This past Sunday, sports fans across America concerned themselves with fried food, beer and the Super Bowl. Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in the Netherlands, the scene was similar. There was fried food galore, beer aplenty and a major sporting event to watch. Instead of a football game, however, the big draw was the Cyclo-cross World Championships.
Cyclo-cross, or simply 'cross, is in no way like football, or almost any other sport for that matter. It can best be compared to its cousins in road and mountain biking, but even then the list of comparisons runs short.
To put it simply, 'cross is a style of bike racing that takes place on very short tracks, typically less than two miles long, and requires the racers to complete the course as many times as they can in a predetermined amount of time, usually falling at an hour or less.
Unlike a road course, a 'cross course is designed to be as technically challenging as possible, consisting of a variety of obstacles for the racers to overcome. The course also includes a wide array of terrains, from pavement to grass, mud to sand and everything in between.
Once more -- and this is where one similarity can be drawn to football -- cyclo-cross competitions take place in every imaginable type of weather. Rain, snow and extreme temperatures -- usually on the sub-freezing side -- are no excuse to cancel or postpone a race. Rather than sullying or otherwise damaging a race course as they might a baseball field, the harsh elements add further difficulty and multiply the thrill of competition in a 'cross race.
Behind the grueling and technical aspects of cyclo-cross lies the deeply ingrained culture of its fanbase. 'Cross racing is wildly popular in the northern parts of Europe, particularly in countries like Belgium and the Netherlands, which hosted this year's World Championships. Often, without a professional sports team to devote themselves to, the citizens of these nations treat cyclo-cross no differently than Americans do baseball or football, though fans of 'cross are arguably even more passionate about their pastime.
So when the World Champion-ships came to Hoogerheide, Netherlands this past weekend, the scene was predictable, with fans cramming themselves against the ropes and fences lining the course, though the weather was disappointingly fair.
As usual, the Belgians were the heavy favorites. Since 2001, the Belgians have won every world championship but one, the exception being last year when Dutchman Lars Boom took home the honorary rainbow-striped jersey annually awarded to the world champion in each of cycling's many disciplines.
And, not surprisingly, the Belgians delivered and claimed first, third, fourth, sixth, seventh and 10th places. The overall race winner was 22-year-old Niels Albert, who returned to competition only recently after suffering a ruptured spleen earlier in the season. Perennial cyclo-cross force and former world champion Sven Nys slotted in at third, 38 seconds behind his compatriot.
In the end it was the Czech Republic's Zdenek Stybar who ended up foiling a Belgian sweep, pedaling in at 22 seconds back of Albert. Meanwhile, defending champion Boom came in a disappointing 20th place, losing nearly two minutes to Albert's early attack that saw the eventual champion riding solo from the second lap all the way to the finish for a winning time of 1:02:24.
While 'cross racing may have its most powerful command over a European audience, the United States has its own professional circuit of cyclo-cross racing, and the sport is becoming enormously popular on both the professional and amateur levels, particularly in the Northeast where the long winter months are ideally suited to the sport. The American squad started five riders in this year's World Championships, with the best result coming from Massachusetts' own Jeremy Powers in 35th place.
Americans have witnessed some success racing on the decidedly harder European circuit, as 2007 saw American Jonathan Page bring home a silver medal -- he finished 52nd this year -- and national champion Katie Compton finished third in the women's race this year.
