Cincinnati has long been a bastion of U.S. cyclocross excellence, especially in recent years.

In 2013, the city hosted a tune-up race ahead of the world championships in Louisville, Kentucky, and drew big European names including former world champion Niels Albert.

Following the success of that event, from 2014 to 2016 the Cincy Cyclocross Festival’s Devou Park venue became the home of the Pan-American Championships, a title held by Katie Compton, Jeremy Powers, and Stephen Hyde.

This season (its 14th year in existence) the Cincy Cyclocross Festival offers two days of UCI racing, including Saturday’s UCI C1 race in Devou Park. Though the race is no longer a major championship event, the top American racers are still showing up. Here’s why.

Cincy Will Be Testing Ground For Pan-Ams

With the 2017 Pan-American Championships moving to Louisville on November 5, this weekend’s Cincy Cyclocross Festival will serve as a test race for riders planning to compete for a championship title (and the UCI points that go with it).

Riders will likely pay close attention to the competition and try to test each other on different sections of the course.

Additionally, Cincy will arguably be the first race of the season in which the top riders arrive at different points in training. The season’s first few weeks — between the Rochester weekend, World Cups, KMC Crossfest, and Charm City — left most racers exhausted, but all on the same schedule.

However, the last two weekends have varied for racers. Some went to Gloucester, some went home to recover and train, some went to DCCX, and some flew to Europe for the Koksijde World Cup. This weekend, we’ll see whose approach proved most beneficial.

Local Racers Will Arrive On Form

Expect to see seriously hard and fast racing throughout the field in Cincinnati. With relatively smaller fields and UCI points on the line both days, racers who might typically finish outside of the top 20 in a UCI race will be riding with elbows fully out to score those needed points.

UCI points allow racers better start line positions, and also allow riders to participate in the elite national championships. Having a major UCI race in their backyard provides a key opportunity for local racers who might not be able to travel the country in search of UCI points. Getting 10th in a UCI C1 race provides nearly as many UCI points (33) as winning a UCI C2 race (35).

The Sho-Air U.S. Cup-CX Now Goes Three Deep

Originally a winner-take-all format, the U.S. Cup-CX started a GoFundMe in order to reward not just the winners, but the top three in the men’s and women’s fields. The owner of Sho-Air, the series title sponsor, Scott Tedro pledged an additional $7,500 in matching funds to the payout. Nearly $10,000 has already been raised, and the men and women who finish second and third in the overall series will be rewarded for their efforts.

No doubt the winner-take-all platform offered an element of excitement, but the increased prize list guarantees that racers like Becca Fahringer, Crystal Anthony, Spencer Petrov, and Kerry Werner will still be out there dueling as hard as they can. The overall win may be nearly out of reach (barring a major shakeup), but the top racers now stand to gain thousands regardless.

Tobin Ortenblad Is The Man To Beat

The top two contenders in the elite men’s field remain leader Tobin Ortenblad, who took back-to-back wins two weekends ago in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and current national champ Stephen Hyde, who’s had two weeks off to recover and recharge.

Behind them and certainly still in contention for the win are racers like Spencer Petrov and Jeremy Powers, both of whom have had a week at home to rest and recuperate. The top five men in the U.S. Cup-CX overall standings are separated by just 75 points, so riders like Kerry Werner and Petrov (who sit in third and fourth overall, respectively) will aim to rack up points in these last three races of the series. A win in the series is worth 75 points.

The Battle To Beat Kaitie Keough

After racing to a respectable eighth-place finish at the UCI World Cup in Koksijde, Katie Keough just needs to keep her solid streak of wins and podiums on U.S. soil going in order to maintain her 15-point U.S. Cup-CX series lead over Cannondale-CyclocrossWorld.com teammate Emma White.

However, there’s a chance that the European travel and constant on-the-go demands of the season will have tired Keough. White had a weekend close to her East Coast home racing in Gloucester, as well as a full weekend off before heading to Cincinnati.

Like the men’s field, the women’s U.S. Cup-CX overall standings remain relatively tight, with the top five racers separated by 70 points. An off-day or mechanical from Keough or White, and a win by racers like Maghalie Rochette, Rebecca Fahringer, Crystal Anthony, or Ellen Noble, could turn the series standings upside down.