The 2013 Valkenburg UCI Cyclocross World Cup has come and gone, and Dutch cyclocross superstars Marianne Vos and Lars van der Haar have walked away with wins and the World Cup leader’s jerseys [See our Valkenburg report and results, and our race breakdown here.]
Katie Antonneau pre-rides the Valkenburg World Cup course
Americans Katie Compton (Trek Cyclocross Collective) and Katie Antonneau (Cannondale p/b CyclocrossWorld) were just two of five Americans racing the Valkenburg World Cup (along with Miller, Kemmerer and Vardaros), and were the top two Americans, finishing in second and thirteenth, respectively. The two racers are more than just competitors, as Compton has coached the young Antonneau, and despite being on different teams, are friendly on and off the race course.
Compton’s husband, Mark Legg-Compton, jumped on his bike to pre-ride the Valkenburg course with Antonneau with a handlebar camera, and put together this video of the ride, including a few sections of course inspection and watching others navigate the tricky off-camber descents. Near the five minute mark, he and Antonneau hop the course fencing to watch others descend the hill and to give it another try.
Legg-Compton describes the challenging course, saying, “The course had very little flat pavement or grass. It was either going up or down or across an off-camber hill.”
It’s over 12 minutes long, so grab a coffee and sit back and enjoy this intimate look at how pros inspect, practice on, and study a course:
[vimeo 77440101 590 336]
