World Cyclo-Cross Championships

 

Day 1 - Saturday 26 January 2008

Espoirs & Junior Men

Report & Images: Joolze Dymond

Winners Niels Albert (left) and Arnaud Jouffroy

 

The first two races of the 2008 World Cyclo-Cross Championships saw wins for Niels Albert of Belgium and Arnaud Jouffroy of France in the Under-23 and Junior Men's races respectively. The best ride of the day in the GB camp came from Ian Field who was 20th in the Under-23 race, whilst Seb Batchelor was the best of the Junior men in 34th place.

 

Report

 

JUNIOR MEN

 

It was an early start for the juniors for the first day of racing. Months of planning and training with days of nervous apprehension all for the chance to line up on that Worlds start line wearing the colours of your country, was finally becoming a reality. The day seemed to start well, with the youngsters in good form, looking forward to the race that lay ahead. The sun was out and shining bright it looked like everything was going to plan. And then came the news that during the night the GB van got broken into and equipment had been stolen including 2 of the juniors' race bikes.

 

Despite this setback the juniors took it all in their stride and preparations continued to plan. Then at 11 am the race was on. Alex Paton had the best gridding at 16^th, putting him on the second row, while Andrew Williams, was next up, followed by Seb Batchelor and finally Hamish Creber took his place.

As the race got under way it was a frantic scramble up the incline to the first corner, with the first crash (see pic above) coming just 100 meters from the start. Unfortunately GB rider Andrew Williams got caught up in it all, and then had to spend the next lap or two chasing to regain his position.

 

Meanwhile as the race unfolded, the slippery corners started taking their toll on the leading riders. Despite an opening lap surge by local boy Domenico Salviani, he was soon overhauled, leaving Lubomir Petrus in command with Peter Sagan on his wheel.  Chasing hard was UCI rankings leader Arnaud Jouffroy; he bridged the gap and started to move forward. His lone flight was short lived as on the last lap he was once more joined by Petrus and Sagan.  Jouffroy kicked once more and by time he crossed the line jubilant with his win he'd managed to open up a small gap despite a strong late surge by second placed Sagan.

Alex Paton - a bad run-up to the event robbed him of a chance to perform at his best

 

The GB boy's races were a mixed affair. Alex Paton now almost a veteran of World Championship events was tipped as our best contender and on a good day without the injury niggles he's faced over the last couple of weeks, he would surely have lived up to expectation. Unfortunately his race was one of disappointment as he started well, mixing it with the leaders, until he found himself running on empty and had to ride conservatively for the rest of the race making the best of a bad situation, finally finishing in 54^th spot.

 

Alex Paton

"I managed to get on the front row at the beginning and had a good start and it was all going well. I managed to get up to about 3^rd on the way round and was hanging on to top 10 for half a lap then I just seemed to run out of gas. I had a hard start, a lot of effort, but within myself but I had nothing to go with, I couldn't carry any effort on. My legs went and that was it really. I tried to make the best of a bad situation: things haven't been going to well, I've had the worse 3 weeks lead up you could ask for. I had a problem with my knee which started a week before the National Champs, so I only put in an hour training that week.

 

Fortunately my fitness held through the National Champs then I got ill, then last weekend on the training camp my knee got bad again, so I've been trying to look after my knee and myself really. I've not done that much training because of that, so I think I've lost a bit of the fitness I had going into the Nationals. I had enough to get the effort going but I just didn't have enough to carry it through. It was disappointing losing my number one bike too, but you forget about all that when you're racing. It's frustrating and it all adds up I guess. This is my third World Champs now; I've done one MTB and now two 'Cross. Last year's Cross Worlds was a bit of a disappointment again and today was a bit of an off day. You have your good days and your bad days. Hopefully if I'm given the chance again I'll be back."

