Kerstperiode PLUS
The North American Report
If you aren’t at least a little exhausted from trying to keep up with the action over what we’re calling “Kerstperiode Plus,” you probably didn’t watch them all. And that’s okay. It’s a long winter, there’s nothing better than having a CX race on in the background while you are hammering out your intervals on the turbo. You’ve got time to catch up. And we’re here to help you. Starting with the first World Cup race in late November concluding with 9th World Cup round on January 4th, plus a healthy side serving of Superprestiges and Badkamers Trofees, there were 77 different North American racers to report on. SEVENTY SEVEN.
Aside from, “cyclocross racing is awesome,” we’re not sure if there are any universal take-aways from the North American performances from this last block of racing. And why would there be? It was all over the place. With such a wide variety of athletes, approaches and goals, we can only hope that every single rider had some great experiences that will make them better cross racers the next time they pin on a race number.
ROUGHLY speaking, we might be able to put the riders into 4 groups. For example there were The Contenders, riders with multiple years of International racing experience like Andrew Strohmeyer (CXD Trek Bikes) and Maghalie Rochette (SRAM/Seeker) who went into this racing block with the fitness, form and experience that had them racing—and us watching—with high expectations.
There were also the Lead Lappers, mostly 20-something year old UCI elites, many of whom are on well-supported pro/elite teams like Competitive Edge Racing and CXD Trek Bikes. These are racers who are in the mix for podium in North American UCI races, but with some notable exceptions, they are mostly racing for lead lap in full World Cup fields.
Next up is The Future, a group of juniors who were either racing for their national teams or private “national team adjacent” programs like EuroCrossAcademy. Like “The Lead Lappers” this group of riders also appeared to be well-supported, allowing them to focus on racing bikes.
And finally we have The Privateers. Thanks to his excellent video series, Lead Lap, Ben Frederick (The Small Monsters Project) is probably the most famous privateer of the last couple of seasons. Frederick, didn’t take on a full Euro season like he did last year, but there were/are a few other U.S. riders, like Frederick “Sam” Junge (Broom Wagon Works) living the dream this year racing World Cups too. We have a special place in our heart for the privateers, because long before we started writing newsletters for cyclocross fans, we were privateers racing “Elite Without Contract” Kermesses in Belgium and know how tough that life can be.
And while we’ve gone ahead and created these groups of riders, we recognize that more than a few riders don’t exactly fit neatly into any single category, but we still needed a way to organize our thoughts and provide you with a snapshot of some of North America’s best race results from the Kerstperiode-ish racing block. Apologies if we missed your favorites — be sure to give them your own shout-out in the comments below.
The Northeast CX Report is here to highlight all of the North Americans and their “best” race performance of the last block of racing. In some cases a racers best result was obvious, in others we made a judgement call based on comparative qualities of the fields. Maybe you’re a parent, team director or friend of one of the racers mentioned below and you have a more complete picture of their races. Feel free to “WELL, ACTUALLY” us in the comment section. We’d love to hear from you and be corrected as necessary!
The Contenders.
Maghalie Rochette (SRAM/Seeker) 17th, World Cup Round 1, Tábor. Like American Andrew Strohmeyer, the Canadian National Champion was nearly unbeatable in early season North American Elite UCI racing. She finished, for example, in front of Dutch star Manon Bakker (Crelan-Corendon) 7 out of 8 times in the USCX series. So when we saw Bakker at the front of European races in November, it was real easy to get excited about watching Rochette right there with her. Unfortunately Rochette got sick and struggled in subsequent races on the international calendar. She wrote on her own substack post, “Getting sick is a risk I know I am taking when traveling internationally. The result is on this trip, I had the two worst World Cup results of my career (23rd in Namur, 40th in Antwerpen).” We love seeing Adopted North American Euro-favorite Bakker finishing top 10 in World Cups and podiuming at Exact Cross races IN PART because that suggests that when she’s healthy Rochette has what it takes to be right there too.
