | Men's winner | Women's winner |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 |  Ryan Trebon | Lyne Bessette |
| 2008 | Ryan Trebon | Katie Compton |
| 2009 | Jamey Driscoll | Katie Compton |
| 2010 |  Francis Mourey |  Kateřina Nash |
| 2011 |  Lars van der Haar | Kateřina Nash |
| 2012 | Jeremy Powers | Sanne van Paassen |
| 2013 |  Sven Nys | Kateřina Nash |
| 2014 | Sven Nys | Meredith Miller |
| 2015 | Wout Van Aert | Kateřina Nash |
| 2016 | Wout Van Aert | Sophie De Boer |
| 2017 | Laurens Sweeck | Kateřina Nash |
| 2018 | Lance Haidet |  Maghalie Rochette |
Cyclo-cross is a form of bicycle racing. Races typically take place in the autumn and winter, and consist of many laps of a short course featuring pavement, wooded trails, grass, steep hills and obstacles requiring the rider to quickly dismount, carry the bike while navigating the obstruction and remount. Races for senior categories are generally between 40 minutes and an hour long, with the distance varying depending on the ground conditions. The sport is strongest in the traditional road cycling countries such as Belgium, France and the Netherlands.
The first recognised UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships took place in Paris (France) in 1950 and was won by Jean Robic, of France. Between 1950 and 1966 the championship was open to both amateurs and professionals. From 1967 to 1993 two separate championships were organised – one for amateurs and one for professionals. From 1994 the championship became a single event again open to all elite riders. A junior world championship was introduced in 1976. All are organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), and the winner has the right to wear the rainbow jersey for a full year, like the winners of the world championships in other cycling disciplines.
Katie Compton is an American former bicycle racer. She specialized in cyclo-cross racing and is a 15-time national champion. Compton formerly piloted a tandem with a blind partner in Paralympic events.
Ryan Trebon is a retired American bicycle racer, born in Loma Linda, California. He specialized in cyclo-cross and mountain bike racing. In cyclo-cross, Trebon captured the U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross series championship four different times.
Timothy Johnson is an American professional racing cyclist who has found success in cyclocross and road bicycle racing, and is one of only five male riders from the United States to stand on a UCI Cyclocross World Championships podium. Johnson has six career national championships – three Elite, two Espoir and one Junior – and a bronze medal from the UCI Cyclocross World Championships that he won in 1999 in Poprad, Slovakia. Johnson spent his 2009 road season riding for the Ouch presented by Maxxis team, of which he is the Road Captain. For 2010, Johnson rode for UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team presented by Maxxis. Johnson is divorced of fellow professional cyclist Lyne Bessette. In June 2018 Tim was named the director for development for the USA Cycling Foundation.
Marianne Vos is a Dutch multi-discipline cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam Visma–Lease a Bike.
Sanne Cant is a Belgian racing cyclist, who currently competes in cyclo-cross for UCI Cyclo-cross Team IKO–Crelan, and in road cycling for UCI Women's Continental Team Fenix–Deceuninck. Cant's cousin Loes Sels is also a professional cyclist.
Todd Wells is a professional cyclist specializing in mountain bike racing and cyclo-cross from the United States. Todd resides in Durango, Colorado and Tucson, Arizona. Wells races for the SRAM/TLD Factory Racing team for mountain bike racing.
Lars Anthonius Johannes Boom is a professional cyclo-cross and mountain bike racing cyclist from the Netherlands. He has also competed professionally in road racing, having raced between 2004 and 2019.
Kateřina Nash is a Czech cross-country skier and cyclist who competed from 1994 to 2003 in skiing and is still active in cycling for the Clif Pro Team. Competing in two Winter Olympics, she finished sixth in the 4 × 5 km relay at Nagano in 1998 and had her best individual finish of 20th in the 15 km event in Salt Lake City in 2002.
Liv Racing TeqFind was a women's professional cycling team, based in the Netherlands. The title sponsor is Liv, a sub-brand of Taiwanese bicycle manufacturer Giant Bicycles. The team's directeur sportif is Eric van den Boom. Riders for Liv Racing compete in the UCI Women's World Tour and other Elite Women's Cycling events throughout the world.
The UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup is a season-long competition in cyclo-cross, organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). First held in the 1993–1994 season, there are currently five awards, tailored to the different categories of riders: Men Elite, Women Elite, Men Under 23, Women Under 23, and Men Junior.
Jeremy Powers is an American former professional racing cyclist, who has achieved over 90 UCI victories, four USA Cyclocross national championships, and the 2015 Pan American Championship during his career. He was a presenter for Global Cycling Network before joining WHOOP.
Tim Gould is an English former professional racing cyclist specialising in cyclo-cross and mountain bike racing.
Geoff Kabush is a Canadian cyclo-cross cyclist and cross-country mountain biker. At the 2000 Summer Olympics, he finished in 9th place in the cross-country race. He then competed in the same event at the 2008 Summer Olympics, finishing in 20th place. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he again competed in the Men's cross-country at Hadleigh Farm, finishing in 8th place. He has also been successful in cyclo-cross, having won the Canadian national cyclo-cross championship five times.
Meredith Miller is a Cyclo cross and road cyclist from United States. She was educated at Guilford High School, where she graduated in 1992, and went on to attend the University of Wisconsin–Madison and San Francisco State University, where she earned a B.S. and an M.A. in kinesiology in 1996 and 2002 respectively. Miller competed in track athletics in high school and soccer in both high school and college. After graduating from college she played semi-professional soccer for a team in Madison for one season before the team disbanded, following which she was introduced to cycling by her then boyfriend. She represented her nation at the 2009 UCI Road World Championships and in cyclo cross at the 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships.
Johan Jacobs is a Swiss road and cyclo-cross cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Movistar Team. He competed in the men's under-23 event at the 2016 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships.
Thomas Pidcock is a British cyclist who currently competes in the cyclo-cross, mountain bike and road bicycle racing disciplines of the sport for UCI WorldTeam Ineos Grenadiers.
Clara Honsinger is an American professional cyclist who currently rides for UCI Women's Continental Team EF Education–Tibco–SVB in road racing, and Cannondale–Cyclocrossworld.com in cyclo-cross.
Fem van Empel is a Dutch professional racing cyclist. In January 2021, she won the women's under-23 race at the 2021 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships. During the 2022–2023 season she won the women's elite race at the World Championships and the European Cyclo-cross Championships. On 22 January 2023, she secured overall victory at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup (2022–23). On 16 Feb 2023 at Brussels, Fem clinched the X20 Badkamers Trophy. The previous week, her first race in the World Champions jersey, competing in the X20 Badkamers at Lille she finished 1st doing a "Pidcock" across the finish line. In the cyclo cross season 2023 to 2024 Fem Van Empel was first in her first eleven races. Having finished the previous season with five successive firsts, it brought her run of first places in top level Cyclocross to sixteen. Fem Van Empel retained her UCI World Championship at Tábor on 3 February 2024. One respected commentator noted he had "run out of superlatives to describe Fems phenomenal talent", calling her "The Golden Girl of Cyclocross". Another described her performance as " pretty much perfection" . "Velo" noted that "her 18th victory out of what has been a 20-race season" is "a staggering success rate " .Fem completed her 2023 to 2024 season with a win to take the X²O Badkamers Trophy at Lille on 11 Feb. This took her number of wins for the season to 19 from 21 races. At the end of season 2023 to 2024 Fems' career total number of Elite level Cyclo-cross race wins was 37.