{"id":25503,"title":"Was it a Good Year?","description":"Over the past twelve months, we\u2019ve interviewed and featured a number of cyclocross and road riders. We thought it was a good time to find out how the year played out for them and what the future promises.","content":"

Over the past twelve months, we\u2019ve interviewed and featured a number of cyclocross and road riders. We thought it was a good time to find out how the year played out for them and what the future promises.<\/p>

\"ngdtpfpwzyr7in27f1kje6krgmjllyykdyqkviy8dkuiudo8.jpg\"<\/p>

Jana Dobbelaere<\/h3>

We spoke to the Belgian cyclocross rider just before Christmas. She combines working for a bank during the week with racing against the world\u2019s best at the weekends. At the time was riding as an unsponsored independent.<\/p>

Her target had been the Belgian national cyclocross championships held at Lokeren in East Flanders. Her aim wasn\u2019t to win the overall title but to triumph in the championship for club riders<\/a>.<\/p>

\"y9kawjkfg8tji81wpq5smsmsttxawov3zvu8knvwqjop961f.jpg\"Jana gets stuck in<\/em><\/strong> Image: Jana Dobbelaere<\/em><\/p>

She faced stiff opposition from Julie Brouwers and she struggled with a poor tyre choice. Eventually, after a thrilling battle she held on to finish fifth overall, 15 seconds ahead of Brouwers, to take the title.<\/p>

Jana is still looking for a new team for 2023 and plans a limited road campaign. But first, she\u2019s having some time off and working on the house that she\u2019s renovating in Oudenaarde.<\/p>

\"2dosyg6y6liufrsddel9ixszgojwmjsokx03o5t7itqoqqu9.jpg\"<\/u><\/a><\/p>

Silke Bastiaensen<\/h3>

It took quite some time to finally arrange but with Ellen van Loy acting as interpreter we interviewed G-Sports rider Silke Bastiaensen in November 2022. The G-Sports category is for athletes with disabilities.<\/p>

\"dsgrjipfznvziozk9yxia5nwtaqbqcszp9fz36ylnhljrunn.jpg\"G-Sports Champion <\/em><\/strong>Image: Silke Bastiaensen<\/em><\/p>

Silke was already the reigning road and cyclocross G-Sports champion. The 2023 G-Sports cyclocross championships were decided at the Krawatencross. As is quite often the case, the G-Sports riders raced on the same course as the elite men and women.<\/p>

It was another triumph for Silke who described riding with kippenvel<\/span> (goosebumps) due to the amount of encouragement she received from her home supporters. Silke has already been selected to represent Belgium at the Special Olympics in June 2023.<\/p>

\"axc10adkkp6b2k4nniynu1bgccgnitsaurfwvkg5mrj6o4un.jpg\"<\/u><\/a><\/p>

Xan Crees<\/h3>

The British cyclocross rider Xan Crees who rides for Team Spectra spoke to us in October. She\u2019d been working in a fast food chain to save enough money to live and race cyclocross full-time in Belgium.<\/p>

\"ksr8z2e8vqzmvhknu4ploozot5di0zvaovnkuyz2qduakdot.jpg\"Xan Crees<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

Xan rode twenty-four UCI cyclocross races in Belgium, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. She finished second at Clonmel in Ireland and fourteenth at the notoriously hard Koppenbergcross.<\/p>

One of the highlights of her year was finishing fourth in the British Cyclocross National Championships at Westmorland. Buoyed with the progress she\u2019s made this year, Xan will be once again race in Belgium next winter for one final crack at securing a full-time contract.<\/p>

\"onlyvnkcqcvxesgmvtf4qsntanuck62iz81bi69nm1qzjitm.jpg\"<\/u><\/a><\/p>

Imogen Cotter<\/h3>

When we spoke to former Irish road race champion Imogen Cotter in August 2022 she had yet to start her road season. She was at the time still recovering from the horrendous injuries she suffered when hit head-on by a car in Spain. She\u2019ll never fully recover from these and it\u2019s been a constant cycle of operations and physio to mitigate the worst affects.<\/p>

It was physically and emotionally a cruel blow. The crash came shortly after she\u2019d signed a professional contract with the Plantur-Pura team. Based on determination alone, Imogen deserves to succeed.<\/p>

\"etqfxjpzclepx21ydvgxi7mwolmy2jtqyv972y8e88ug1xrp.jpg\"Imogen suffered major injuries<\/em><\/strong> Image: Imogen Cotter<\/em><\/p>

In September 2022 she started her road season, culminating with the World Tour stage race Tour de Romandie F\u00e9minin where she finished 66th overall. For 2023, Imogen has switched from the Plantur-Pura team which is now the Fenix-Deceuninck team and rides for the Fenix-Deceuninck Continental team.<\/p>

At the time of writing, she was expected to make her season debut at the GP Oetingen in Belgium followed by Drentse Acht van Westerveld, although the former was cancelled due to snow.<\/p>

