The Namur course is one of the toughest cyclocross courses and is famous for its technical sections including, lots of climbing, steep descending, and a long rutted off camber. This is one of my favourite cyclocross courses, I think because of how technically difficult it is - it requires a lot of focus and mountain bike skills certainly help! This race also marked the start to the Kersteperiode, attracting a lot more racers and lots of fans.
I started on the third row and tried to stay calm in the opening stretches, waiting for an opening and opportunity to move up. I found a hole and worked my way into the top ten. I was feeling good in the first sections and was handling the traffic and effort well. The long off camber was challenging with deep ruts that were more difficult to maneuver due to traffic. My first two laps down the section were not as smooth as I would have liked, but as the race went on the technical sections really came together. On this course, in particular, the fatigue can sneak up on you and in the third and fourth laps I suddenly felt the effort of the previous laps as well as all the climbing. While trying to recover a bit, I lost a few positions and ended up somewhere in the late teens. In the final lap I was in 17th with 16th in sight, but we both found ourselves caught by another racer just a couple minutes from the finish. I went into the final run up exhausted and third in our group, but I found an extra gear and passed the two other racers and entered the finish straight first in the group. I was able to hold them off in the sprint to take 16th place. Having ridden around top ten position early in race felt amazing and although I wish I could have held onto that position, to come away with a 16th place on this epic course and in a big field was a solid day of racing.
I now am taking a little break over the Christmas period and heading home to recover, visit friends and family, and then I’ll be back in Europe in the New Year. The Cervelo OrangeLiving team will be back in action even sooner with Kaya and Jules competing in the Hulst World Cup on December 30th. The team will kick off the New Year with a new rider, Scott Funston, joining the team and a race in Luxembourg!
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