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I was lucky enough to spend the weekend amongst the action at the World Cycling Championship in Copenhagen. We flew into Copenhagen Saturday morning and after dropping off an overnight bag at the hotel (advertised as 4* but more like a 2* in need of desperate repair) and a bite of lunch we headed out to see the womens race. The race kicked off at 1:30 local time and we got there to see the women go past on lap number two of their total 10 laps. The course was a 14km loop on the outskirts of the city where the riders gained 105m of altitude each lap.

We started on the slope that led up to the finish line but due to the huge number of VIP areas lining the course, it was impossible to get close to see the riders go past so we kept walking and headed down on the other side of the finishing climb to see the girls bombing it down and then all hit the breaks to take the 90 degree right hand bend. Standing on the corner it was really cool to see the girls pelt down the hill, hear the squealing of breaks and the distinct smell of carbon breaks and then the rush of air that follows the peloton.

We headed into the expo to check out what was going on and keep up on the race with the one of seven huge screen dotted around the course. The girls were sticking together with any moves quickly pinned back in place. The race wasnt making for exciting watching so we continued our walk with the main reason to scope out the best viewing point for the mens race the following day.

The area that the race was in was very nice and clearly a wealthy area of Copenhagen given the size of the houses lining the course. There was plenty of large park space and the course followed the roads through these. We walked almost half the course checking out the hills and corners which made for some exciting spectating. We eventually settled on this brilliant area where you could see the girls go around a 90 degree left hand corner and then take a leisurely walk about 400m down to see them again a few minutes later. There was also a massive screen to keep up on what was going on and most importantly a beer tent that accepted cards!

The girls were moving and it was great to see both the Aussies and the Brits at the front, although no one was allowed to get away until the Canadian Clara Hughes made a move and got a gap which she managed to hold onto for 2 laps. Whilst she was not going to be allowed to stay out there, the Dutch, Italians and Germans who all had their eye on the gold started to pull things together before the final lap and pulled Clara back into the fold. Unfortunately there was a crash which took Lizzie Armitstead out and off the back of the group forcing Nicole Cooke to ride for herself rather than leading Lizzie out.

The Dutchman, being Dutch was of course shouting for Marianne Vos, the Dutch favourite, but she seemed to leave her sprint too late and whilst she was faster than the Italian Giorgia Bronzini, she ran out of road to get ahead of her. Had she had another couple of metres (how many sprinters say that?) Im sure it would have been a different result. Vos has had a brilliant year winning a whole host of races, but this was her fifth consecutive silver medal at the world championship. It was understandably that she was very upset and the poor girl cried for the entire medal ceremony and I dare say for quite a bit after that. Great ride from the 20 year old Chloe Hosking from Australia in 6th place and a from both Nicole Cooke and Lizzie Armistead to secure 4th and 7th respectively.

The womens race was a great warm-up but of course the main event was Sunday where the men started from the centre of the city outside of the town hall for what was going to be a 272kms in the saddle. The riders had a 6km neutral zone and then the 266km course started which incorporated 28km to get out to the 14km loop and then 17 laps of the same course done by the women the day before.

We got to the start and wiggled our way into the huge multicultural crowd to see the British team on the stage signing in and Cav being interviewed by the commentator. The riders went out and back to the stage right through the middle of the crowd but it was disappointing that access to the team bus was restricted. It was pretty easy to recognise the riders as the hard core fans were shouting their names as they went past with many of them stopping to greet the fans from their country and sign autographs.

Once they had all signed in and the burly security guard had a momentary lapse of concentration I managed to slip through the barricade with a group of people to get into the pre start area and then over to the starting pen ready for them to go. Once the peloton had set off, the Cycling TeamLimburg without Borders, cycling touring club of the Province of Limburg gathered under the starting banner. The group was around 20 people and immediately after the peloton went Jan Janssen (former world champ & 2012 ambassador) received the starting flag from Pat McQuaid (UCI president). The group was starting a 7 day ride from Copenhagen to Maastricht, next years host city for the World championship. This was the first time that the world championship had been symbolically transferred between the 2 cities with the start flag being carried between the two and was being celebrated by the local mayors from the municipalities taking part in the 7 day ride.

We were alerted to what was going on when The Dutchman noticed one of the riders was wearing his local municipality cycling jersey so moved up to see what was going on. The group was being accompanied by a dozen prominent figures, a double-decker bus, a sound truck, motorcyclists and other support vehicles to ensure everyone knew they were on their way! The group rode the 6km neutral zone with the peloton before starting their epic 1200km journey to end in the market square in Maastricht. Next years event is a special one for The Dutchman as it is in his home town and goes along the roads he trained and raced on when he was riding as an elite in Holland. The world championships are always special as his father played a key role in organising many of them over the last 20 years and he was given a lifetime achievement award from the UCI posthumously for all that he had contributed.

It was useful for me to see things pointed out that the UCI insist on, the obvious one being the quality of the roads. Often roads are changed in an area to accommodate the race with traffic islands being removed and in this case a roundabout being cut into to make it safer.

There were at least ten times more people out on the course on Sunday with many taking advantage of the closed roads to set up tables and chairs and settle in for the day. The race was cracking along at a high 40s average pace and our pre scouted position allowed us to see them many times on their 14 laps. Each time we saw the favourites tucked away safely in the peloton and the race was shaping up to be a lot more exciting than the womens race the day before. The crowds also made it a fun atmosphere with loads of families and entrepreneurial Danish kids selling cakes, coffee and tea going head to head with the Carlsberg stand for customers hawking their goods.

With around 4 laps to go there was a huge crash that put a few of thefavouritesinto the back group including defending champion Hushovd and Frank Schleck out the back. They tried to chase down the main group and for the immediate lap afterwards they held the distance but a combination of the peloton starting to really heat things up and them realising they were never going to make it back the gap got wider and wider. It was a huge pile up and the group was almost split in half, again great spectating but not so good if your name is Thor and you had some plans for the day. It was so cool being up close to the course and seeing the expressions on the riders faces as they pushed the pace and absolutely flew by. I hope that the video captured the speed that these guys were going at.

After watching the penultimate lap we started heading back up to one of the main screens where loads of people were camped out and there was a train station close by for us to escape and get back into the city and out to the airport. I got myself a spot on the grass in amongst a bunch of British supporters who were shouting their lungs out at Cav as we watched the final sprint. Great finish and the British team played it perfectly. To give you an idea of how fast they were going, the race finished a whole hour ahead of schedule! We made a dash for the train with the happy Brits and some gloomy Norwegians in tow. A brilliant weekend and something I would recommend to even those who are not hard core cycling fans. The Dutch know how to have a good time so next year should be fun! You can also check out Daniels blog which gives his take on the race.


Enjoy the video!

Happy training.

Cx