January 24, 2008 (Treviso, Italy) – As of Wednesday night, the Canadian team had all arrived in Treviso, Italy to begin final preparations for the 2008 Cyclocross World Championships. The riders who have been here since the beginning of the week have seen the course take shape and Thursday saw the entire course fenced off and most teams were checking out the course.

The 2008 CX Worlds circuit’s primary features are wide sweeping turns, a long set of steps and a short climb that had many of the riders trying to figure out how to ride – something the Italian team seemed to have already figured out, as many of their riders had no problem. The two main portions of the course are separated by a road section and a double-sided pit with drains installed to take the water away. Riders spent the afternoon starting to get a feel for the course, while tomorrow will likely be spent dialing in tire pressures. Many of the corners on the course were taped to prevent riders from creating ruts in the tacky mud that is goo-ing up the riders’ tires. The weather was sunny, warming up from freezing overnight to nearly 10 degrees as it is forecasted to do for the next few days the hope is for the course to dry up.

Canadian 2008 CX champ, Wendy Simms (Can) Kona-Yor Key Mortgage Team, coming off back-to-back 5th place World Cup finishes is looking confident and is Canada’s best hope for a medal. CX 2008 National champ, Mike Garrigan, has been trying to find his race legs after some time without racing, but with two weeks in Europe, he seems to be finding his form. Many of the other riders have been in Europe for several weeks and have grown accustomed to the style of racing. It has been a long season for many of the racers, but the finish in Treviso is the grand finale.

Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank, and Fidea’s Bart Wellens (Bel) and Erwin Vervecken (Bel) are the favorites, but don’t count out top Belgian crosser Sven Nys, who surely wants to wear the rainbow jersey. In the women’s race Hanka Kupfernagel (Ger) Focus and current CX World Champ Maryline Salvetat (Fra) VSLL Castres are the favorites in the women’s competition, while Katie Compton (USA) Spike Shooter, Daphny Van Den Brand (Ned) ZZPR.nl-Destil-Merida and Canada’s Simms should all be in the running.

Stay tuned for an exciting weekend of racing