It has been several weeks since a very muddy Lance Haidet crossed the finish line of the U.S. Cyclocross National Championships in Louisville, Kentucky, but his season is not done yet. In a couple weeks he will line up with the best U23 cyclocross racers in our sport for the UCI Cyclocross World Championships in Bognese, Denmark on Feb 2nd.
Lance has been training hard and recovering well at his home in California and with his road team in New Mexico. We checked in with him to see what he did after U.S. Nationals and how his World Championship race preparation is coming along.
What have you been doing since Cyclocross Nationals? After Nationals my coach and I decided it was good idea to take a week off from structured training. With Worlds still a month and half away we felt it was essential to physically and mentally reset before ramping up the hard work. Around Christmas I began focused training and have spent the past two weeks putting in more running work. I also fired up some strength and core training that was put off during the high intensity training leading up to Nationals. I was also fortunate to spend some time in Albuquerque, New Mexico for the first Aevolo road team camp of the season. I really put in some solid time on the bike as well as do some good running while there. Before I head to Europe I will be back home ramping up the intensity with a few motorpacing sessions.
With such long cyclocross season how do you stay motivated? It can be quite difficult to keep motivation high especially when everyone else here in California is putting in big endurance rides and I have to go out and absolutely flog myself with intervals. Luckily it has been easier to stay motivated because my friends Brannan Fix and Katie Clouse have been training here in San Luis Obispo. Having them around has definitely aided in keeping me focused to put in the work, but also has helped me to relax and have fun between workouts.
Anything special you are doing in preparation for Worlds? In prep for the Worlds course I have been focusing on running up short steep hills and being super efficient at getting on and off the bike. I have also been doing a bunch of high intensity and power efforts to sharpen my fitness as we get closer to Worlds.
What do you think about the Worlds course? It looks like a fun course. Based on what I have seen the venue is super cool and sits right along the ocean, which will be a significant change from the typical Euro cross course scenery. If it is dry it will be wide-open and fast, but if it's muddy there are going t be some long, painful tractor-pull straightaways. There are also quite a few steep punchy climbs and a good amount of off-camber descents. It should be tons of fun!
When you head to Europe what does the lead up to Worlds look like? I am getting to Europe on January 24th and will be staying at the USA Cycling house in Sittard, Netherlands. I will be racing the Hoogerheide World Cup the weekend before Worlds to loosen up the travel legs. Then a few days before the race we will drive to Denmark in order to get some time on the course. I am really looking forward to it!
Lance will be taking two Donnelly C/C race bikes and several sets of wheels with him on this trip. With the anticipation of mud, all but one set are glued up with the Donnelly PDX tubular. The other set will have the MXP treads just in case it is dry and fast. We wish the best of luck to Lance and all of the other amazing athletes taking part in this year's World Cyclocross Championships!
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Team Schedule
Rochester Cyclocross – Rochester, NY
RenoCross – Reno, NV
Trek CXC World Cup – Waterloo, WI
Jingle Cross World Cup – Iowa City, IA
West Sacramento Grand Prix – Sacramento, CA
US Open of Cyclocross – Boulder, CO
Cincy CX Festival - Cincinnati, OH
Silver Goose CX Festival - Midland, ON, Canada
Major Taylor Cross Cup - Indianapolis, IN
Resolution Cross Cup - Garland, TX
Ruts N Guts CX – Broken Arrow, OK
USA National Championships – Louisville, KY
UCI World Championships – Bogense, Denmark
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