\"p54lifwlkg6pbeugmfdkfznodxzsgnfdbs3dvkvm48zv72ct.jpg\"<\/u><\/a><\/p>

Millie Couzens<\/h3>

Millie kindly penned a blog for us in October 2022 as she came to the end of her first set of races riding for Plantur-Pura. She started her cyclocross season quite late in the year but still managed to win two rounds of the UK\u2019s National Trophy series. She also finished eleventh at the Urban Cross in Kortrijk and twelfth in the under-23 World Championships at Hoogerheide.<\/p>


\"1fwqempmtxzfiqzk7gaprqt2qfpao6hjb4xneqf1ewurqf2o.jpg\"Living the dream<\/em><\/strong> Image: Millie Couzens<\/em><\/p>

At the end of the season, she switched to the Fenix-Deceuninck World Tour team. She\u2019s already ridden the Setmana Ciclista stage race in February 2023. Her team mates for the stage race included Yara Kastelijn and fellow Britons Flora Perkins and Sophie Wright.<\/p>

During the cyclocross season, Yara is a rival who rides for the 777 team. Millie\u2019s role is to act as Yara\u2019s minder by ensuring she\u2019s at the front of the race for all the key moments. Millie has promised us another update later in the year.<\/p>

\"zp3ti7x0ncr54iulbh3fqapbhwdkaj7ngac1uq2k3zg0mpyw.jpg\"<\/u><\/a><\/p>

Alderney Baker<\/h3>

Alderney was another of our blog contributors last year. In December 2022 she was leading the UK\u2019s National Trophy cyclocross series. In her blog, she explained that she\u2019s a cyclocross addict and revealed some of the difficulties she\u2019d faced in the season.<\/p>

Work commitments necessitated a dramatic reduction in her training and her form suffered as a consequence. Going into the final round of the National Trophy series, if Millie Couzens won, Alderney had to finish at least twelfth to secure the overall title.<\/p>

\"0rlljnpm04wiwbxkfekg87e3dobsgblbt3urbptnxs3evr0l.jpg\"Alderney is a self-confessed cyclocross addict<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

Her campaign plan was not helped by a cold that she\u2019d picked up the week beforehand. With her dad shouting encouragement, Alderney struggled her way around to finish eleventh. She was exhausted, relieved and elated.<\/p>

In 2022, Alderney was riding on the road for the Bianchi Hunt Morvelo team. Unfortunately, the team disbanded at the end of the year. I asked her recently what her plans for 2023 were, she replied \u201cPlan A: Enjoy riding my bike. Plan B: Refer to plan A.\u201d<\/p>

\"eylue0l7qnf5w8icisqtayrpdozfcbhc72sfuzogbnuolii3.jpg\"<\/u><\/a><\/p>

Julien van den Brande<\/h3>

It was back in April 2022 that we spoke to former Tartelleto-Isorex professional Julien van den Brande. At that point, he\u2019d left the \u201cCake team\u201d as they\u2019d offered him a renewal but without paying a salary. It was a fascinating insight into the harsh reality of racing at the UCI Continental level.<\/p>

He was looking for employment opportunities and riding for his own team S-Bikes Doltcini. Julien had set the team up up with his partner Fien de Paepe. Since then, Julien has been employed by Carbonbike <\/a>and has had considerable success back in the amateur ranks.<\/p>

\"bhshu1eeanmtywg9dsjfawzgigfwvzvuo7irlpysdegxd6yu.jpg\"Julien won eight times in 2022 <\/em><\/strong>Image: Julien van den Brande<\/em><\/p>

Riding for S-Bikes Doltcini, Julien scored eight wins during 2022, including a purple period where he was victorious four times in twelve days. The team continues to flourish and is now known as Carbonbike Giordana by Gen Z.<\/p>

The men\u2019s team focuses on the Flemish domestic scene of kermesses and inter-club races for elites without contracts. The women\u2019s team will also race against World Tour teams in UCI 1.1 races.<\/p>

\"qb7lra8gpjwhhv4sgamtxifrtarq0lyzttmirqusefrvtw6y.jpg\"<\/u><\/a><\/p>

Gosse van der Meer<\/h3>

In February 2022, we explained Gosse van der Meer\u2019s unique approach to being a professional cyclist. Since then he\u2019s continued his varied sporting and non-sporting activities. During the summer he was signed part way through the year by Guam registered team EuroCyclingTrips.<\/p>

He rode a limited number of UCI races including the Tour of Estonia. After the Tour de France, he was contracted to ride a number of post-Tour criterums. These are effectively demonstration events that allow the paying fans the opportunity to watch Tour stars in their home town.<\/p>

The riders are paid to take part with the major stars such as Wout van Aert paid major fees to appear. Riders such as Gosse are invited and paid to pad out the field which include the world\u2019s best through to top local amateurs. It\u2019s lucrative and other than the travelling, not too taxing.<\/p>