Seb Batchelor had a pretty good ride in his first worlds

 

Seb Batchelor had a ride of his life, and despite a number of offs on the sketchy corners; he finished top Brit in 34^th spot, not bad for just 2 years of riding and his first experience at the worlds.

 

Seb Batchelor

I was pretty pleased with how my race went. I thought I got quite a good start even though I was at the back of the field. Off the start it was completely frantic nothing like I've ever done before. Someone crashed in the middle of the pack and everyone was swerving taking other people out and everything. I got past that but slid out on the first bit, the first corner which wasn't great but I managed to get up pretty quickly and put in a bit effort on the first bit of drag made up a few places and just got stuck into it.

 

The first lap was just mental the whole way round, it was really fast and so many people getting in the way, like going up the long run, everyone was getting off early so I got off and managed to make up a few places on that and just pushed my way through it a bit. I was told to get physical out there, so I just got stuck in and took a few crashes along the way too, but it's all in a day's race. It was really good fun.

 

I'm really glad I got to come to get this experience, I was fairly overwhelmed with the whole thing but it was so good. I definitely want to do that again.

Andrew Williams - good ride from the proud Welshman

 

Next man in was Welshman Andrew Williams - with plenty of support from his homeland this strong rider gave a gutsy performance. Being involved with a major pile up at the start put him at a disadvantage, but he kept his head and rode strongly to regain his position, coming home eventually in 38^th spot.

 

Andrew Williams

"I got a pretty bad start, I got caught up in a crash just a few hundred meters from the start and then going into the bend I was trying too hard and slipped out but other than that I stayed on the bike and rode a consistent race. The first lap I was taking it a bit easy and just building on it, I found my feet then and started to pick off people, it seemed to be getting better and better every lap.

 

It was an amazing experience, once in a lifetime, it was great. But hopefully I'll get to do it again if I get the chance. The experience was excellent it'll help immensely with my track and road work. This is the biggest event I've ever ridden it was amazing, the riders were amazing, it was great to be in there giving it a go, you can't get better than that. It was great to see the Welsh flag out there, it really got be going, it was great.

Andrew Williams enjoys the sun and the atmosphere

 

I was disappointed to get caught in that crash I think I could have been in the mix a little bit if it hadn't been for that. I was constantly picking off people, as they seemed to be slowing up. This is so intense, lung busting so different to what I'm used to and this has top be the hardest 'Cross race I've ever done. If for some reason I don't make the under 23 squad for track and road, I'll be concentrating on 'Cross, it's brilliant."

Meanwhile Hamish Creber continued his run of misfortune at Worlds level. A puncture around lap 2 just past the start banner, saw him run for nearly half a lap to the pits for a replacement bike, Unfortunately his spare was one of the bikes stolen the previous night, leaving the young rider to pick up an unknown bike to continue his lap. Despite all the best efforts by the mechanics, the fit was not right and the fact the bike had a completely different group set to what he was used to completely threw the young Scot. Determined to finish strongly he gave it his all, thoroughly enjoying the experience to come home in 51^st.

 

Hamish Creber

"I really enjoyed that. I had a good start, so I was able to work my way up nicely for the first couple of laps passing people, who were crashing, I was pretty careful out there. But on the 2^nd or 3^rd lap I punctured just after the start/finish line so I had to run to the pits, which was about half a lap and because my second bike was stolen last night I had to get on a bike I'd never ridden before - it didn't fit me and I couldn't work the gears so I had to run almost a whole lap to get round to pick up my own bike.

 

But after that I started to work my way up again and just got into a rhythm. It was a good experience, to learn what could go wrong, did go wrong but I kept my head and things can only get better. Despite everything I enjoyed my race it was a good experience. I didn't panic at all; I just knew what to do and got on with it. The experience will be useful for next season. I didn't really have any expectations here and because of that I was relaxed but still focused and when I had my problems I just treated it as race practise and just kept my head. Lining up at the start was amazing it was a great atmosphere, it was exciting. It was quite fun, I wouldn't mind doing it again."

