After spending two weeks under the sun in Calp, Scott, Jules, Sid and I made the trip back to The Netherlands to race the last round of the 2024 Cyclocross World Cup in Hoogerheide. After pre-riding on Saturday the course was running smoothly. Fast, flowy, greasy, and fun with a touch of mud. Although the 3 mud pits were sloppy, the long drags of grass called for a Grifo tire.
Jules started early in the day in the U23 Men's field. After a clean start off the grid fighting for position, exiting the first mud pit on lap 1 Jules got caught in a crash. Sending him sliding in the mud with 6 other guys. Someone landed on his bike breaking his handlebar. He got up and made a bike exchange at his next opportunity. Making passes and staying as smooth as possible while a little banged up is never easy. Fighting back from the crash, Jules finished in 41st place.
Next up was Sid and I in the Elite Women's race. Around the first turn I was trying to make as many passes as possible after being gridded near the back. I looked to my left and saw Sidney tangled up with another rider. Somehow the lever of another riders thru axle got stuck in her wheel. As they came to a halt, I passed her and kept going. After being in last place, getting untangled Sid had a lot of work to do. Just about a lap later she came blazing by, and in true fashion, saying to me “good work, lets go!” Sid made many passes and landed a 28th place. I had a couple good battles and solely focused on just putting as much power down as I could. Even though finishing in 52nd place is far from where I want to be, I'm happy with the effort.
Last but not least in the Elite Men's category, our birthday boy! The first two laps of Scotts race were on fire, running smoothly and making quick work of the course, before the gas ran out. After that he didn't have the punch to make any final moves and finished in 32nd place. Some good battles with different groups and a clean day for Scott as he's excited to get back on top of it before next weekend.
We fly to Prague, Czechia on Wednesday for the World Championships, and are more than stoked to put our best foot forward to finish the season strong. Game on!
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