They come from thirteen different countries and speak seven different languages but have one major point in common: a very great desire to improve their cyclo-cross skills.
And who better to learn from than two of Belgium’s leading figures in the discipline Sven Nys and Sven Vanthourenhout. “The two Svens” need little introduction: recently retired Sven Nys is a three-time UCI World Champion and winner during his career of almost everything going, while Sven Vanthourenhout also has several UCI World Championship medals to his name including two bronze medals at Elite level.
The cyclo-cross development camp is taking place at the UCI World Cycling Centre (WCC) in Aigle, Switzerland, this week for the fifth consecutive year. Since its inception in 2011, the annual five-day camp has welcomed promising young athletes from the world over, many of whom have gone on to clock up international successes. USA National Cyclo-cross Head Coach Geoff Proctor has headed up every edition of the camp, and this year enlisted the expertise of fellow UCI Cyclo-cross Commission member Sven Nys and Sven Vanthourenhout. Both jumped at the chance to help the upcoming generation of the discipline’s riders.
“It is really good that international riders can come here to Aigle to learn more,” says Nys.
“We can teach them a lot and show them the small things which can make all the difference."
He adds: "They are all incredibly motivated and if I see them next season at a race and they can tell me that they have improved, then I’m happy.”
For Vanthourenout, the camp is a return to the venue of his UCI World Cup victory in the grounds of the UCI WCC in 2005. He is only too pleased to take the young riders over the same terrain: “These riders’ biggest weakness is that they come from countries that do not specialise in cyclo-cross. We can help them with technical parts of the sport that they need to work on. They can progress an incredible amount in just a few days.”
Three participants give their feedback.
Still a Junior last season, he raced his first UCI World Cup in Koksijde (BEL), known for its sand passages. “It really opened my eyes. I loved it put I got pulled out.” (after being lapped - ed). After a second, more successful UCI World Cup round in Namur, he tackled the UCI World Championships in Heusden-Zolder. “I had a bad start. I wasn’t used to the aggression and speed at the start. It took me half a lap to get over the shock!”
Conroy hopes the UCI WCC camp will arm him with the necessary tools as he heads into his first season in the Under-23 category. “I want to drill the two Svens on how to get to that level. I hope they can guide me and help me improve.”
The mechanical engineer worked overtime to have enough days in lieu to attend the camp in Switzerland. The former road and track cyclist only turned to cyclo-cross one year ago.
“I started for fun but now I’ve got serious. I want to become National Champion,” says the relative newcomer to the discipline, who completed in the 2015 National Championships just two months after making her debut on a cyclo-cross bike. “This camp is teaching me lots of cross-specific skills. I need to get technically better and faster. It’s great having people like the two Svens to learn from.”
Fifth in the first ever Women’s Under-23 race at the 2016 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships, she wants to make the podium in 2017: “It is really cool to learn from people who have so much experience. There is always something to learn and at the same time we can make new friends.”