We had expected it to be very crowded early, but as you'll see from the pics...we were nearly the first spectators to arrive! HA! It was a chilly morning and the course was sure to be interesting as the frost thawed before the womens race. We took up space along a high vantage point that was just under the monitor so we could view the entire race even if the racers were not near. Prior to race we met a member of Thomas Frischnecht's Bike camp and he was kind enough to let us take a close look at the cool custom top tube paint job of one of Frishi's bike.
The crowds slowly poured in through the start of the womens race all the way up to the call up of the Mens race. The attendance grew to almost 50,000 fans from various countries but as always the most notable fans were of course the Belgians. Dressed in their Black, Red and Yellow and waving either a Belgian or Flanders flag. As the Women's race was about to get under way, the loud speakers blasted AC/DC "Hells Bells" while Fans air guitared and sang along and the Suisse chimed in with their enormous cowbells. The womens race was the one we were most interested in as John's old coach, Katie Compton, was in attendance and was one of the race favorites. After the start we watched the field blow by with Katie just soft pedaling around and finally pulling out on the first lap. Having been plagued for a week or so with severe leg cramping her campaign for the rainbow stripes was over for 2008 and her sights were now set on a fast recovery and spending time at home with her dogs and husband, Mark. As the race unfolded, Hanka from Germania, took to her usually pace and opened up a commanding lead after only a few short laps. Congrats to Rachel for an amazing 9th place and to the other US ladies. Next year Kerry B, Hoogerheide!!!!!
Womens Race -
1 Hanka Kupfernagel (Germany) her 4th World Title
2 Marianne Vos (Netherlands)
3 Laurence Leboucher (France)
9 Rachel Lloyd (United States Of America)
20 Kerry Barnholt (United States Of America)
21 Amy Dombroski (United States Of America)
22 Susan Butler (United States Of America)
We had another 3 hours between races while they opened the course for the Men to warm up, finish the podium photos and required doping control for the women race. You would think we would be able to move around and take in some of the expo and crowd watch but if we did that, we would have promptly lost our secure sweet viewing spots. There were people filing in all around us before the mens race.
The main event was the Mens race. The Belgians had their favorites: Sven, Bart and Erwin and Holland had Lars. The start went off fast and furious. The peloton split quickly into two groups: the top twenty and everyone else. In the end it would be Lars Boom whom would prove to be the best and it seemed that no one else would be able to match the Flying Dutchmen.
Mens Race -
1 Lars Boom (Netherlands) Last years U23 CX World Champ
2 Zdenek Stybar (Czech Republic)
3 Sven Nys (Belgium) The Man
4 Erwin Vervecken (Belgium) LAst years Mens CX World Champ
23 Jonathan Page (United States Of America)
26 Timothy Johnson (United States Of America)
27 Jeremy Powers (United States Of America)
After the race (to avoid traffic, etc...) we visited and split a bottle of sparkling wine from Mosole (Vintage wines from the venetian valleys between the rivers Livenza e Tagliamento). Instead of taking the bus back, Joe offered us a ride in his clown car, which included stops to pick up race signs along the way.
We met with a group including Joe and Dave (photo guys), the English guys and Jeremy Powers' dad at the English Pub next to the hotel, before heading to dinner at PIZZERIA RISTORANTE DA PINO (yes, again) with Joe and Dave from Peloton Photo. We saw Jonathan Page as he was leaving, and the whole 2nd floor starting cheering for him.
Photos from today are here: http://picasaweb.google.com/mtbcolorado/ItalyUCIWomenAndMenCyclocrossWorldChampionships
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