Twenty young cyclo-cross athletes from 11 countries have been put through their paces at the UCI World Cycling Centre (WCC) in Aigle, Switzerland, this week.
Combining classroom sessions and practical training on the bike, the UCI cyclo-cross camp united talented riders aged 16 to 20 from Austria, Croatia, Estonia, Great Britain, Hungary, Japan, Lithuania, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland and Ukraine.
The 12 men and eight women were guided by three expert coaches, Ed Collins (IRL), Matthew Ellis (GBR) and former international athlete Eva Lechner (ITA). In the classroom, they covered medical topics, the fight against doping, and how to make the best use of social media.
First organised in 2004, with the discipline’s 1996 UCI World Champion Adrie van der Poel (NED) as coach, the now annual camp helps launch young riders from around the world onto the international stage. The aim is to improve their skills, training and in-race technique as they prepare for competitions such as Continental Championships and the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup.
After four days of eating, sleeping and breathing cyclo-cross in Aigle this week, nearly all the camp participants will participate in the Eagle Cross – the third event in the Swiss Series Omnium Romand – on Saturday 24 October. The young athletes are more than familiar with the course, as the race takes place in and around the grounds of the UCI WCC.
They will have plenty of support on the sidelines, not only from Ed Collins, Matthew Ellis and Eva Lechner, but also from four coaches – from Costa Rica, Croatia, Estonia and Japan – who have completed a Level 2 UCI coaching course held in parallel with the camp, delivered by Mark Adams (GBR).