It looks like we’re going to make it! The cyclocross world championships will be in Fayetteville AR this week, only the second time the United States has hosted the event. I plan to watch the televised coverage of the men’s and women’s elite races. The juniors, the under-23s, and the team relay test event? I’m not promising anything. I don’t know if I can set aside something like 8 hours over 3 days: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. But if I don’t watch the undercard when it airs, then at least I’ll check out the highlights of those races or watch the replays when I have some extra time.
Injuries and positive COVID tests have taken some of the obvious contenders out of consideration: no Van der Poel or Van Aert on the men’s side, no Betsema or Worst on the women’s side. I think the men’s elite race will be wide open, but Eli Iserbyt and Tom Pidcock are good picks for the win. The women’s race seems almost certain to go to either Lucinda Brand or Marianne Vos.
This season we had a World Cup race on snow in the Italian Alps to show how cyclocross could fit in the Winter Olympics, and next fall we’ll have the Pan-American Championships in Costa Rica where it will be 80° or more! But it’s going to be a Goldilocks weekend in Fayetteville: 50-something on both Saturday and Sunday. That’s good for the racers and for the fans.
Meanwhile, it’s -12° in West Bend as I write this … -23° with the wind chill. I am riding my cyclocross bike these days, but with road tires on the turbo trainer!
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