I spoke to coach Phil Dixon after and he had nothing but praise for the young riders:

Phil Dixon

"Yeah the boys did alright. I think Alex is disappointed, if he'd been on top form I know he's capable of a top 10. But he's been on antibiotics now for a few days, he's had a really turbulent run these last 3 weeks, he's been quite frustrated not being able to ride his bike and train. So this result is totally skewed for him. The other three, well it's their first 'Cross worlds; they all held their start positions and they settled into that race.

 

It's so different out there racing this circuit to just training round it they definitely learnt that and I think Seb and Andrew were together for most of the race and slowly made their way forward. I think they all take a lot away from this experience.

Also Hamish would have finished with them, but his bike got pinched last night and when he jumped on the replacement, although the mechanics had done a good job, the bike was shimano and he rides campag so it was a total different set up for him, so he's had to do a lap on that before he could get back on his own bike.

 

Although you could say oh they didn't do that well here, these boys have got big summers coming up and I think they can take a lot from the experience today and move it forward. After this we'll sit down and I'll want to know what they've learnt out of it. That was a big event today and we've got 3 out of 4 big smiles on the lad's faces now, they all enjoyed the experience.

UNDER-23 MEN

 

Come 2.30 and it was time for the under 23 riders with Mark Thwaites and Ian Field flying the flag for GB. A seemingly smooth start soon revealed a slight clash leaving some riders at a dead stop, as the rest of the race flew up the hill. One of those unfortunate to get caught up was Mark Thwaites who then had the daunting task of making up lost ground. Despite all his efforts he found himself in no mans land for most of the race and even with some strong laps he just could not bridge over to the group he was chasing.

Mark Thwaites warming up and in action in the Under-23 race

 

Mark Thwaites

"That was really difficult, there was a bit of a crash on the start line and a few people touched and I was stopped dead at one point so I lost 20m quite early on in the race. The first half lap was really, really tricky, a lot of riders were going too hard and there were a lot of crashes so I was trying to make my way through but it was really fast at the same time so I just concentrated on getting as high up as I could and just tried to hold my position. Unfortunately with that crash I missed a group and spent most of the race on my own so that made it even harder. I was going as fast as them but as I was on my own I was going nowhere really. It was so hard, so fast, they were kicking out of every corner and as we were starting on the back we were doing double efforts to try and keep up.

 

I expected it to be fast: my brother rode it last year and I've watched the video and stuff but it's hard. We don't get much experience of racing with these guys, we come out here out of the Trophy series and it's just a different world. People like Fieldy getting in the top 20 is a really impressive ride. I was happy enough with my ride, not sure where I finished I rode to my best and did what I could, I couldn't have pulled anything else out really.

 

It was a really good experience I hope I can focus my training and put in a better ride next year given the chance.  I've learnt a different way of racing again, you learn different things each time, but you try and pull it all together and get a better result because of it. It's a different world out here though, the top boys are all full time riders, I'm trying to study for a degree and working part time, while racing so it's a different league, but you just have to enjoy the experience and learn from it for next time."

At the head of the race, it soon resembled a procession as Niels Albert, smoothly went into the lead and quickly pulled away from the rest of the field, leaving them in no doubt that the race was mainly on for silver, as Albert looked to be in a class of his own. After 3 laps he had a good 20secs ahead of Lopez and Kloucek.  With each lap that lead just stretched until on the last lap he took a comfortable win with a 50sec cushion.

 

Behind him the race for the remaining medals had really spiced up with Duval, Bourgoin and Cominelli having caught Lopez and Kloucek. Duval took the silver with Cominelli delighting the home crowd picking up the bronze. Ian Field our other GB rider had a fantastic race, finishing in 20^th spot. A great achievement considering both his grid position and an unfortunate incident on course.

