The other Big Three

Strohmeyer, Brunner, Funston, and a race for the ages

Three men dominate cyclocross headlines to an annoying extent. Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert, and Tom Pidcock—together dubbed the Big Three—are multi-disciplinary phenoms. When any one of them enters a cyclocross race, they are bound to win.

I get it, the Big Three are more often than not a step above any other rider, and they are some of the most recognizable names across cycling disciplines, meaning they bring in above average viewership for media outlets.

Certain publications—with predominantly road cycling audiences and coverage—focus on the Big Three too much,overshadowing the rest of cyclocross.

This article isn’t actually about those three riders, but rather a new Big Three. That is: Andrew Strohmeyer, Eric Brunner, and Scott Funston. The trio battled in a way not seen in a decade on Saturday, making for a National Championship for the ages and highlighting how good ‘cross can be, even without the (Euro) Big Three.

Brunner was the hot favorite, winning Nationals last year on a similar Louisville course. He also won the Pan American Championships this season in addition to five additional races this fall.

Four years Brunner’s junior, Strohmeyer was out for redemption. The Maryland racer placed second to Brunner in Louisville last year and has won a national title in every category except elites.

Funston was perhaps the underdog, though no slouch. The Coloradoan often shares podiums with the others but is considered out-gunned in terms of raw power.

The trio led from the gun, with Brunner and Stohmeyer particularly adamant in pushing the pace to drop the others. With the exception of a few brief moments, that never happened. At one point, Brunner gained a small gap but bobbled in a tricky right hand corner, allowing the others to catch back on.

Strohmeyer led the final lap with Brunner edging ahead before the stairs, but Strohmeyer again took the lead with a tight line through a corner.

The set of barriers late in the lap played an important role. Early in the race, Stroymeyer looked sketchy over them, and Brunner crashed trying to hop them a couple laps later. With some hoping and some running, what would the trio choose the final time around?

Strohmeyer led into them and pulled off a textbook bunny hop and maintained his lead. A small gap opened up, but Brunner closed a little bit heading into the final corner onto the pavement. It was enough of a gap, and Strohmeyer’s sprint was so powerful, that nobody was going to catch him for the stars and stripes jersey.

At a time when many people’s perception of cyclocross is defined by the European Big Three, I’m glad to have an American Big Three and to have watched a National Championship battle not seen since the days of Jeremy Powers, Tim Johnson, and Ryan Trebon.