Hoogerheide is normally a small, sleepy Dutch town but it really comes alive for Cyclocross races. Thirty-five thousand die-hard fans packed into the course so thick that most had to settle for watching the races on Giant TV screens. Many others never left the beer tents! Those who could actually see the race live banged wooden shoes together, making the entire scene electric.
The Americans did not come close to their performance in 2008, and in fact Jeremy Powers who finished 35th, was the best of the American men. Bjorn Selander, a silver medalist the year before, finished 27th in the U-23 race. Luke Keough, who many thought had a good shot at the junior podium, crashed twice and finished 13th.
The one bright spot was Katie Compton, who came within a heartbeat of winning the Women's race, but had to settle for bronze. With three World Cup wins and the USA National Championship, this was easily Katie's best year of racing cyclocross.
Ryan Trebon, the USA National Champion, was injured and crashed out of the race when he collided with a television camera that was hanging out onto the course. Hopefully the UCI has investigated this shameful incident to assure it does not happen again in the future.
The conditions at Hoogerheide were dry and extremely fast, giving all the races a "road race" feel.. The pavement finish was extraordinarily long, with a right hand turn to contend with. There was one flyover, one set of steps, and no barriers.. All in all, it was a pretty non-technical course for a world championship. The course designers obviously had counted on muddy conditions. |
