2013 seemed so far away. I was expecting to here that the UCI rethought their decision or that sponsors fell through and the race would be moved. The latter almost happened after Exergy failed to come through with promised sponsorship funding, but some US sponsors and USA Cycling stepped up to make it happen. After a long, long wait the week of Worlds finally came for the Bluegrass State...
I had bought tickets for Shannon and myself long in advance to ensure we would be there watching the best fight it out on the banks of the Ohio River. We had booked a hotel room in town as the races were to cover Saturday and Sunday of the first weekend in February. The schedule was for the Junior Men and U23 Men to race Saturday, with the Elite Men and Women following on Sunday.
Mother Nature brought forth a crazy week, starting warm with lots of rain and even the threat of tornadoes, followed by a temperature crash that froze the course and even left it with a thin layer of snow. All the precipitation caused the Ohio River to begin flooding, threatening the race course by Friday. Crews were brought in to survey the scene. They built dams and pumped water off some areas, even throwing gravel and wood chips over low spots in the course where water was starting to bubble up due to the high water table below. The Ohio continued to rise and by lunchtime on Friday, it was clear that the mighty river would overtake the course by Saturday evening, flooding half of the course including the team and VIP areas before race time on Sunday. The decision was made to condense the schedule, to run all four events on Saturday before the flooding got worse. I got the email of the schedule change while at work and scrambled to cancel my hotel room. They actually allowed me to cancel with no charge. Dina was even wanting to go now that it was a one-day event, so she bought a ticket and planned to ride up with us.
The day's events started earlier than we had planned for. We departed the house at 4:30am on Saturday in order to get to Louisville in time for the Junior Men's race. It snowed the entire drive, getting quite slick on the roads as we hit Louisville. A couple of inches of snow piled up on the course before the first race. The temp was low so it kept the ground frozen and the course very fast. It was cool to walk through the team area and watch the riders getting ready. Some countries had just a Budget rental truck for their riders to put equipment in. Some had their trainers set up in the back of the truck to stay out of the cold wind and falling snow. Other countries brought much more, like Canada, who brought a little hut with a generator to keep their riders warm. Most countries had a single truck full of equipment, but Belgium had three! They brought with them an astonishing 66 bikes and 140 sets of wheels for their 20 riders. That's why they are king of cross.
It was still hard to believe it was really going to happen until the first start gun went off and the Junior Men came screaming by us. The course was a fast one, especially with the frozen surface. The pre-race favorite Mathieu Van der Peol dominated the race, but the real action was watching the crowd supporting the American kids. This was definitely the best race of the day, with battles going on all over the course and the crowd being very vocal in their support of the home team. Chants of "USA!" rang out all over the course.
Junior Men come out of the first turn
I'm guessing this guy is a Belgium supporter, what do you think?!
Chopped up snowy descent
The Swiss overtook this corner at the bottom of the rock ledge run-up
Van der Poel out front on lap 1
Logan Owen had a great ride for Team USA, slicing his way through the field to get into a five-rider war for the final podium spot. He battled two Belgians, a Swiss, and a Czech rider for the last three laps. Owen moved to third, then fell, then caught back up. He made some daring moves, but not all of them paid off. He wound up just missing the podium in fourth. It really was an awesome race to watch. I'm glad I was there to help cheer on a future star of American cycling in what may have been the best 40 minutes of the kid's life.
Silver medalist Martijn Budding.
Logan Owen
Owen and a Swiss rider run the ledges
Owen just couldn't shake the Swiss rider
Another US rider
Video: Junior Men Highlights
Between races, we people watched. We saw all sorts of costumes. Every American hero or superhero ever was on that course somewhere. We saw Uncle Sam, George Washington, Evel Knievel, a fat Captain America, and even Miss America. And a big gorilla beating on a plastic bucket like a drum.