Andrew Strohmeyer (CXD Trek Bikes) 12th, World Cup Round 1, Tábor. After tearing through his North American season that ended after he won the Pan American Championship race against long-time rival Eric Brunner (Competitive Edge Racing), Strohmeyer started his European run with some of the best results we’ve seen from a North American Elite male racer in a long time. But after one more strong result (16th) at the Flamanville World Cup stop, he dropped out of that seriously impressive “first chase group” position in subsequent races. Strohmeyer explained on Instagram that, “Back pain and illness from day 1 of the block made racing almost impossible. I decided to put a pause on racing and focus on getting fully healthy again so that I can be at my best for the World Championships at the end of the month.”
We wish both of these amazing athletes a quick return to health and look forward to cheering them on in future races including the World Championships!
So with North America’s Cyclocross early-season superstars out of the spotlight, who could step up in their absence? For the Elite men, Eric Brunner was Strohmeyer’s only real threat in U.S. CX racing, but to date, he has not raced in Europe this season. On the women’s side, there are many strong North American elites that are getting some nice TV time thanks to them being closer to the front than the back of the world’s hardest cyclocross races.
Rafaelle Carrier (Arkea-B&B Hotels) 3rd, Telenet Superprestige Gullegem. Carrier was a dominating rider in World Cup Junior racing last season and this year she hopped over to the Elite fields as easy as she hops over barriers. Three top-10 finishes in 7 European Elite Women starts for the 18-year-old, including a 7th at the GP Sven Nys that featured Lucinda Brand and Puck Pieterse is especially outstanding and we expect many more strong races from her in the near and distant future.
Vida Lopez de San Roman (Trinity Racing) 13th, World Cup round 7, Gavere. Last season, the Elite Mountain Bike racer won the Women’s Elite U.S. CX Championship after participating in just a few CX races in North Carolina at the end of the domestic UCI calendar. And in 2024/2025 she went on to race a dozen or so more times in Europe with her new Stars and Stripes jersey. This 2025/2026 season Lopez de San Roman opted out of a U.S. championship defense, and STARTED her CX season this year the day after Christmas with the Gavere World Cup. There, she raced to 13th place against a truly world-class field. But because she hadn’t raced any cross this season, she started from the SIXTH ROW. Can you imagine starting a race with a pace set by Brand, Alverado, et al. and still finding a way to finish in 13th? More recently, the 82nd UCI ranked rider had a 3rd row start at the GP Sven Nys and turned that into a 10th place. She’s one of America’s strongest CX racers right now.
Lizzy Gunsalus (CCB p/b Levine Law Group) 20th, World Cup round 8, Dendermonde. Picking Gunsalus’ best race from afar is tricky but for now we’ll just go with the race that netted her her best crossresults points. Dendermonde was a good race for Gunsalus; and it was a good race for many of the North Americans. The U.S. National and Pan American double champion wasn’t even the first or second North American finisher at Dendermonde! Those honors goes to Carrier (14th) and Alyssa Sarkisov (CXD-Trek Bikes) in 19th. What’s most impressive to The Report though is Gunsalus’ consistency. From December 21st through the 30th, she logged in 4 consecutive top-20 finishes in World Cup and Superprestige races, locking in her spot on “The Contenders” list. For a “behind the barriers” look at her racing world right now, be sure to check out her latest vlog by clicking here.
Lead Lappers.
Mia Aseltine (Competitive Edge Racing) 12th, Telenet Superprestige Diegem. At the start of the European block, the Pan American U23 Champion first four race finishes were 39th, 38th, 30th and 49th. But after that first 10-day stretch, Aseltine found her best form and was the top North American in front of top-tier and previously discussed racers including Lizzy Gunsalus, Alyssa Sarkisov and Rafaelle Carrier! She followed up her outstanding Diegem finish with an 18th at Zilvermeercross and we expect more top-20 finishes from her soon.
Henry Coote (Trinity Racing) 13th, U23 World Cup round 8, Dendermonde. The reigning U.S National and Pan Am U23 Champion has three top-20 finishes in European U23 races. His best Elite World Cup finish came on the sand dunes of Tatooin…err…Zonhoven, where he was the top North American finishing on lead lap in 30th place.
