Looks muddy, and Belgians out in full strength. Americans falling back already :(

Jonathan Page working his way up to the top 10.

what's the deal with cross. Can somebody explain the tactics?

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

Big group of guys start together doing laps on a course. First one to cross the line at the end of the last lap wins.

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Don't forget to attack!

it was tough out there today.
i was scrambling around the course to get glimpses of our American boys as much as possible.
each time i saw them they seem to be falling further and further off the pace.

hard course with lots of strong riders at the front pushing the pace the ENTIRE race made for a hard day at the office for our guys.

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�Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle.� - Plato

That's the problem with the US crossers, they opt for racing in the US but then don't stand a chance against the Europeans. Guys like Powers did race in Belgium several years ago, but I guess cross must no longer be his priority or the financial reward is bigger in the US instead of the physical investment and reward they could get from racing in Europe, getting their ass kicked but getting stronger little by little.

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Don't forget to attack!

Oh, you mean a crit?

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

A crit with muddy hills, barriers, and stairs.

Just getting home - Awesome Race!!! Great to See Sven Nys take it - he seemed really excited. Man the Belgiums and Dutch had a great day all around (Elite Men, U23, Women)

GREAT crowds for the first ever World Championship on US Soil (estimated 15K) and they were loud for sure. Beer/Food tent lines sure sucked though :(

I could hardly walk around and there were people falling all over the place. Must have been real fun on course. Very different for the juniors in the am to the pros later though.

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Fatigue is biochemical, not biomechanical.
- Andrew Coggan, PhD

It looks like getting to the first corner in postition is much more important than a road crit. That was an all out balls to the wall sprint for the first corner. Comptons race was over in the first 200 yards.

And that bunny hopping shit is just sick.

Sven gaining two seconds each lap on the bunny hops was awesome.

Nys really deserved a second title based on his entire career. Too bad Pauwels had so much bad luck and Mourey had a flat, wished they could have stayed in the front a little longer.

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Don't forget to attack!

That other Belgian who was right behind Nys would have made it a good finish if he hadnt caught his pedal in the barrier. Still a fantastic race. My first CX races will be this fall, but almost made me pull the trigger on my license already today.

Cross pre-dates MTB'ing and was a way for cyclists in Europe to race an keep fit during winter as an alternative to riding 6 day track events. Race length is similar to crits and course usually contain a number of obsticles which can include Steps, sand and planks. As the going is often muddy riders are permited to change bikes within the pits area while their mechanics will wash and relube the bike there hand over.

Tactics wise like MTB'ing the starts are often important so you can get a clear line for the obsticles have less chance of getting caught behind a crash etc.

Courses are a bit more groomed from the old days - here is cross 1950's style - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9_Fs1QtsOY

There are still a few point to point cross races out in the wilds like the Three Peaks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQmVqxVJvao



YOu can also do a bit of Urban Cross:


http://www.youtube.com/...ed&v=rxC7rgeTGck

Page is based in Belgium all fall for the last 5yrs. Its a very tough life one he is trying to get away from, due to isolation from a support network and he has his wife/kids with him. Powers has stated if he would have stayed Euro based he would have been done with the sport years ago.

Belgium kids have cross parks and "play cx" after school. Its there football, baseball, and basketball rolled into one.

Which is exactly what we have built here in Cincy and L'ville. We have a few permanent 'cross courses (and had the prev world champ on it last weekend) and have kids on it starting at age 5 (Red Zone and Lionhearts junior teams). We had one local kid (Drew Tillman) in the race (he was only 17, turning 18 this year so he could race) and a couple in the U23 racers that have been over to Europe some as well (where the Dutch and Belgians just schooled the world) home grown and a few GREAT riders now 14-15. We now have UCI 1 and 2 races each year here and landed worlds. You should see some pretty good US cross racers in the next few years on the world scale (save for Katie Compton).

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Fatigue is biochemical, not biomechanical.
- Andrew Coggan, PhD

Drew Dillman actually turns 19 in April. If he were 17 he'd be racing Juniors.

Thanks! Been watching him race since a kid (my daughter crossed for a few years until a teen - hard after that to keep interest up) and was off by a year ;-)

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Fatigue is biochemical, not biomechanical.
- Andrew Coggan, PhD

He's a year younger than my son who also races cx. We love Drew, but have always been glad he's in a different age group! Not so going forward, though. He's a boss for sure.

jcc wrote:

He's a year younger than my son who also races cx. We love Drew, but have always been glad he's in a different age group! Not so going forward, though. He's a boss for sure.

That is great! We have been nursing Spencer Petrov around here (he has been on some group road rides with my team) and have high hopes for him in the future. His parents are friends of mine. Even junior Petrov might have a future!

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Fatigue is biochemical, not biomechanical.
- Andrew Coggan, PhD

Saw Spencer race for the first time last year at Cincy3. Agree the kid has a future.