Am I the only person asking that question?
I counted 16 non North American CX Competitors at Masters Worlds in Louisville this weekend, and based on the teams, I think only about 5 or 6 actually traveled here. The rest appear to be expats that now abide in the US.
Last year, the state of Kansas sent more riders to Mol, Belgium for masters worlds than the entire continent of Europe sent to the US this year.
I just don't know what to think about this. It kind of makes me wonder if just 10 Europeans will show up for next years Elite UCI race.
Thoughts?
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5 comments:
Honestly if you're not a real pro it just seems like a huge pain in the ass to travel all that way and spend all that money. In many instances the races were deeper at nationals than they were at worlds.
...assuming that many of the guys from Europe who do masters competitions are like the people here who do masters competitions, not everyone can incur that expense and spend that much time away from work/family etc.
I am still scratching my head as to the decision making that led up to thinking that the U.S. could put on a race of this magnitude. As much as the sport has "grown" here it still is not and never will be as big as it is in Europe. Let's hope 2013 worlds shape up to look better than this years precursor.
I think the U.S. put on a fine race, it is just that not many people showed up. Also this is the first year that the domestic calendar has gone so deep into the winter. Most guys are still getting used to the idea of racing through January and were kind of hanging on to make it to nats. Cross racing starts in late august early september...that's a loooong season of racing.
For me the steep entry fees and licensing requirements probably served as a slight deterrent as well.
All that being said, I'd bet that domestic participation numbers will be up significantly in 2013 as a lot of people will go to participate and watch the pros.
I just think that it was kind of lame that literally no-one from the rest of the world showed up.
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