Cycling Odysseys

"The early season in cycling is the preseason of the sport in almost every respect, except in one massive way: these races still count."

"The calendar is long and bloated, at points there seems no rhyme or reason to it. Overall it is difficult to string together a season-long narrative besides the fact that we know what the biggest objectives are and we can measure or debate who has racked up the greatest haul all placings and winnings."

"It was like the big final or championship game of the season, the most accurate comparison is to the 4x4 Relay of a Track Meet: everyone has been there for 6 hours, everyone is drained and slap-happy from their own events. But should the meet come down to the wire, there is ferocious pressure and excitement watching the sprinters go the distance, or even the middle-distance runners show their speed. So it is with no disrespect at all to the earlier phenomenal races when I say there was a certain hype, aura, tension, and buildup to the Men’s Elite Cyclocross World Title."

"So coming into the finishing straight of the third lap, Lucinda Brand was visibly frustrated and gestured to Marianne Vos to come through and do a turn to at least make the race somewhat even. But Marianne Vos…….was taking a drink FROM HER WATERBOTTLE."

"Yes, this title is beyond cliché and perhaps almost lazy. But if you have watched men’s cyclocross at all for the past 8 seasons, can you blame me at all for picking such a title? Are not the men’s elite riders themselves thinking of this race in such terms?"

"777’s Annemarie Worst, second at Worlds last year, has tested positive for Covid and is out. Ever consistent Denise Betsema is out with some non-Covid illness and will no longer be making the trip to the US. Many more minor riders are also out, but the race is already shaping up to be a duel between the only two riders to have taken prestigious wins in the last few months."

"But none of this deterred the Belgians from getting out to the usual ferocious start. In fact, the start was more ferocious than I am accustomed: for a strange reason. The dominant generation of Belgians I was watching was the generation above the one I grew up with......Thus, to watch the replay of these 2013 World Championships, I felt in every respect like a 2nd Grader watching the big-and-strong 8th Graders above me. This older generation of Belgians looked physically bigger, looked incredibly more talented and driven, looked like untouchable masters."

"The race immediately began with the duel Rucphen ended with last time: Lucinda Brand pushing the pace with Marianne Vos coolly following behind again with a gap to the rest of the chasers before half-a-lap into the race—it was Mighty Ace-esque. And what was also Mighty Ace-esque was when Brand and Vos strategically sat up on the final straightaway to metaphorically stare each other down."

'This day at Val di Sole, the collective cyclocross discipline threw down the gauntlet and told the Winter Olympics committee: “You can ignore us no longer. We challenge you to amend your winter sports definition from ‘all the sport’s competitions MUST take place on snow or ice’ to ‘the winter sport’s competitions must BE ABLE to take place on snow or ice.’ We have top physical athletes, we have an international following, and we can do this sport on any terrain, even on the snowy turf that is your desire.” '

'And now it is time for a bit of heart-to-heart honesty: there have been many years where week-in and week-out the women’s cyclocross season has been much more thrilling than the men’s. For whole seasons, Mathieu Van Der Poel the Mighty Ace would have his way with the races, and the few exciting ones were the exceptions that proved the rule. Well, this year was a reverse of this formula, it was the women’s races that proved early “done-and-dusted-deals,” and the exciting ones were exceptions that proved the rule.'