The UCI World Cycling Centre (WCC) in Aigle, Switzerland, hosted 25 athletes from 16 countries on a week-long cyclo-cross training camp last week.
Gaining in popularity each year, the annual camp this year saw 67 applications for the 25 available spots to train under the guidance of three expert coaches: Ed Collins (IRL) and former international athletes Eva Lechner (ITA) and Sven Vanthourenhout (BEL). The camp finished with all athletes competing in the fourth round of the Swiss Cyclo-cross Cup, Eagle Cross, organised in the grounds of the UCI WCC on Sunday 16 November.
Of the countries represented on the training camp, six had athletes participating for the first time: Croatia, Greece, Jamaica, Norway, Poland and Slovenia.
Jamaican Jordanio James discovered cyclo-cross by chance in the USA. She recognises that her own country is far from having a cyclo-cross culture, and would love to see its young athletes introduced to the discipline at a younger age than she was. Her week at the UCI WCC was a steep learning curve – especially when it comes to technique - for the 19-year-old who rides for a collegiate road team in the USA. She was especially challenged during Sunday’s race when heavy rain and mud dramatically changed the conditions in which she had been training all week.
“But my aim was to finish, and I finished,” she exalted. “I have learned that the weather can make things very difficult in cyclo-cross. And today was difficult. But I also learned that I am very determined. Even when I saw it was going badly for me, I kept going.
“I really enjoyed the camp and am so happy to have learned from the coaches. Even when I felt down, they supported me and helped me to keep going.”
The more experienced Slovakian, Sofia Ungerová, 19, has UCI Cyclo-cross World Cups and UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships under her belt. She also races on the road for UCI Women’s Continental Team Mat Atom Deweloper Wrocław.
“But I still have a lot of things to work on,” she says. “I want to improve my technique and not make so many mistakes in races when I’m a bit stressed.”
That was something she managed to put into practice in Sunday’s Women Elite race when she made up for a hesitant start to finish eleventh.
“I realised the importance of staying calm and focused even after making mistakes early in the race. I focused on finding the best line on the slippery sections, using the right body position to maintain balance and adjusting my speed in corners to avoid sliding out.
“This training camp has been really valuable. I feel more prepared for upcoming races. The race was a great opportunity to test what I learned, and I now feel more confident in my abilities and strategies for the rest of the season.”
At 16 years of age, Iraklis Magioglou is in his fifth cyclo-cross season. The young Greek off-road specialist (he also competes in mountain bike and a bit of road) lives in Paris, France, and dreams of turning professional in the future. He relishes the chance to race cyclo-cross throughout the winter: “I just love it and want to spend the whole winter racing. Otherwise, I get bored. Cyclo-cross also helps me a lot physically, with the punchiness of the courses and resistance to fatigue.”
He finished fifth in Sunday’s Men Junior race behind a strong quartet of Italians: “I am very pleased with my performance. I reused quite a few techniques that I worked on in the week such as flat cornering and quick acceleration in the flat and fast parts. Going home from this camp, I will retain all the valuable information I learned. This has been an experience that I will remember for the rest of my life.”
Coaches also in training
In parallel with the training camp, the UCI WCC organised a Level 2 cyclo-cross coaching course, attended by coaches from Japan, Croatia, Estonia, Sweden, Ireland and Greece.
Sweden’s David Eriksson has come full circle since attending the cyclo-cross training camp as an athlete more than 10 years ago. Now a mountain bike coach for his National Federation, he was back at the UCI WCC to train as a cyclo-cross coach, the discipline in which he competed the most. He particularly appreciated guidance in transmitting information and techniques.
“I have learned to put my knowledge from racing into words. You might know things that are second nature to you, but it can be difficult to explain. This course has been really useful!”