Ian Field showed some real class on his way to 20th

 

Ian Field

"I got an alright start but then on the second drag I got into a lock with a German rider so I had to stop and unlock bars and carry on. By this time I was in the low 30's and from then on I was fighting to get back where I should have been. I was constantly catching people, which makes you feel good. I felt strong out there, it was just annoying I went off in 35^th and finished 20^th - where could I have finished if I'd started 20^th on the grid.

 

I'd could have pulled 10 places and might have been knocking on the door of top 10, which is what I wanted. But you can't take into account all the variable factors though can you? I was on the fourth row to start which isn't too bad 'cos you're not that far off the front really. I'm not really bothered where you are in the grid really as long as you're in the top 5 you're alright. It's just annoying that someone riding like a n****** looking for a gap that wasn't there, but me done in the results.

 

It was really fast out there, I prefer it a bit muddier, I felt real good on the hard sections, yeah it was good, I was strong and put in a good ride considering. I still get nervous at Worlds despite being a real veteran of them know! But I guess it gets easier, I wasn't as nervous as I can be. The racing here is so different to home, if you went off as fast as we did here at home, you'd probably have a minute gap by the first lap, its always a crazy speed at the start of these races and you're just hanging on but at home on the National Trophy you're like racing the first 200m to see where you are where as here you just race! You learn every time you do one of these, you learn after every race really, it's all good.

Finally after the dust had settled I asked team manager Simon Burney about his thoughts on the GB performance:

 

Simon Burney

"I was disappointed with the junior result, I was hoping someone would be pushing top 15 or around there. They're a good group of guys, I was expecting them to perform, certainly two of them better than they did. Coming in the top 30's is a step back from last year. Hopefully they've come here and done the best they could.  I think the important thing is that they got something out of it. They'll take this experience away to a different discipline so there are positives to draw from it but the result is disappointing.

The frenetic start to the under-23 race

 

In the under 23's, I think Ian actually did a good ride, he's so close to just breaking into that group and he's going the same speed as the top 10 guys. I was taking laps times and he was going the same speed after the first couple of laps as 10^th/12^th placed riders, but from a 30^th start position you've almost got to go the speed of the top 6 or 7 to get you into the top 15. You get to a point where you can't go any faster so he's going the right sort of speed, so its just the fact that his griddings are not great as he's not done the world cups and the European races so it's a bit of chicken and egg I think.

 

But as far as the speed he was going and the fitness that he has I thought he did very well. For Mark, I think if he's got something out of this then great, its like the elite guys tomorrow coming here and experiencing it and if it motivates one of them to go and live in Europe and race then it was worth bringing them."

Results

Under-23 Men
1 Niels Albert (Belgium) 51.11
2 Aurelien Duval (France) 0.38
3 Cristian Cominelli (Italy) 0.46
4 Jonathan Lopez (France) 0.47
5 Clônt Bourgoin (France) 0.48
6 Lukas Kloucek (Czech Republic) 0.53
7 Fabio Ursi (Italy) 1.05
8 Guillaume Perrot (France) 1.31
9 Paul Voss (Germany) 1.39
10 Ramon Sinkeldam (Netherlands)
other
20 Ian Field (Great Britain) 2.19
48 Mark Thwaites (Great Britain) 6.18

Junior Men
1 Arnaud Jouffroy (France) 40.30
2 Peter Sagan (Slovakia) 0.01
3 Lubomir Petrus (Czech Republic) 0.04
4 Elia Silvestri (Italy) 0.54
5 Matthias Rupp (Switzerland) 0.55
6 Pierre Garson (France) 1.07
7 Stef Boden (Belgium) 1.08
8 Sean De Bie (Belgium) 1.11
9 Jonathan Cessot (France)
10 Luke Keough (United States Of America) 1.12
other
34 Sebastian Batchelor (Great Britain) 3.14
38 Andrew Williams (Great Britain) 3.24
51 Hamish Creber (Great Britain) 4.46
54 Alex Paton (Great Britain) 5.53