Geoff Proctor lectures the young riders. © Keith Flory
Eighteen young cyclocross specialists from around the globe participated in a training camp at the World Cycling Centre in Aigle, Switzerland this week.
The athletes, representing Great Britain, Slovakia, Italy, Denmark, Turkey, Czech Republic, and Switzerland, were mainly Juniors and under-23 riders.
“Summer is a great time of year to hold this sort of training camp,” explained one of the coaches, Geoff Proctor, who has been Team Manager for the USA World Championship Junior and U23 cyclocross teams since 2002. “It is the right moment to work on the technical aspects of cyclocross,” he added.
The young athletes certainly have their work cut out for them under the watchful eye of Proctor and Beat Wabel, former Junior cyclocross World Champion and Swiss Champion many times over. Both coaches are members of the UCI Cyclocross Commission.
The demanding daily schedule for the up-and-coming riders began at 6.30 a.m. with physical conditioning, followed by two to three hours of technical training. The afternoons were spent exploring the region’s cycling routes.
“You can’t come to Switzerland without enjoying the scenery and the climbs,” enthused Proctor.
The UCI organized this training camp as part of its endeavor to globalize all cycling’s disciplines and will continue to invest in this kind of project.
“We want to develop the discipline all over the world. It’s great to see riders, for example, from Turkey coming through here,” concluded Geoff Proctor.
