Cooper Willsey heads to staging in the U23 championship event. "It's a huge honor to race for Team USA. A lot of really talented people have come through the program. To have the letters USA on my jersey really motivates me."
Photo gallery: Inside Team USA at the 2017 world cyclocross championships
Ellen Noble highlighted a strong showing for the United States at the 2017 UCI Cyclocross World Championships in Bieles, Luxembourg, winning the silver medal in the U23 women’s race. Noble (Aspire Racing), who just three weeks ago won a national championship in Hartford, Connecticut, finished just 10 seconds off the lead. Noble led during the race, but the Netherlands’ Annemarie Worst caught her after a steep descent on the final lap.
“I increased my training,” said Noble, who hails from Kennebunkport, Maine. “Last year, I came in relatively undertrained and I placed sixth. This year, I spent a lot more time trying to perfect my skills by racing more mountain. I also did a bit more road racing so I think I was trying to become a better all-around rider. Increasing my fitness, which has been a weak point in the past, by adding more volume and more intensity has been extremely helpful to me.”
Emma White (Cannondale Cyclocrossworld.com) also notched a top-10 finish in the U23 women’s race, coming in 26 seconds off the lead in eighth place. Three other Americans finished the race: Hannah Arensman (J.A. King-BR’C) finished 21st, Emma Swartz (Trek Cyclocross Collective) finished 37th, and Ashley Zoerner (Alpha Bicycle- Vista Subaru) finished 41st.
In the elite women’s race, the United States had four finishers in the top 15. Kaitlin Antonneau (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) crossed the line in 10th place, just under two minutes behind winner Sanne Cant of Belgium. Elle Anderson finished 11th, Amanda Miller (Boulder Cycle Sport) crossed the line 13th, and Courtenay McFadden (American Classic) notched a 15th place finish. American Rebecca Fahringer (Amy D. Foundation) finished 21st. National champion Katie Compton (KFC Racing-Trek-Panache) spent much of the day in the top-10, but did not finish after she bent her rear derailleur into her rear wheel during the switchbacks portion of the course.
In the junior men’s race, Denzel Stephenson (Boulder Junior Cycling) notched a top-10 finish for the United States, finishing ninth, just two minutes off winner Thomas Pidcock (Great Britain). Lane Maher (Hands on Cycling) finished just under two minutes later in 17th, while Caleb Swartz (Trek Cyclocross Collective) and Calder Wood (Rad Racing NW) came in 32nd and 33rd, respectively. Ross Ellwood (Boulder Junior Cycling) crossed the line in 36th position, with Sam Noel (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) in 43rd.
The following day, the U.S. had top-20 finishers — men’s elite rider Stephen Hyde and U-23 men’s rider Spencer Petrov both finished 18th in their respective races on a course that was covered with a slick layer of mud for most of the day.
In the men’s elite race, Hyde (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) ran as high as 15th before crossing the line 18th, 5:41 behind winner Wout van Aert. The rest of the American men finished off the lead lap. Jeremy Powers (Aspire Racing) and Kerry Werner (Kona Endurance Team) finished two laps down, in 32nd and 33rd, respectively. Travis Livermon (Maxxis-Shimano) finished 49th, three laps down, while Tobin Ortenblad (Santa Cruz Factory Racing) finished 57th, and Jeremy Durrin (Neon Velo Cycling Team) finished 59th, both four laps down. Jack Kisseberth (Jam Fund-NCC) recorded a DNF.
In the U23 men’s race, in addition to Petrov (Cyclocross Alliance), two other Americans finished in the Top-25, with Cooper Willsey (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) and Lance Haidet (Raleigh-Clement) finishing 22nd and 25th, respectively. Gage Hecht (Alpha Bicycle-Vista Subaru) crossed the line 31st, and Maxx Chance (EVOL Devo) was the 33rd rider to finish. American Curtis White (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) did not start the race due to illness.
U.S. riders skilled enough, and lucky enough, to be selected to compete at the UCI World Cyclocross Championships benefitted from the planning, work, and physical resources of scores of people with impressive palmares in professional cycling.
Getting 30 riders with 52 bikes and untold sets of wheels and other equipment to another continent, and then maintaining it at a world-championship level, in an environment that ranges from freezing to muddy, is something akin to a military operation, said Ken Whelpdale, a Mallorca-based American hired by USA Cycling as a professional fixer for all the organization’s world championships.
