Cyclocross World Championships
Portraits by Dominique Powers.
Last we left you, our cyclocross holiday had departed Besançon, France to drive back up to our Benelux home base in Sittard, Netherlands. We arrived back in Watersley on the Monday following our final World Cup of the season to unite with our USA Cycling teammates and staff.
On Wednesday the team would have their final hard training session before the big show. This skills session took place on the Watersley Sport grounds with all of Team USA. This session was lead by a familiar face to STF Racing, Stephen Hyde. Stephen has been the Cyclocross National Team Coach all season. It was really something special to have Stephen alongside us for the biggest race of the season.
Some of you may be curious what a training session would look like the week of the World Championships… so here is a brief rundown of how we prepared:
Warm Up: 30minute road ride. Followed by about 15minutes of lapping a micro course to wake up the brain and get the body ready for the session.
Start Practice: Hoogerheide has a long, paved, uphill start. Lucky for us, there is a perfect hill that leaves the Watersley grounds that would mimic what we would conquer on race day. We did about 5 group starts.
Hot Laps: We closed the session with hot laps of a course that Hyde pieced together for us. Each hot lap was roughly 3-4 minutes long.
Cool Down: We rolled around the Watersley grounds to cool down before heading inside to eat a nice lunch to make sure our body was starting the recovery process.
Image by Dominique Powers
On Thursday we packed up and head from Sittard to Hoogerheide for our first pre-ride of the weekend. All of Team USA gathered to ride one full lap of the course together. It really felt powerful to roll as a team of Navy blue and Red through the course to stop and talk about different sections of the course.
Friday - Team Relay:
On Friday the Team Relay World Championships would take place. This would be the first official cyclocross world championships team relay event. Each relay team has 6 total riders from their country. Curtis and Lizzy both took part as members of the relay! Curtis taking the first leg and Lizzy taking the 3rd leg. The team would finish in 6th place. The relay gave Curtis and Lizzy the great opportunity to not only dive head first into Team USA camaraderie, but give them a chance to experience the World Championships course at speed.
Image by Ethan Glading.
Saturday - Elite Women:
The climax of the season had finally arrived. Raylyn would be the first of the STF Racing squad to take on the Championship event in Hoogerheide. This would be Raylyn’s first time racing the World Championships in Europe. Overnight rainfall would shake up the conditions from the previous day’s pre ride. As rain drizzled down from the sky almost as though a cloud was sitting perfectly on the small town of Hoogerheide, crowds began to pour into the venue. Raylyn and USA teammate, Clara Honsinger, would sit in the RV after their pre-ride watching the Men’s U23 race to see how the course conditions were evolving. Raylyn made the call after hearing more of the Men’s U23 race to start the race on Challenge Limus Tires. She had a spare set of Baby Limus ready to go in the pit on her second bike in case she felt like she needed something just a bit faster.
Image by Dominique Powers.
Image by Ethan Glading.
The lights flipped green: Elite women were off! Raylyn would launch up and over the first of 4 flyovers to head around Pit one and make way into the woods. Chaos - the first turn going into the woods was a muddy one. A wave full of 30 of the best Elite cyclocross women in the country trying to get through the first wooded section in the front of the pack created the perfect amount of chaos. On Lap 2 as Raylyn was starting to get her groove she would crash on the small pavement section leading into the barriers. This gave the group behind her the chance to catch on. She would ride with USA Teammate, Clara, for most of the race before starting to fade with 2 laps to go. Raylyn crossed the finish line in 21st with nothing left in the tank.
Raylyn had hoped for a better result going into the race, but overall her progression throughout the season was something she can sit back and be proud of. Raylyn is already salivating at the chance to compete again next season!
Sunday - U23 Women & Elite Men
The finale of the World Championships weekend would lead us to Sunday as Lizzy and Curtis would have their day to compete on the highest stage of the sport.
The prediction was over 50,000 spectators would funnel into the venue to cheer on the day’s events. On Saturday the rainfall would stop just as the Elite women would take off. Course conditions had already began to dry up. Strong winds on Sunday would dry up the course even more. This is the fun and unique part of cyclocross, you have to stay on your toes and be ready for whatever Mother Nature throws at you. It’s also important to have a team around you to help advise you on your choices, and give constant updates of the changing terrain. (Much like a caddy in golf would do… as a golfer chooses their club wisely, we select the appropriate tire and have spares lined up in the pit.)
Images by Ethan Glading.
Lizzy would start at 13:00 CET. A familiar start-time to the World Cups made the morning routine a little easier for Lizzy. Lizzy would start the race on Baby Limus Tires. Lizzy had a premium spot to line up on the front row; which would give her a great opportunity to get mixed in at the start! She bobbed and weaved through the course battling it out in a group for the top 15. She would finish the day in 15th place.
At 15:00, Curtis would close out the weekend. Conditions had changed enough that he would plan to start the race on a Grifo mid-tire. After getting stuck behind the bustle at the start, Curtis had some work to do to make up ground. As a sea full of over 50,000 spectators would roar and cheer as the battle between Wout and Mathieu would unfold. The Hoogerheide course is a FAST one! It’s a difficult course to make up much ground on because of how fast-paced the course would flow. Curtis would claw his way back through the pack finishing the day in 27th. Curtis was also hoping for a higher result on race-day, but left nothing in the tank. Raylyn and Curtis would sit next to one another on the 2 hour drive back to Sittard salivating, and already brainstorming on how best to tackle the 2023/24 cyclocross season!
Race Images by Ethan Glading.
All three of our athletes are finally back to the United States for a chance to rest, recharge, and process all that unfolded throughout our cyclocross holiday. We have been on the road for over 5 and a half months of action packed cyclocross racing. Before we recap the full season, we will all take a moment to reflect. It is an honor to be able to represent the United States on the highest stage the sport offers, and to compete for the chance to claim the World Title.
A massive thank you to USA Cycling for the setup and support around the World Championships weekend. It was such an enjoyable environment to be a part of, and all Team USA athletes bonded together to lend advice, and give hype throughout the week. True camaraderie and support.
Weekend gallery images by Ethan Glading below:
