Two-time U.S. women's elite cyclocross champion Clara Honsinger will make her 2022-2023 "cross" debut with a doubleheader in Waterloo, Wisconsin, including the World Cup opener on October 9. The following week, he will race two races in Fayetteville, Arkansas, before departing for Europe. [EF Education-TIBCO-SVB rider said that after an intense six months of road racing at the World Tour level for the first time, he is ready to reboot and focus on his cyclocross campaign for the next four months. That starts with racing, not resting, on both C1 days before the World Cup, the C1 Trek Cup in Wisconsin on October 7 and the C1 OZ Cross race in Fayetteville on October 14.

"I may be starting the season a little late, but I'll be racing all the way through January," Honsinger told Cycling News. "These races [Trek Cup and OZ Cross] are important to me. I do a lot of CX group training and local races in Oregon, but I want to use these races as preparation for my first World Cup"

.

"The 'home' World Cup is really important because it is a rare opportunity to race in front of the North American racing community and fans. It's a long season, but I want to put on a good show in American racing."

Honsinger's 2021-2022 cross season was a 25-day race that saw him win his second Elite US title and finish 11th at the World Championships in Fayetteville. He then switched to the road with EF Education-TIBCO-SVB and competed in another 25 days of racing. He finished in the top 30 at Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femme and Paris-Roubaix Femme, and was 4th in GC at the UCI 2.2 Jo Martin stage race.

"I had a long road season from March to late August last year. I love racing locally and supporting the growing USCX series, but I really needed the rest and time to train at home in Portland."

Honsinger missed three of the four US Cyclocross Series (USCX) races this year due to a late start in cross. Last year, Honsinger competed in four USCX races, winning the C1 contest in Charm City and finishing second three times.

She will go from road to off-road, followed by EF Education teammate Zoe Backstedt. The young Briton is the defending women's junior cyclocross world champion, and Backstedt just added two more world titles to her resume by winning the junior road race and time trial titles in Wollongong in September!

"I've been a bit of a wrecking ball.

"It was also great to sign Zoe Backstedt, we roommated and raced together at a few races in August and I was very impressed with her mature, focused, yet laid back personality. I think we are going to have a lot of fun rolling through the CX scene."

Backstedt will open the season with a C2 race in Ardoy on October 20, followed by a C2 race in Nomey on October 22-23.

In mid-October, the Oregonian will move its home base to Europe before returning to the US for the remaining 12 World Cup events and the Cyclocross National Championships in Hartford, Connecticut on December 6-11.

"I'll be targeting a few races, especially the Koppenberg and the Ovelise, and then I'll return home for the national championships...I'm going to focus on these individual performances rather than competing in every race on the CX calendar," Honsinger told Cyclingnews.

Last season, the team had a strong showing at the CX Nationals.

Last season she participated in the highly successful and now defunct Cannondale Cyclocross World program, winning the X2O Badkamers Trophy at the Koppenberg Cross and finishing fifth in the World Cup race in Ouvélaise. EF Education has allowed her to continue with cyclocross and she continues to use her familiar Cannondale equipment. [But I am truly grateful and excited that EF Education-TIBCO-SVB has taken on this task. With the new structure, along with the different staff, there will be a lot for all of us to learn."