2019 Cyclocross World Championships | First Look

I arrived to Copenhagen late this afternoon after enduring delays at every snow stop on the journey. After a misty drive to Odense, and a quick stop to pick up the keys to our house for the week, I made the 35km drive to Bogense and caught a quick look at the still-under-construction track, just before the sun disappeared for the day.

First observation about the track is that it could be icy. The ground was crunchy and solid and there was ice on the flyovers. It was -1 degree celsius when I did my track walk.

Along with the ice, also look at the walkway to the right of the flyover. That’s the main access from the finish line to the rest of the track. It’s going to be a challenge as a photographer to cover this track. Two more days to find those secret short-cuts … or by some SCUBA gear.

The water was calm when I was out there. Low tide, and no wind, so no epic waves. Hopefully we’ll get a few tasty swells for the weekend.

The track is divided between long flat grassy sections and one hill that traverses most of the venue. That hill is the foundation for all of the tough climbs, treacherous descents and tricky off-cambers. I may have lost count, but I think there are three flyovers and four ramps on track.

The entrance and exit to the pits are a bit tricky. Definitely won’t be anyone oversprinting their bike exchanges. The actual pit looks really nice. Especially with the water and the big sky as the backdrop.

The long flat sections are broken up by a set of planks. They seem to be right around or a bit under the max allowable height. Shouldn’t be an issue to ride.

The hill I mentioned earlier is visited on both halves of the track. On one side is an uphill ramp riders will have to carry a lot of speed onto …

Before diving into a really sketchy descent. If you remember the 2017 World Cup at this venue, the descent caused several crashes.

It’s difficult to get a true appreciation of this hillside’s steepness. It’s tough to stay upright under current conditions, when there’s a nice plush layer of grass and the track has been chewed to pieces. (I’ll have a new photo set up in a day or so when this looks entirely different.)

But for today, here are a few more shots of the hillside. Something else I want you to contemplate, is how they got that car up there.

More to come from Bogense. What we are seeing today, is going to look and ride completely different tomorrow. World Championships is a living document.