Lidia Cusack (CXD Trek Bikes) 15th, World Cup round 2, Flamanville. Unlike many of her fellow North Americans, Cusack has been racing almost exclusively in Europe this cyclocross season. Her results have been a little all over the place, but with three top-20 finishes spread out from her first European race in November to her 18th place finish at the Zonhoven World Cup in early January, we wouldn’t be surprised to see Cusack jump up to The Contenders list sooner than later.
Nico Knoll (CAN) 18th, Telenet Superprestige Diegem. Racing for Team Canada, Knoll has two top-20 finishes in Elite women’s “Euro cross” this season including 17th at the GP Sven Nys.
Alyssa Sarkisov (CXD Trek Bikes) 19th, World Cup round 8, Dendermonde. The last time we saw the younger Sarkisov sister racing, she was battling with big sister Katherine and Lizzy Gunsalus at U.S. CX Nats. Her top-20 in the World Cup was followed up with a 13th at the Diegem Superprestige stop.
Katherine Sarkisov (CXD Trek Bikes) 13th, X²O Badkamers Trofee GP Sven Nys. I’m sure much to both their disappointments, you can’t really talk about Alyssa without checking in on Katherine. At U.S. CX Nats, Alyssa looked to be the stronger, and more aggressive rider, but when it counted, Katherine made the moves that earned her 2nd place while Alyssa was left with 3rd. In Europe so far, when they do start in the same race, Alyssa seems to have edge. Still, picking a “race winner” between these two is a fools errand. They’re both formidable.
Dylan Zakrajsek (Competitive Edge Racing) 37th, World Cup #9, Zonhoven. Zakrajsek and teammate Dylan Cody are the principle early drivers of the pace of U.S. UCI races before Brunner and Strohmeyer take over the front. But in Europe, Zakrajsek has to work his magic from the 4th row and so far, Zonhoven’s 37th place, a lead lap finish, was his best result.
Lauren Zoerner (Competitive Edge Racing) 30th, Telenet Superprestige Diegem. With her fast starts and improved staying power this season, Zoerner was a near constant podium threat in early-season U.S. racing. Despite her vlog series on YouTube, we don’t know how she’s feeling about her racing, fitness or form now though. Mid-pack finishes in Superprestige races are her top results in the Euro-block so far.
Elite Women
Jorja Bond (CXD-Trek Bikes) 45th, X²O Badkamers Trofee Azencross-Loenhout.
Siobhan Kelly (Cycling Canada) 33rd, Zilvermeercross.
Anna Megale (Competitive Edge Racing) 41st, World Cup #7, Gavere.
Kaya Musgrave (Pure Energy Drink/Haro Bikes) 22nd, World Cup #1, Tábor.
Dorothee Peron (Cycling Canada) 55th, World Cup #9, Zonhoven.
Emily Shields (Ken’s Bike Shop) 37th, X²O Badkamers Trofee Hofstade Plage Cross.
Lyllie Sonnemann (CXD-Trek Bikes) 42nd, World Cup #9, Zonhoven.
Katja Verkerk (Cycling Canada) 50th, World Cup #9, Zonhoven.
Elite Men
Rhett Bates (CAN) 46th, Telenet Superprestige Heusden-Zolder.
Remi Brisebois (CAN) 53rd, World Cup #7, Gavere.
Calvin Conaway (Midwest NXT) 39th, X²O Badkamers Trofee Azencross - Loenhout.
Ryan Drummond (Competitive Edge Racing) 43rd, World Cup #9, Zonhoven.
Patrick Frank (JAM/NCC) 46th, World Cup #8, Dendermonde.
Beau Gunther (JAM/NCC) 58th, World Cup #9, Zonhoven.
Carden King (unattached) 42nd, World Cup #4, Namur.
Liam Sargent (CAN) 32nd, U23 X²O Badkamers Trofee GP Sven Nys.
Cody Scott (Competitive Edge Racing) 44th, World Cup #8, Dendermonde.
Noah Shelton (Bear CX) 22nd, Zilvermeercross.
Aidan Vollmuth (Donovan Racing) 34th, Telenet Superprestige Heusden-Zolder.
Luke Walter (Pure Energy Drink/Haro Bikes) 26th, U23 World Cup #2, Flamanville.
Finn Westover (Team Booger) 49th, World Cup #4, Namur
The Future.