Whelpdale organizes all on-ground logistics for USA Cycling, from hotels to staff, and works closely with USAC coaches Marc Gullickson and Chris McGovern, who manage to be everywhere at the event, from the team compound, to the start line before the races, doing everything from helping riders see the best lines on the course to collecting extra kit before the start.
The riders and staff for the 2017 UCI World Cyclocross Championships arrived on Wednesday night before the races, and all visible traces of the operation were gone by Sunday night, a timeframe that Whelpdale described as comfortable due to an extra day or so compared to previous world championships.
Not all staff come from the U.S. however, as the four USAC mechanics were complemented by five mechanics and two soigneurs from different countries in Europe, all with journeyman-level experience. “We don’t bring in greenhorns to work Worlds,” explained Whelpdale, who described the process of gaining suitable work experience something akin to apprenticeship programs common in Europe for other professions. “Jann Willem started with USAC basically sweeping the floors at 18, and now at 21 he’s a World Tour mechanic with Lotto-Jumbo. There’s no way he’d get that job without experience from a program like USAC.”
Much equipment comes from the USAC service course in Sittard, Netherlands, including stationary trainers and rollers, tools including compressors and pressure washers, and most significantly, a fleet of five sprinter vans. Additionally, USAC rented one camper van and one box truck for the riders and equipment.
“The goal of all this is to make the athlete’s experience at Worlds as smooth as possible so they only have to concentrate on their performance,” said Whelpdale.
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- Jeff Crombie washing bikes following training. Work continues despite dark and near-freezing temperatures.
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- Becca Fahringer signs autographs for local school kids who made rainbow-striped shirts in class. “I feel like my heart has been going a mile a minute ever since I got here, even if I’m not doing something physical,” said Fahringer about her first Elite Women’s World Championships. “Today was a pre-ride and there were more fans than at most American races, there were groups of young children out cheering, just waiting for high-fives!”
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- 13-time national champion Katie Compton, warming up on rollers.
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- Denzel Stephenson received a front row call-up for the Juniors race, and finished ninth. Stephenson rode a remarkably steady race, with three laps timed at only one second apart.
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- Emma White warms up before the U23 Women’s championship without the familiar presence of teammate and sibling Curtis White nearby. Sidelined with a stomach bug, her brother chose to not compete rather than race sick and use up team resources.
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- U23 racer Ashley Zoerner had her number pinned on while she was on the trainer.
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- Saturday was a busy day in the team area, as more than half the athletes raced, and the remaining were pre-riding for Sunday’s events.
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- Ellen Noble warms up before her championship race. Noble is one of the few riders who have their usual trade-team staff on the ground in concert with USAC staff, a benefit for riders with experience and higher UCI ranking.
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- Emma White joined teammate Ellen Noble on the front row of the U23 Women’s race as fans began to find every possible vantage point around the course.
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- Emma White had to work her way out of a tangle just after the start. The course contained several sharp transitions that took a toll on every race.
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- Elle Andersen headed to staging of the elite women’s race.
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- Kaitie Antonneau has raced in Europe at dozens of World Cups and seven World Championships in a combined effort with USAC and trade team staff from Cannondale-cyclocrossworld.com. She finished 10th in the elite women’s race.
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- Courtenay McFadden, on riding in a high-pressure environment like CX Worlds: “Be smooth and don’t panic. It’s too easy after dropping a chain or crashing to panic for next 40 minutes, and it does you no good. You don’t have the race you want. One mistake is just one mistake. Shake it off, giggle, and move on. Don’t let it distract you.”
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- Kaitie Antonneau’s dirty skinsuit got a preliminary cleaning via pressure washer in the parking lot. Also waiting post-race for riders were buckets of warm water, both to wash away the first layer of mud, and more importantly, to warm up following a race in near-freezing weather.
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- Ellen Noble hands out signed rider rider cards following her second-place finish. Rider cards serve at times as a sort of commodity; some riders get a Euro or two for a signed card, and many fans buy and sell signed cards of favored riders.
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- Stephen Hyde double-checks his skinsuit and number-pinning work the night before Worlds. USA Cycling arranges everything from national kit to hotel space and more for riders at Worlds.