The Women's race was a bit disappointing. The crowd never really got into it. Katie Compton was our American hope. Her biggest rival, Marianne Vos, is one of the best cyclists in the world. She has won numerous World Championships on the road and in cyclocross, and even took the Olympic Road Race title last year in London. She's a beast and was definitely the favorite. But we hoped Katie could give her a run, especially since she would be on home soil. Katie got behind early and by the time she worked her way through the pack, Vos was long gone. She soloed nearly the entire race to win yet another world title, while Katie had to settle for silver. I like Vos and thought it was cool to get to see her in action first-hand, but I was pulling for Katie today. But hey, second place at World's isn't a bad day by any stretch!
Elite Women underway. Lucie Chainel-Lefevre snatched the holeshot.
Vos already prying open the gap on her teammate Sanne Van Paassen
Vos
Chainel-Lefevre on frozen sand
Katie Compton
One of my favorite riders, Sanne Cant, had an off-day today.
Vos on a steep descent
Vos running up the ledges
Vos with a huge lead
Young American Kaitlin Antonneau
Two Americans and a Belgian on the run-up
British hopeful Helen Wyman was caught up in a crash on the opening lap and played catch-up the whole race, finishing in 13th.
Video: Elite Women's race
The sun popped out at the end of the Women's event. The course began to melt almost instantly. The mud began to show through the white snow making the course turn to a what looked more like a pigpen than a bike course. It was classic cyclocross conditions! There was a long practice intermission between the Elite Women and U23 Men's races. That gave us time to stroll through the pits and sponsor area. Clif Bar was the popular tent. You were not allowed to bring in any outside food. Clif was giving away their Clif Builders protein bar. They couldn't get the boxes open fast enough as the people were getting hungry and fiesty. We also got to see the river up close. The crews truly were the only reason this event happened. They kept the water out of the course all day long.
The Ohio River was getting close. We actually used these trees as part of the course at the USGP race here in 2010, the last time I race here. Good thing they weren't part of the Worlds course.
The river was really close to the edge of the course here. Normally it wouldn't even be in sight from this vantage point.
The temporary dam was doing it's job. Without this, an entire section of the course would've been submerged before the first race ever started.
Also during the break, we watched the Elite Men making their practice laps as they began their warm-up. We saw a lot of the big dogs from Europe for the first time, including Sven Nys, Niels Albert, Kevin Pauwels, Klaas Vantornout, Lars Van Der Haar, Bart Wellens, Francis Mourey, Martin Bina and more.
The pit was a happening place all day long.
A Swiss rider warming up on course.
Martin Bina warming up, fresh off his World Cup win in Hoogerheide, Netherlands just two weeks before.
Ryan Trebon
Defending World Champion Niels Albert
Nys practicing a tricky off-camber section
Nys didn't make it through the slick off-camber mud. His team manager was there to provide advice as needed.
Nys cleans it after a few tries.
Bart Aernouts
Tim Johnson
The U23 race started slow. Pre-race favorite Wietse Bosmans of Belgium got out front early. He survived the chaos that ensued on the slick, off-camber parts of the course the first few laps. We moved around a lot during the first two races, but the crowd was growing and now we had to post up in one area for long periods of time just to be able to see anything. We ended up on the fence along the toughest off-camber part, seeing multiple crashes and some great mud skills on display. The race ended up being exciting as Dutch rider Mike Teunissen came from behind to get the win. He fell early, then settled down in the top 5 before making a charge in the latter half of the race. He moved to second, then bridged across to Bosmans. Teunissen then dropped Bosmans on the final lap to take the win. It was a great comeback.
First lap of the U23 Men's race
The Green Monster was back for Worlds
The early leaders on the slick off-camber hillside
Lots of chaos behind the leaders
This Czech rider got into some trouble on the first lap
Bosmans out front
An American gets up after a fall in the mud
Mike Teunissen struggled early, but rallied back to win
Bosmans had an interesting technique here. When in doubt, drag your bike.
2nd and 3rd place riders chasing Bosmans halfway through the U23 race
Teunissen used the fencing to help keep traction as he ran. The color matched his Dutch jersey.
Two Frenchmen riding this difficult section.
The American guys let it all hang out, but it didn't always work out for them. Here's one on the ground.
This guy made the turn...
...then slid out. It was a really greasy section.
Teunissen has now caught Bosmans with a few laps to go.