Let’s first check in with the U.S., Canadian, and Pan American Champions to see how their European seasons are going. The U.S. Junior Women’s Pan Am (Aida Linton) and Canadian Junior Women’s (Eliane Blais) national champions have not raced in Europe this season so far.
Kira Mullins (Bear National Team) is the reigning U.S. Junior Women’s National Champion. Like several other junior women, Mullins has been racing a mix of Elite and Junior races. Her 9th place finish in the Juniors at Telenet Superprestige Heusden-Zolder complements another 9th place finish in the Juniors at Zonhoven. Her best Elite finish was 27th at Zilvermeercross.
Emilien Belzile (Cycling Canada) is the reigning Canadian Junior Men’s National Champion. Belzile was seemingly immune to jet lag and raced to a 6th place in his first race in Europe. The next race was a mid-pack finish, followed up by two back of the pack (yikes) finishes and things weren’t looking great for the champ. Fortunately by Diegem on the 30th of December, he was back to championship form with a 6th place finish, followed by an 11th, then his best, 2nd at the Telenet Superprestige Gullegem.
Ethan Brown (Midwest NXT), is the reigning Junior Mens U.S. National Champion and like his Canadian counterpart, it took him a few races to find his best legs. And in the New Year, on January 3, he raced to a very strong 4th place in the Juniors at Telenet Superprestige Gullegem.
Noah Scholnick (EuroCrossAcademy) is the reigning Junior Pan American National Champion and while he has yet to crack the top-10 in Euro results this season, his 15th at Zilvermeercross and 13th at Zonhoven suggest that he’s not too far off the pace.
Junior Men
Asher Bensimon (Halton CIRCA Syndicate) 51st, Juniors, Antwerpen.
Jack Billowitz (EuroCrossAcademy) 33rd, Juniors, Zonhoven.
Matthew Crabbe (EuroCrossAcademy) 16th, Juniors, Zonhoven.
Isaiah Culbreath (Oklahoma Flyers) 20th, Juniors, Telenet Superprestige Gullegem.
Thomas Deniger (Vélo Pays d’en Haut) 38th, Juniors, Zilvermeercross.
Fabrice DuFresne (unattached) 26th, Juniors, X²O Badkamers Trofee Azencross-Loenhout.
Grayson Franks (Stimulus Trek) 7th, Juniors, Telenet Superprestige Gullegem.
Sagan Goertz (Stimulus Trek) 13th, Juniors, Telenet Superprestige Diegem.
Jack Helvie (Midwest Devo) 19th, Juniors, Telenet Superprestige Gullegem.
Jacob Hines (EuroCrossAcademy) 6th, Juniors, X²O Badkamers Trofee Hofstade Plage Cross.
William Houle (Vélo Pays D’En Haut), 59th, Juniors, World Cup round 6, Koksijde.
Joel Kowalonek (Competitive Edge Racing), 42nd, Juniors, Zonhoven.
Farland Lamont (Cycling Canada), 6th, Juniors, Telenet Superprestige Gullegem.
Roman Lin (EuroCrossAcademy) 41st, Juniors, X²O Badkamers Trofee Azencross - Loenhout
Porter Melvin (Montana Bicycle Racing Association), 10th, Telenet Superprestige Gullegem.
Evan Moore (Cycling Canada) 6th, Juniors, X²O Badkamers Trofee GP Sven Nys
Dylan Reid (EuroCrossAcademy), 30th, Juniors, Zilvermeercross.
Kian Reid (Bear National CX), 53rd, Juniors, World Cup #1, Tábor.
Stephen Savino IV (Competitive Edge Racing) 27th, Juniors, Zilvermeercross.
Rylan Zacherack (EuroCrossAcademy) 7th, Juniors, Zilvermeercross.
Junior Women
Tessa Beebe (EuroCrossAcademy) 6th, Juniors, Zonhoven.
Nicole Clamann (Blue Ridge Cross) 25th, Juniors, Telenet Superprestige Heusden-Zolder.
Liliana Edwards (CXD-Trek Bikes) 30th, Juniors, World Cup #1, Tábor.
Graden Daume (EuroCrossAcademy) 13th, Junior, Zonhoven. 37th, Elite, Zilvermeercross.