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- With top UCI ranking by way of her World Cup series win, Ellen Noble got the first call-up for the U23 women’s race.
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- Ellen Noble chased race leader Annemarie Worst on one of many off-camber sections.
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- Ellen Noble jettisoned her eyewear at the start of the bell lap.
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- Critically cold temperatures over the weekend kept riders moving whenever possible to stay warm. Kaite Antonneau was followed by Marianne Vos as riders circulated before staging.
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- Kaitie Antonneau drops into a perilous off-camber section at Bieles. The course became more difficult after thawing, an advantage for riders like her with solid technical skills.
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- Kaitie Antonneau gets crossed up entering a muddy, off-camber 180. Any rider throughout the weekend without technical riding finesse was off the bike at the top of this section and running in.
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- Katie Compton proved that podium-level experience can’t guarantee a good day. Even though she’s medaled at worlds four times and was getting faster every lap, her derailleur got caught up in her wheel, ending her race early on Saturday.
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- Cooper Willsey heads to staging in the U23 championship event. “It’s a huge honor to race for Team USA. A lot of really talented people have come through the program. To have the letters USA on my jersey really motivates me.”
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- Jeremy Powers led Tobin Ortenblad and Jeremy Durrin for a final course inspection a few hours before the elite men’s race. Powers is an experienced hand at the world championships, with a remarkable 14 starts so far during his career. Course conditions changed rapidly from frozen to muddy, and the last official training was the final chance to see how lines were affected.
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- The infamous beer tents, which have little adult supervision, hit their peak in the hour before the elite men’s race.
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- Joe Devera and Stu Thorne switched wheels on Stephen Hyde’s bike before course inspection. Although they’re from Hyde’s trade team, they work on the ground for their riders in concert with staff hired by USAC for Worlds.
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- Jeremy Durrin pulled on his team skin suit in the back of the bike van. While most established European racers travel individually in small camper vans wrapped with team graphics, USA Cycling made due with one camper van and a few utility and passenger vans for twenty-seven riders.
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- Aspire Racing head mechanic Tom Hopper started off for the pits before the elite men’s race with a spare bike and two extra sets of wheels for Jeremy Powers. The course took a toll on riders and their equipment: most used all their spare wheels due to flats.
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- Joe Devera followed Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com team director Stu Thorne to the pits on Sunday to support Stephen Hyde. The pits are a closely-guarded area, only mechanics with credentials are allowed into the pit box area, absolutely no one else except UCI officials.
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- The elite men’s field staged on the grounds of Lycée Bel-Val, a large secondary school in the industrial center-turned modern city of Bieles. The elite men’s field featured seven riders from the U.S. out of 72 riders from 19 nations.
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- European race pace is not casual. Cooper Willsey and Spencer Petrov continued to hang tough to end of their race, even though the leaders were gaining thirty seconds with each lap.
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- Gage Hecht, on foot due to a rear flat, looks behind him as he and two other riders get pulled toward the end of the U23 race.
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- First-year U23 racer Spencer Petrov, 200 meters from the finish of his race.
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- Cooper Willsey pulled on a down coat following his race. Despite shivering so much that he could barely strip off his wet kit, he was clearly enthusiastic about his race.
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- Stephen Hyde, on heading to Worlds as US National Champion: “It means a lot to me. There’s a certain weight to it that I’m enjoying. There’s pride to it, and in what it took for me to get here. It’s leading me on this trip.”
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- 2017 marked Tobin Ortenblad’s sixth consecutive start at the UCI Cyclocross World Championships. However, this year marked his first with the Elite Men. “It’s pretty nuts to line up with the Elites. At the end of the day, these guys who I looked up to as a junior are now my competitors.”
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- Kerry Werner added additional flair to his national team kit.
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- Five of the seven USA Cycling Elite Men’s team warm up under the shelter of one the team’s vans. Belgium brought 10 elite men, Netherlands brought seven.
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- If you are staged in the fourth row, this is your view as riders hit the dirt for the first time after the start.
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- Kerry Werner on the run.
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- Stephen Hyde was still in the thick of things on the fourth lap, but over the duration of the event would experience four punctures.
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- Stephen Hyde was the only U.S. elite man to finish on the lead lap; he placed 18th, 5:41 behind winner Wout van Aert.
