USA Cycling has released the tech guide for the 2023 cyclocross national championships, scheduled for December 5-10, 2023 in Louisville, Kentucky. Here's what you need to know about maximum tire sizes, GPS tracks for course preview, pit passes, live streaming, and more.
Maximum tire width / sizes
A few years ago I translated the tech guide into plain English regarding tire size. The rules for 2023 appear to be largely the same as the revision that was made in 2019:
- No spikes or studs in any category
- For events held under UCI rules, tire width is limited to 33mm. That's for Elite Men and Women, U23 Men and Women, and Junior Men and Women 17-18.
- For other categories held under USA Cycling rules (Masters, Collegiate, Singlespeed etc) the maximum width is 38mm.
Note: previously there was no tire width limitation at all in the "USAC Juniors" category - under 16. This detail does not appear in the 2023 tech guide. It's likely safe to assume no changes, however, if you traveling from a distance to nationals with a 16 and under rider, it may make sense to bring additional wheels/tires that are width compliant, just in case.
See my detailed summary of the tire width rules for the UCI and non-UCI categories at cyclocross national championship events for more info, including recommedations for specific tire models that will meet the width rules for 2023.
Course preview
Ride With GPS has tracks that can be previewed and downloaded to your Garmin / Wahoo device for the purposes of inspecting the course profile. The GPS tracks show distance, elevation gain, etc. and tracks are available for each course variation, which is slightly different depending on race category.
Courses range from 0.9 to 1.9 miles per lap (1.4 - 3 km), based on category.
Call-ups
The tech guide indicates that call-up procedures will be used for staging, but does not indicate the specific details of what factors will be used.
A recent CXMagazine post indicates that USA Cycling plans to use their national points system for call-ups, as opposed to something like crossresults.com rankings. If true, it makes sense for athletes who plan to race nationals to "chase points" at USA Cycling permitted events.
Pit Passes
Pit passes are required for UCI category (Elite, U23, and 17-18) races. If you're bringing a pit crew and plan to participate in one of these categories, note that there is a limit of 2, and your pit crew must hold a license from USA Cycling or or a foreign federation (the tech guide doesn't state "racing license" or "mechanic license", just "license").
Reading between the lines, this appears to suggest that no pit pass or pre-registration for pit crew is required outside of those UCI categories.
Wristbands / Tickets
All registered athletes receive one wristband for access to the venue, everyone else pays $25, i.e. supporters, parents, fans.
What about live streaming?
FloSports has the streaming rights for the 2023 USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships and offers this event as part of their FloBikes annual subscription package. FloBikes also has streaming rights for the 2023/23 cyclocross World Cup. More info...
Additional reading
This is only a summary. Before packing or traveling to attend, athletes, coaches, and mechanics should read this entire tech guide front to back.