Alexa Haviland (Cycling Canada)cl 2nd, Juniors, Telenet Superprestige Gullegem. 22nd, Elite, X²O Badkamers Trofee GP Sven Nys.
Clare Hauber (Cycling Canada), 12th, Juniors, Zonhoven. 31st, Elite, X²O Badkamers Trofee GP Sven Nys.
Stella Lehmen (EuroCrossAcademy), 23rd, Juniors, Zonhoven. 47th, Elite, Zilvermeercross.
Claire MacKinnon (Stimulus Trek), 20th, Juniors, Zonhoven. 58th, Elite, Telenet Superprestige Diegem.
Hadley Molnar (EuroCrossAcademy), 38th, Juniors, Telenet Superprestige Heusden-Zolder. 70th, Elite, Telenet Superprestige Diegem
Elly Moore (Cycling Canada), 4th, Juniors, Telenet Superprestige Gullegem. 33rd, Elite, Telenet Superprestige Diegem.
Annabelle Norris (EuroCrossAcademy), 23rd, Juniors, X²O Badkamers Trofee Azencross-Loenhout. 48th, Elite, Zilvermeercross.
Anna Olesen (EuroCrossAcademy), 7th, Juniors, Antwerpen. 41st, Elite, Zilvermeercross.
Ada Watson (CXD-Trek Bikes) 19th, Juniors, World Cup #8, Dendermonde.
The Privateers.
Tyler Clark (Caledon Hills Armada). The reigning Elite Canadian Champion started his cyclocross season racing wheel to wheel with U.S. juggernauts Andrew Strohmeyer and Eric Brunner finishing in the top-five 18 times this season before heading to Europe in December. He’s finished on lead lap in about 1/2 of the races he’s contested since December 20th, and his best result was 28th in the 8th round of the World Cup at Dendermonde.
Sydney McGill (Lastig Off-Road Racing). The former Pan American champion started her 2025 cyclocross season where she left off in 2024: On the podium. Eleven times, including three UCI wins in North America! And things were looking good for the Canadian as she finished in 19th place at the opening World Cup race Tábor in late November. Her next best finish came in early December with a 15th in the Sardegna World Cup. Her last race came on December 21st at Koksjide, where she finished in 33rd place.
Jules Van Kempen (Team Winston Salem-Flow). Van Kempen is unquestionably one of this season’s top finishers on a team of one. He has 9 podiums in domestic CX racing this season. And at Charm City, while following the wheels of mega-power house racers Strohmeyer and Brunner, Van Kempen announced himself as a top podium contender in North America. Unfortunately, he’s had some bad luck with crashes, and he hasn’t been able to replicate that kind of consistency in Europe this season. While he’s finished as high as 29th in the 8th round of the World Cup at Dendermonde, Van Kempen has only managed that one lead-lap finish in the Euro block thus far.
Ben Frederick (The Small Monsters Project) 40th, World Cup #1, Tábor.
Cameron Jette (unattached) 43rd, World Cup #1, Tábor.
Frederick “Sam” Junge (Broom Wagon Works) 51st World Cup #1, Tábor.
The Final Push…
This coming weekend, the world’s top cross racers will travel to Spain for the Benidorm World Cup. The field will be filled with newly crowned national champions and joining them will be 16 Americans and 5 Canadian athletes. Andrew Strohmeyer and the CXD-Trek Bikes team have been busy training in sunny and warm Spain for their final push towards the World Championships and should be ready to rip on Sunday. The dry fast course should favor riders who can spin and hold a wheel. The savvy “big sister” American Crit racer, or a National Champion from Colorado who loves the dry air and a hard-packed dusty courses.
In the Elite Women’s field, there are a number of very strong riders including Sydney McGill (who’s last race was on December 21st), Lizzy Gunsalus, the Sarkisov sisters, Lidia Cusack, and Mia Aseltine. All of whom have a legit shot at quality TV time.
In the Elite Men’s field, we’ve got a hopefully healthy Andrew Strohmeyer returning to race, and Eric “Stars and Stripes” Brunner making his 2025/2026 Euro season debut headlining this blockbuster race.
Excellent run-down.