Who’s the best racer in the US? It’s hard to say, this season. In some ways, this year in American cyclocross is in what could be deemed a ‘rebuilding year.’

The era of a few dominant riders with huge personalities—Tim, Jeremy, Ryan, Georgia, Meredith, Katie—who getting results on a global scale seems to be behind us,. Many of America's top riders have been plagued by either illness or injury in the last two seasons.

The top American men have all opted to stay stateside this season, racing domestically rather than heading to Europe as riders like Stephen Hyde or Tobin Ortenblad have done in past years.

This makes the rankings easier to argue in some ways, since each weekend, we’ve gotten to see the top American men going head-to-head. There’s no absenteeism or debates over whether finishing on the lead lap of a World Cup in Belgium has the same merit as winning a UCI C2 race in the US. 

However, it does dilute the strength of the field, since the only world-wide results to use for comparison are the early season World Cups.

The women’s side of racing is more unknown: The fields have been divided for a lot of the season, with frontrunners like Katie Compton and Kaitie Keough racing in Europe. And domestically, Canadians like Maghalie Rochette, Jenn Jackson and Ruby West have been shaking up the racing. 

(Rochette, who doesn’t factor in these US cross rankings, has won all but a couple of the races she entered in North America this season.)

With Nationals on the horizon, it’s hard to guess what the race will look like with all of the top American women on the start line—sans European or Canadian racers.

But in this ‘rebuilding year,' there is still a hierarchy in US ‘cross. So with the National Championships looming, let’s assess who’s the strongest cross racer in America, men and women combined.

11. Stephen Hyde

The defending national champion has been plagued by injury and illness all season, but is recuperating and getting in a solid training block in sunny Florida ahead of Nationals. After a season with no wins, he’ll be as highly motivated as Curtis White or Kerry Werner. Defending his title is arguably key for Hyde’s continued career success.

Hyde was finally was back on the podium at SuperCross earlier this month. Will training in Florida be enough to help him keep his stars and stripes for another year? Florida is also a tricky proposition in a year when Nationals is in Washington state, about as far from sunny Florida as you can get within the US. Still, being home for a mental reset is as important as being home for a physical one, so perhaps time with his family will help give Hyde the burst of energy he needs.

10. Ellen Noble

Admittedly, Noble is a dark horse for Nationals, having spent the season battling chronic fatigue-like symptoms and just starting to dig her way out from them: This is the first time in years that she’s fallen out of the top 50 in the women’s UCI rankings. But after taking a couple weeks after an eighth place at Pan-Ams to reset in Tucson, it seems as though she may have turned a corner.

She took back-to-back wins at the Ruts n’ Guts race last weekend in cold, mucky conditions, showing that she’s starting to make her way back to full health. The field wasn’t super-stacked at Ruts n’ Guts, with her primary competition being Sunny Gilbert (who beat her at Nationals last year), Crystal Anthony and Canadian Jenn Jackson.

Noble has yet to race against her top nemeses like Clara Honsinger or Becca Fahringer, who will be podium favorites at Nationals. But depending on the course conditions in Washington, Noble may be able to surprise the crowds with a comeback performance.

9. Courtenay McFadden

Courtenay McFadden’s comeback year has gone well for the 35-year-old racer. She hasn’t had a win, but with quite a few podiums and a fourth place at Pan-Ams, she is one of the top elite riders in the US, and one of the only riders capable of sticking with Clara Honsinger, Katie Clouse or Becca Fahringer.

McFadden is arguably one of the steadiest riders in the women’s field, rarely dipping out of the top six. Most recently, she was second back-to-back days at SuperCross behind Fahringer. (She’s also a West Coast native, and will have a slight a homefield advantage at Nationals.)

8. Katie Clouse

Like Hecht, Clouse won’t be vying for the elite title, but the first-year U23 racer has been on US podiums all season, which earns her a spot amongst the top riders. She’s also one of the few riders who’s beat Clara Honsinger in multiple races.

Head-to-head rankings of the US women are challenging, since most weekends see the top female riders competing across two or more UCI races in the US, as well as in Europe. But in Cincinatti, Clouse beat Honsinger two days in row. Clouse also has a UCI victory to her name, taking the win at the Really Rad CX Festival on Day 1 over Becca Fahringer.

7. Gage Hecht

Hecht won’t contend elite nationals since he’s in the U23 field, but he easily slots into the top 10 riders in the US. Case in point: He handily won U23 Pan-Ams by nearly a minute, and the day before, he placed second in the elite men’s field.

