Racing in Belgium “the only way to really prepare properly” for a competition like the worlds in Zolder: Cameron Jette
For Cameron Jette, like Mical Dyck, there's a sobering awareness that what the 'cross courses of Heusden-Zolden, Belgium might offer on Jan. 31 are nothing like what many experience in Canada.
For Cameron Jette, like Mical Dyck, there’s a sobering awareness that what the ‘cross courses of Heusden-Zolden, Belgium might offer on Jan. 31 are nothing like what many ‘cross riders experience in Canada.
Like Dyck, though, Jette has been using that knowledge in preparation.
“I’ve raced a little bit over here, not a ton,” Jette said, speaking to Canadian Cycling Magazine.. “I’m sure there are guys who know more than me, but I believe the only way to prepare here is by racing here. The mud and technical aspects of the courses are like nothing we experience in North America. Racing over here week in and week out is the only way to really prepare properly for it.”
If nothing else, the season that Jette has seen up until this point has likely helped. Despite a few crashes and what he refers to as low points in North Carolina earlier in the season—crashing out at the Grand Prix, specifically, and getting a “good dose of road rash,” as he calls it—the Canadian Scott-3Rox cyclist looks back at a series of competitions that have well prepared him for the the field he anticipates.
Excited be heading back to Belgium to represent Canada and @scott3rox at the World Cyclocross… https://t.co/RsGIkWUgLq
— Cameron Jette (@CameronJette) January 13, 2016
“It’s going to be a really hard race and I’m looking forward to it,” Jette said. “I’m right behind Lars Boom on the call so I’m hoping to follow his wheel all the way to the front.”
Once Zolder wraps, Jette plans to return to preparing for the mountain bike season ahead, undertaking some committed training as he looks ahead to another season with Scott-3Rox. Thinking about the season of ‘cross competition that’s preceded that training, though, the Canadian rider is optimistic not just about his own prospects at Zolder, but about what lies ahead for the Canadian cyclocross scene at large.
“I think cyclocross in Canada is in the best shape it’s ever been in,” he said. “There is a dedicated group of people on the admin side who are doing a great job. There is also a good crop of dedicated young CX riders who, in the years to come, can put Canada on the map. I’m excited to watch this program grow in the years to come and hopefully be a part of it myself.”