Bosmans
Video: A few clips from the U23 Men's race
The crowd was huge by the time the Elite Men's race arrived. We were standing in a big crowd at the top of the second muddy run-up on course. Our crowd was full of people from all over the world. One second we were surrounded by Canadians. Another second, it was Swiss and Norwegians all around. Then we would be standing next to Belgians who were out in force to cheer on their beastly team of cyclocross superheros.
I'm a huge Sven Nys fan. I always have been a fan of his since I first learned about cross. He just seems to be a hard-working and hard-racing kind of guy and I can really appreciate that. I wanted him to win today, especially since he was talking of retiring at the end of this season. Nys is always fast in the early season races, winning the majority of them. But he never seems to have the perfect form needed in late-January and early-February to take the World Championships. He won it a few years back, but one win doesn't seem quite just for such a legend of the sport.
The American crowd was super supportive of every racer out there. Of course the Americans were cheered for the most, but Nys had quite a few supporters in the crowd as well. The Belgians were dominating the front as expected. The Elite Men are so fast and so aggressive. It's sort of unreal to watch them power through the mud. By now, the was almost completely gone from the course. It was downright treacherous on some of the off-camber areas.
The crowd was big by the time the men hit the course
Bina leading on the first lap
First time up the ledges
Trebon starts the run-up
Francis Mourey slipped away for France early on, but the Belgian train pulled it all back together. The triple threat of Nys, Klaas Vantornout and Kevin Pauwels took charge midway through the event. Pauwels had a mechanical that took him out of contention, leaving Nys and Vantornout to battle for the coveted rainbow jersey. Vantornout made a few bobbles at the ledge run-up the final lap and that was all she wrote. Nys got a tiny gap and then poured on the coal all the way to the line to get the win. It was an exciting finish and one that just made my day! I'm so glad I got to see one of the best bike racers of all time win a World Championship title. The Americans didn't fair extremely well. Jonathan Page was top 10 for most of the race, but a mechanical took him back to 22nd at the end. Tim Johnson was the top American in 19th.
Standing by some Belgians as Francis Mourey comes by off the front on lap 2
Pauwels in pursuit of Mourey
Nys remounting
Lars Van Der Haar with Niels Albert just behind
Jonathan Page
Bart Wellens
Trebon and a French rider
Mourey led for several laps before the Belgians caught up
Pauwels at the top of the ledges
Thijs Van Amerongen
A very muddy Jonathan Page
Bart Aernouts
Ruts everywhere
A German rider tackles this set of muddy ruts
The lead pack after Mourey was caught
Van Amerongen
Trebon
Page
Jeremy Powers
Nys leading with 2 laps to go
Van Der Haar got on the podium in 3rd
Bart Wellens moved up throughout the race, eventually taking 4th
The snow began coming down again the last few laps. Jonathan Page is chasing here after his mechanical.
J-Pow on the last lap
Video: Elite Men's race
We were directed a different way for our long walk back to the car. We ended up walking past our parking lot because we couldn't see it over some mounds of dirt. Then we got turned around again trying to get on I-65. It was a mess getting out of there, but overall I think it was a great experience. The City of Louisville did a great job getting things ready and the fans showed just how much we like cyclocross over here in the States. Having all the races in one day was better in my mind. It was non-stop action all day long. And it was a good thing that all the racing was held Saturday, because nearly the entire park was underwater on Sunday. Here's a pic from Sunday looking down on the same area where I took the crowd shot just before the Elite Men's race.
You can watch the full race videos in English here: Juniors Elite Women U23 Men Elite Men
I thought it was quite entertaining to see people stealing the directional signs off the light poles on the way out of town. Any object that had anything to do with the event was being taken home as a souvenir. I would have loved a souvenir, but a sign for "Wrist Band Re-Entry" is not what I want to take home and hang on my wall. Maybe I'm weird.
I look forward to more big Pro cross races in the U.S. and hope we get a World Cup soon. I loved being a spectator, but I hope I never do it again. Next time, I want to race! Click here if you want to read race reports written by real reporters over at CyclingNews. There's an awesome video posted here if you want more.
This whole thing makes me want a cross bike so bad. Time to start saving pennies for a new bike!
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