The first World Cup Cyclocross race also meant the first time this year the pro women were broadcast, and that means we can finally premiere the first episode of LIKEAVOS, season two. Before we get to the race I want to once again address the name of this series. I will not conceal the fact that as much as I love watching Marianne Vos race, if she’s going head to head with Katie Compton, I’m cheering for Katie. Every time. And when you look at their careers side-by-side, it’s really hard to successfully argue who is a better cyclocross racer. Marianne has the World Championships and Katie has 100 UCI victories. So why is the series named after Vos, a cyclist not dedicated full-time to cyclocross, rather than Katie Compton? Both possess that special something that made SVENNESS such a no-brainer. Why go with Marianne over Katie? I have a really hard time coming up with a reason why. But I think, ultimately, it comes down to this: LIKEAVOS … a play on Like A Boss … is just a killer name. So in the end, that’s going to win. If you’ve got something better let me know, but also know that I’ve heard about every possibility. For instance, the series is not going to be called Straight Outta Compton.
Since that is now clear as mud we can move over to the business at hand, the World Cup at Valkenburg in the Netherlands. The course is a brutal one. As you’ll see it rides more like a mountainbike race than a cyclocross race, with many elevation changes and off-camber sections. For this episode we concentrate on a tricky off-camber section, the run-up and descending skills. We also watch Katie Compton deal with adversity and Helen Wyman show great form.
The episode is presented, as always, by Skills Drills and Bellyaches: A Cyclocross Primer, which you can learn more about and purchase at cyclocrossbook.com.
Footage for this episode is via Sporza: sporza.be/cm/sporza/wielrennen/veldrijden
Music in the episode:
Rabbit Hole~Riot Horse: http://www.riothorse.net/
10,000 Emerald Pools~BØRNS: https://soundcloud.com/bornsmusic/b-rns-10-000-emerald-pools
Not Like You~Bleech: https://bleech.bandcamp.com/track/not-like-you-2
Ready to Go~The Fabergettes: https://thefabergettes.bandcamp.com/track/ready-to-go
Bright Eyes~Ashei: https://ashei.bandcamp.com/album/music-is-boring
Thanks for watching.
So good. Straight Outta Compton, so inappropriate and so apropos.
need moar riothorse!
Compton descends faster because she’s heavier – which is also why Wyman beats her on the run-ups.
I think a big factor was, as you pointed out, Katie’s descending technique. Very much MTB and something I didn’t catch on my viewing of this race. But it served her very well and something I’m going to work on.