Kabush in favour of cyclocross joining the Winter Olympics

Canadian Olympic mountain biker Geoff Kabush (Scott-3Rox Racing) is hoping that the sport of cyclocross will join the Winter Olympic Games, a discussion that is set to take place next week between the International Cycling Union (UCI) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

“I’d be a big fan of seeing cyclocross added to the Olympic Games schedule,” said Kabush, who is a five-time national cyclocross champion.

The Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad reported that UCI’s off-road co-ordinator Peter Van Den Abeele and IOC’s Sport director Christophe Dubi will meet to talk about the potential of cyclocross in Winter Olympic Games.

The discussion will include whether or not to change the existing rule that only allows sports practised on snow or ice to take part in the Winter Olympics. The rule would be replaced with something more general, such as “only sports practised during winter months are eligible.”

Cyclocross is typically held during the fall and winter months. The UCI’s 2013–14 international cyclocross schedule began on Sept. 7 in the U.S. and concludes on Feb. 23 in Belgium. The World Cup schedule began on Nov. 20 in the Netherlands and will end at the world championships on Feb. 2 also in the Netherlands.

“It’s a fun conversation and I’d love to see cyclocross in the Olympics, but I’m a little skeptical if we will see it very soon,” Kabush said. “Even changing the Winter Olympic definition to sports practised only during winter months is a bit of a stretch for cyclocross.”

The elite cyclocross world championships were held for the first time in North America in Louisville, Ky., in 2013.  It was also the first time in the cyclocross world championship’s 64-year history that the event was held outside of Europe. Kabush believes that including cyclocross in the Winter Olympics would help bring the sport more international exposure.

“I think that any time another cycling discipline makes it into the Olympics is going to be positive for the athletes and bring more exposure to the sport,” he said. “Cyclocross in the Winter Olympics wouldn’t displace another cycling discipline or its athletes. There’s definitely a ways to go to make it a bit more international but maybe an Olympic introduction would help spur this on.”