Under the lights in Las Vegas on Wednesday evening, September 20, we’ll say goodbye to one of America’s biggest, craziest, and longest running cyclocross races.

Starting in 2007, CrossVegas helped put U.S. cross on the map for both competitors and fans of the discipline, and with the international cross community. Wednesday will mark CrossVegas’ final run in Sin City. In 2018, the race will move to Reno, Nevada, along with the annual industry gathering, Interbike, with which CrossVegas has become synonymous.

No doubt CrossVegas will still draw a top-tier field, but 2018 will provide the final spectacle of a cyclocross race just a few miles from the Vegas Strip.

“If you’re a veteran of CrossVegas, you have to see the final Las Vegas edition,” says director Brook Watts. FloBikes.com will live stream CrossVegas beginning with the Wheelers and Dealers race at 6:30 PM PDT.

Looking to play the odds on this race? Here's what you need to know.

1. CrossVegas: America’s first World Cup

The iconic nighttime race isn’t just a chance for racers to make their sponsors proud during the U.S. bike industry’s largest trade show. CrossVegas has been home to the highest level of cyclocross racing in the world.

In 2015, CrossVegas hosted the first ever UCI cyclocross World Cup on American soil, and held the status for two years. Sure, a World Championship was held in Louisville in 2013, but World Cup races bring even more riders and an equally impressive depth of field.

Watching the Belgian cyclocross teams acclimate to both the dry heat and the craziness of the Strip was a highlight for any American racer lining up in Vegas.

This year, CrossVegas holds UCI C1 status, and is sandwiched between two weekends of World Cup racing in Iowa and Wisconsin. We can thank CrossVegas for helping to make this wonderful week in U.S. cyclocross happen, and we can still expect top level racing in Vegas.

2. Cross racers, roadies, and mountain bikers unite

Cycling’s most infamous racer—yup, we’re talking Lance Armstrong—has lined up at the start for CrossVegas in past years (well before “the fall,” obviously). Look up old photos if you want to see Lance getting trounced by much more technically skilled riders.

But Lance isn’t the only roadie to give cross a try in Vegas. Because the race occurs during Interbike, plenty of pro roadies and mountain bikers are at the show fulfilling sponsorship commitments. They add CrossVegas to their to-do list to pick up some brownie points with industry reps, get in a workout, and maybe even go home with a medal.

Canadian Olympian mountain bikers Catherine Pendrel and Geoff Kabush have both podiumed at the CrossVegas in past years, despite not spending full seasons focusing on cross. And, because the race is so early in the cyclocross season, plenty of roadies and mountain bikers are still in great racing form and can come in for September racing at 100 percent fitness.  

3. It’s a freaking weird course

The course itself might also play into why cyclocross-specific racers don’t always emerge victorious (though most of the time, a pure cross racer like Jeremy Powers or World Champion Sanne Cant will take the win). The grassy soccer field—often referred to as a ‘grass crit’—is like a giant swath of Velcro that hangs on to racer’s tires and feels like riding with a 80-pound bike.

As a night race, visibility can be an issue, though race organizer Brook Watts works hard to ensure the whole course is brightly lit. Still, both the lighting and the time of day can wreak havoc on a normally simple race.

And, of course, Vegas is in the desert, so the heat historically plays a major factor—as do the temptations of Sin City, such as the bottomless Casino buffets, the jet lag, and the various sponsor commitments that often leave riders showing up to the start already exhausted.

4. The men’s race will be a Euro versus American brawl

The prizefight for this weekend isn’t happening in a boxing ring in Vegas; it’s happening at a soccer course being torn up by cross bikes. Four-time National Champion Jeremy Powers will be on the start line, and while his season has been off to a rocky start, as a former winner of this race, he’ll look to be at the front.

Other Americans include fellow former national champion Jonathan Page, who spent much of his career in Belgium and is always good for some elbows-out racing, and up-and-comer Lance Haidet.

The Canadians might also provide podium contenders: Geoff Kabush, a multi-time National Champion in cyclocross and mountain biking as well as a two-time Olympian, will be Vegas, as will Michael Van den Haam, the current Canadian national champion.

The North Americans will be dueling with the Belgian twin brothers Laurens and Diether Sweeck. Laurens finished third at the World Cup at CrossVegas last year, and finished second at Sunday’s World Cup in Iowa—unsurprising results, since he’s ranked fourth in the world.  

5. A Clif Bar battle is shaping up for the elite women

Sunday’s Jingle Cross World Cup winner, multi-time Olympian, winner of the 2015 CrossVegas World Cup and the event’s only four-time winner (enough palmares? The list could go on) Katerina Nash of CLIF Bar Pro Team will be on the start line in Vegas.

Nash will line up with her teammate, multi-time mountain bike and cyclocross national champion, mountain bike world champion and Olympic medalist Catherine Pendrel. Expect either team tactics, or a serious team competition between the two. Or perhaps both, with Nash and Pendrel working to separate themselves from the field, and then vying for the finish.

The CLIF Bar Pro Team will contend with Ellen Noble of Aspire Racing, who won Rochester’s C1 race earlier this month and finished eighth at the World Cup race in Iowa City, becoming a crowd-favorite with her bunny-hopping skills over the course barriers.

Caroline Mani, a silver medalist at the 2017 cyclocross world championships, and Meredith Miller, winner of 2014’s CrossVegas race, will also be top contenders.

By Molly Hurford