Two European women, two completely different trajectories. Sophie de Boer and Caroline Mani were separately riding the course and dialing in their equipment the day before CrossVegas when we caught up with them.
De Boer, who is ranked seventh in the world and is one of the best hopes for the Dutch with the absence of Marianne Vos, has never visited America until this week. Mani, who is currently ranked 11th and won the Pro CX Series overall last season, has made the United States her home, to the point that she only half-jokingly told us that she feels like she will be representing America at the World Cup.
De Boer was ensuring that her shifting was pitch perfect on her Wilier cyclocross bike and talking about how awful the food in the United States can be when we caught up with her. Less than a half hour later, we caught up with Mani, who was inspecting her TRP ReVox cantilever brakes on her Raleigh, and speaking with the guys at TRP about the French cyclocross camps that would cut her lines and make her ride through corners without the use of her brakes.
You can find both interviews with the Elite Women below:
