The road season is almost over now, but luckily the cross will pick up right away. And how! The weather gods seem to have got their act together and turned the course of the first World Cup in America into a muddy puddle.
It’s almost a tradition (and not everyone’s happy, given the high costs). At the start of the season, European crossers cross the Atlantic for some cyclo-cross races in America.
Unfortunately, there is only one World Cup race this season: Waterloo, Wisconsin, in and around the home of American bicycle manufacturer Trek. But it promises to be a good cyclo-cross as Waterloo has had a lot of rain in recent days – whatever.
Video Buck Peters
Buck Peters was already in North America for the final rounds of the Mountain Biking World Cup (he won the final classification!) so added this World Cup to that trip. As we have come to expect from him, he posted a lesson study on his YouTube channel.
Amersford was always upbeat and didn’t mind the mud. Below you can watch the muddy lap at Waterloo, with Peters’ skilled and funny commentary.
Sven Nys
Sven Nys, team manager of the Baloise-Trek Lions, is in America and has already told Sporza that he expects a good cross. “There was bad weather here the day before yesterday. They forecast rain until Sunday morning. We’re not going to get a running cross, but we’re going to keep a cross. It will be amazing,” he promises.
Friday saw his partners Shirin van Unrooge and Pim Rönhaar win the warm-up at Waterloo: the Trek Cup, a cross of a lesser category that doesn’t feature many top riders. Van Unruijt beat Joe Backstedt by around 40 seconds ahead.
Tonight from 7:30 p.m
You can follow the cross in Waterloo tonight at 7:30pm Dutch and Belgian time on Eurosport 1. NOS will broadcast live all World Cup heats this season. What’s in Waterloo isn’t on TV, but via livestream and digital TV apps.
As usual, the women ride the cross first. Buck Peters and Shirin van Unrooge are in the US, but world champion Fem van Embel also passed. After women, men begin their cross only after nine. Can Thibaut follow up his impressive performance last week in Nice Beringen?