Hecht has racked up a ridiculous amount of second places this season: five in UCI races. In his last year as an U23, it will be interesting to see what happens when he ages up into the elite ranks. As Curtis White has said: It’s not only the riders in the elite category that he has to worry about, it’s the U23s who are quickly coming up behind him.

6. Becca Fahringer

Fahringer has had podium potential for the last few years and this season, she’s really come into her own. She was third at Pan-Ams in a tight battle with Honsinger, and it was only a small slip that caused a gap to open between them in the final minutes of the race.

With eight UCI wins this season, Fahringer is ranked 23rd in the world. This season, she’s only beaten Clara Honsinger in one race (where they finished seventh and eighth respectively) so it’s hard to imagine that at Nationals, she would have the competitive advantage.

Still, Fahringer is hungry for a big result this season.

5. Katie Compton

Never count Compton out (especially for Nationals). While Compton’s results haven’t been hugely impressive this season, her 15-year elite national title streak speaks for itself.

Last year, with similar early season and European results, she still managed to win Nationals by a big margin. And while she isn’t winning European cyclocross races this season, she is still in the top quarter of the pack, often finishing in the top 10 and occasionally hitting the podium, as she did at Jaarmaarktcross in mid-November. She also made a World Cup comeback with a sixth place in Bern. Don’t expect her to give up her National title without a fight.

4. Kaitie Keough

It’s hard to say how Keough is stacking up in the women’s field, since she’s opted to live and race in Belgium this season. Coming back from Europe for one race is always a tricky proposition, and this is her first year Keough has spent large chunks of time in Europe, versus making short trips.

However, her European results are stellar: a fourth place at the World Cup in Bern, and top-5s in the last SuperPrestige and DVV races. She’s ranked 8th in the world right now, the highest UCI ranking on this list. The only reason Keough is in the fourth spot right now is her lack of wins this year. If she was racing domestically, it might look very different.

3. Curtis White

Curtis White has had a tremendous season, and Nationals are at the top of his goal list. He hoped to defend his Pan-Am title, but for him, Nationals likely feels like the bigger prize.

White knows how to win: If you take Pan-Ams out of the equation, he won his last five races. That includes back-to-back wins at SuperCross three weeks ago, ahead of Pan-Am Champion Kerry Werner. However, White has struggled to win a National Championship in recent years, finishing behind teammate Stephen Hyde last year by mere seconds. This year at Nationals, Werner will be riding high on his Pan-Am title, and White will be looking for redemption.

Both are about as motivated as a racer can get.

2. Kerry Werner

Both White and Werner have been going one-two since the first UCI race of the season kicked off in Virginia. They also rode together into 17th and 18th respectively at the World Cup in Waterloo. To say that the two racers are evenly matched would be completely fair, given their results all season. Werner took his first elite title jersey at Pan-Ams in early November, but White was mere seconds behind him—and both looked equally strong on the day.

The win was a huge breakthrough for Werner, who will certainly be feeling the pressure at age 29 to start delivering titles for his team. The confidence boost from that win can’t be denied.

1. Clara Honsinger

If anyone can challenge Compton, it is the breakout rider of the year Clara Honsinger. It’s Honsinger’s first year racing in the elites, so she doesn’t have any past Elite Nationals for comparison. However, she did win the U23 national championship in Louisville last year, so she absolutely knows how to win a National Championship race.

Honsinger’s star is clearly on the rise. Had it not been for Canadian Maghalie Rochette, she would have won Pan-Ams last month. With five wins plus eight podiums in UCI races this season she sits at 16th in the UCI rankings. Honsinger is very aware that this will be her first nationals going head-to head with 15-time champion Katie Compton—and she’s ready.

Honorable mentions: 

Cody Kaiser: Every time you start to think Kaiser is done racing, he comes back and surprises you. He was fourth at Pan-Ams, and has hovered in and around the top 10 all season.

Jamey Driscoll: Third place at Pan-Ams gives Driscoll an honorable mention, but his other results this season have been lackluster.

Raylynn Nuss: Eked her way into the top 50 in the worldwide UCI rankings (putting her 3 spots ahead of Noble), plus she has six podium finishes this season—but without any wins, she doesn’t make the list.

Sammi Runnels: Ranked 52nd worldwide, just behind Noble, Runnels has had plenty of top 10 finishes this season, but like Nuss doesn't have any UCI wins.