\"kunnxeefqboinrdn7qbylw0w5fym7clvswdcnuvs4xy3ekvw.jpg\"Gosse racing at Clanfield <\/em><\/strong>Image: Paul Paxford<\/em><\/p>

Gosse lined up against riders such as Arnaud de Lie, Michael Matthews, Jasper Philipsen, Tom Pidcock and Wout. Of course these races are fixed. The organisers decide the top three placings before hand. This is why you\u2019ll sometimes see a skinny climber beat off a burly top sprinter in a flat town centre race.<\/p>

Gosse undertook a limited cyclocross season and once again used his racing as an opportunity to travel. A win in Romania and a few races in Slovakia were included in his cross season. He\u2019s also been racing mountain bike. Most recently riding the Cape Epic in South Africa with Niki Terpstra.<\/p>

As always with Gosse, he\u2019s managed to fit in some non-cycling past-times such as rock climbing and his first flying lessons.<\/p>

\"xam2tdkzssih51rjfgteyk4hgqbypl5ywee0qxoripzsvjsv.jpg\"<\/u><\/a><\/p>

8 March 2023, Tim Costello<\/p>

\"grrbpemyywmusal5merxugim70nijvc2vqzqxpkx6vlx83lu.jpg\"<\/p>

NEVER MISS OUT<\/strong><\/h3>

Subscribe<\/a>\u00a0to get all our latest stories and news. We won't bombard you with special offers. We don't want to send you junk as much as you don't want to receive it.<\/p>

\"e4csubwckhg8szzln5ubes5dpwxwl5bey21wrlfbncih5zeg.jpg\"<\/u><\/a><\/p>","urlTitle":"was-it-a-good-year","url":"\/blog\/was-it-a-good-year\/","editListUrl":"\/my-blogs","editUrl":"\/my-blogs\/edit\/was-it-a-good-year\/","fullUrl":"https:\/\/rijden.uk\/blog\/was-it-a-good-year\/","featured":false,"published":true,"showOnSitemap":true,"hidden":false,"visibility":null,"createdAt":1678182830,"updatedAt":1683575962,"publishedAt":1683575962,"lastReadAt":null,"division":{"id":61205,"name":"Rijden_2"},"tags":[{"id":1160,"code":"cyclocross","name":"Cyclocross","url":"\/blog\/tagged\/cyclocross\/"},{"id":1216,"code":"road-racing","name":"RoadRacing","url":"\/blog\/tagged\/road-racing\/"},{"id":2228,"code":"interviews","name":"Interviews","url":"\/blog\/tagged\/interviews\/"}],"metaImage":{"original":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/gkhhtsjtzsebicxgoi8baxa47hcxbxibwik0rcectuohbxoz.jpeg","thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/gkhhtsjtzsebicxgoi8baxa47hcxbxibwik0rcectuohbxoz.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/gkhhtsjtzsebicxgoi8baxa47hcxbxibwik0rcectuohbxoz.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"metaTitle":"Was it a Good Year for Our Interviewees? | Rijden","metaDescription":"We look back at how our cyclocross and road racing interviewees have fared over the past twelve months. Has it been a good year for them?","keyPhraseCampaignId":null,"series":[],"similarReads":[{"id":10141,"title":"Soviet Invasion","url":"\/blog\/goodwood-1982\/","urlTitle":"goodwood-1982","division":61205,"description":"The first of three stories about the 1982 World Cycling Championships which was held at Goodwood. Sleepy Sussex was the stage for a minor invasion of Soviet cyclists and their KGB minders.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/ysyhin4y6wh2tspjf8niotiyhghaolmac7ucoddcx2tlpzmt.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/ysyhin4y6wh2tspjf8niotiyhghaolmac7ucoddcx2tlpzmt.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":10158,"title":"Goodwood 1982 - Amateur titles","url":"\/blog\/goodwood-1982-part-two\/","urlTitle":"goodwood-1982-part-two","division":61205,"description":"The UCI Cycling World Championships were held in England in 1982, with the road races at Goodwood in West Sussex. In the second part, we report on a rare British victory and socialist love.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/skobdoxdohlydrehwbak2vqm7psto0d1hfgryg4dee8axtqn.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/skobdoxdohlydrehwbak2vqm7psto0d1hfgryg4dee8axtqn.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":10162,"title":"Goodwood 1982 - Giuseppe Saronni wins","url":"\/blog\/goodwood-1982-part-three\/","urlTitle":"goodwood-1982-part-three","division":61205,"description":"La fucilata di Goodwood: Our unique insight into the 1982 Cycling World Championship road race won by Italian star Giuseppe Saronni aboard his beautiful Colnago.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/troqwtwuqogjpe46tgbnbqmp0ok1qvukq25eeawytinpgzua.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/troqwtwuqogjpe46tgbnbqmp0ok1qvukq25eeawytinpgzua.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0}],"labels":[]}