How could I not post a photo giving props to our my [current] favorite big haired, flat billed hat wearing, super fast XCO racing, lady-type Jolanda Neff for winning her third UCI XCO race of the year on Sunday in Méribel, France, AND celebrating her overall Women’s UCI Mountain Bike World Cup series title???
20-year-old Dutch XCO racer, and current under-23 European cyclocross champion, Annefleur Kalvenhaar died Saturday as the result of injuries sustained during qualifying rounds of Friday’s XC Eliminator race in Méribel, France. It is reported that the Focus XC Team racer crashed off on a wooden bridge and landed awkwardly on her head. She was taken to a nearby hospital, then transferred by helicopter to an intensive care unit in Grenoble where she sadly passed away on Saturday.
The web site mpora.com reports that the bridge used during the XC events had been used by cyclists and pedestrians alike throughout the weekend without incident and that the crash appears to have been a freak accident. All in all, an extremely sad way to draw the 2014 XCO series to a close and a horrible loss for the world of cycling, not to mention Kalvenhaar’s friends and family.
It’s 3:45 p.m. and I’ve started making dinner. An ungodly hour to be making dinner for anyone under the age of seventy-five, but a very light lunch, boredom and the want to avoid cracking open a beer has forced me to the kitchen.
In light of her complete and utter domination of this past Sunday’s UCI XCO race in Mont Sainte-Anne, Quebec, Canada, I would be remiss if I didn’t give another shout out to Jolanda Neff (Liv Pro XC Team) and her continued “Neffness.” It was pretty amazing to watch as she took the lead in the opening lap and never looked back. In the end she took the victory by over a minute on Canada’s own Catharine Pendrel (Luna Pro Team). With two races remaining, Neff leads the series with 900 points, 310 points over the second place Emily Batty (Trek Factory Racing).
In an ironic twist of fate (or at least vocabulary) the UCI has eliminated the Cross-Country Eliminator (XCE) races from the 2015 calendar. With a growing number of top racers choosing to skip the XCE races to save themselves for the XCO main event later in the weekend and the UCI and promoters apparently not making any money from the event (always a motivating factor), it’s really no surprise. The format had its pros and cons, fans and detractors from the first race.
I just got back into town from a whirlwind trip back to Western PA and need to get some ride mojo going, what better way than with some Neffness?
I am pretty sure that Jolanda Neff is the Peter Sagan of Women’s XCO mountain bike racing, just with better hair, much nicer legs and (most likely) no want to pinch any podium girl bums… not to mention I have no desire to see Peter Sagan in a skirt showing off the bike geek tan lines on his thighs (unless he finally wins a fucking sprint finish!).
Photo via Jolanda Neff’s Facebook page, most likely taken by Bernard van Dierendonck
This morning as I clickity-click-clacked around the interwebnetsphere, I was reminded (pretty much by accident) that the U.S. has a national cross-country race series: USA Cycling’s Pro Cross Country Tour. A seven race series that is a combination of a few US Cup Pro Series races on the left side of the country, plus a race in the middle and one on the far right.
Once I was reminded of America’s dirty little cycling secret, I got to wondering who was dominating our great nation’s race series. It turns out, not many Americans. Take a look-see…
While Julien Absalon grabs all the headlines of late (deservedly so as he his kicking XC ass all over Europe right now), 38-year-old fellow countryman Miguel Martinez continues to ride along, competing in the UCI XCO series as well as a host of other XC events throughout Europe, including this past weekend’s 3rd round of the Czech Cup in Kutna Hora, Czech Republic where he took the win, sporting what is fast becoming his signature look of Ambervision-like Sunglasses and “say my name, say my name” cycling cap.
Another fine display from Soiled Chamois favorite and UCI XCO Series leader Jolanda Neff (Liv Pro XC) displaying her “Neffness” (my term for Neff’s rad factor), new Giant Liv Lust bike and more skill than I ever had or will have. But then again, I have no idea what she is actually attempting here and if it worked out in the end.
Photo by Susanne Litscher via Jolanda Neff’s Facebook Page.
If you haven’t seen Epic TV’s five part series Racing The Untamed, Team Bulls at the ABSA Cape Epic, then you’re missing out on some great coverage on some of the top mountain bike racers in the world at one of the most amazing races in the world– The ABSA Cape Epic.
Team Bulls is a German based UCI mountain bike team made up of Germans Karl Platt, Stefan Sahm, Tim Böhme, Simon Stiebjahn and Martin Frey, as well as Thomas Dietsch of France and Urs Huber of Switzerland. If you are into endurance, marathon and stage racing, I recommend following Team Bulls on Facebook and Twitter, they do some of the coolest races in the world and are not shy about sharing photos, videos and recaps to promote their team and the sport of XC, marathon and endurance mountain bike racing.
The first episode is posted below with subsequent episodes linked after. Really great, well produced stuff. Check it out…
