Can Romanchuk rise on his favorite roads?

The AbbottWMM men’s wheelchair series has been dominated so far by Marcel Hug in 2023.
 
The Swiss veteran has swept all four races in the series so far, and set a course record at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon last year, where he will clash again on Sunday with Daniel Romanchuk, the last man to beat him.
 
In fact, Chicago is the last place Romanchuk - or anyone for that matter - got one over on Hug in 2021, powering away from his rival as they bludgeoned their way up Mount Roosevelt and onto Columbus Drive to the finish.
 
It was that year that the tide turned back in Hug’s favor. Pre-COVID-19, the young American had spearheaded what looked like a new era when he blasted his way to the 2019 AbbottWMM series crown.
 
But after developing a new chair and far lower seating position, Hug roared back when the world began to open up again. He plundered four gold medals at the 2021 Paraympic Games, and then charged through a packed fall Majors season to reclaim the series crown - suffering his only loss in five Majors to Romanchuk.
 
He has not looked back since, only missing Boston in 2022 through illness. That omission did not stop Hug from collecting the series title again last year, and he is already looking imperious as we head towards the final two races of the 2023 schedule.
 
And so, on the streets regarded as home turf for Romanchuk and the rest of his University of Illinois-reared wheelchair stars, could we see the man from Maryland mount another challenge to Hug’s dominance?
 
Romanchuk was victorious here in 2018 and 2019. His win in 2021 means he has taken out three of the last four editions of a race that celebrates its 45th birthday on Sunday.
 
The form points to Hug, but the crowd will be firmly on the side of man representing the stars and stripes on race day.
 
The same can be said for reigning women’s champion Susannah Scaroni. She secured a maiden Majors win in Chicago last year and went on to take the series with a course record in New York City.
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She was one of four women in an incredible race in Berlin two weekends ago, in which the top four all broke the previous women’s world record.
 
Two more of that quartet are also in the Windy City, including Berlin victor Catherine Debrunner and three-time series champion Manuela Schär.

Schär says she feels at her strongest since her dominant streak of ten wins in a row in 2018/19, but Debrunner's frightening track speed makes her a threat if she is allowed to stay with a group all the way to the final straight.

Scaroni won here last year by going out hard and ending the race as a contest as early as she could. It's also Schär's favored method of victory. Why leave it to the cut and thrust of a bunch sprint where one wrongly-timed burst can end your hopes?

These are the calculations that will be pinging around these women's heads as they plot and plan their best strategy for success.
 
The women’s title is wide open following the start to the fall season in Berlin, which should make for a fascinating contest. Who can claim pole position for the series finale in New York?

All to play for on Sunday.