December 22, 2008 — Natasha Elliott (EMD Serono/Stevens) is an elite cyclocross racer from Ottawa, ON. After making her way into bike racing from running, Elliott has proven she’s a force to reckoned with many wins and top performances at local and international competitions. Elliott will be representing Canada at the 2009 Cyclocross World Championships in Hoogerheide, Netherlands in January. We caught up with her just prior to her departure for Europe where she’ll be competing at several CX World Cups, other Euro cyclocross races, and the CX Worlds.

You’ve had some great results this year, winning some big races and you’re ranked 17th in the World – how has 2008 been?
Natasha Elliot: It has been a lot of hard work. My coach (Ken Brunet/Peak Centre) had me training hard through the summer road races. A lot of people doubted my choices and my road results were hit and miss, but in order to be going well for cyclocross season, I needed to keep pushing all summer, spending a lot of hot summer days indoors, on the trainer, sweating away, instead of doing social things like group rides or training crits.
The training was really hard and because of it my road race results were really hit and miss. But in order to be going well for cyclocross season I needed to keep pushing myself all summer and it has seemed to have paid off. I had the support and confidence with my training from my coach, my family and most of all my fiance (Derrick St John).

Has the training paid off?
NE: Winning the CycleSmart race in Northampton, Massachusetts was definitely the biggest and probably most exciting win of my career. It’s the oldest UCI race in North America and suits my abilities with fast, technical, never-ending accelerations. I used every thing I’ve ever learned about bike racing in that one day to race to my true potential.

After racing in Europe last winter, how does North America compare?
NE: Women’s racing in North America is definitely getting to a new level. Last year in Europe I was able to come top 15 in all the races I did excluding the World Cup. This year, with my fitness and skills improving, top 10 in some American races is still hard to achieve. Everyone brings their A-game and leaves nothing behind. One little error and you lose a couple of places.

Also thanks to Georgia Gould’s petitioning, some of the larger venues are offering equal prize money for the top five women. This is hopefully a sign of things to come regarding equality in women’s racing and is very important to me as a female racer. The costs for me to travel to an event are no less, so why should we be given less prize money? Trust me – battling it out for the top 5 can be just as hard as racing in Europe.

You’re going back for another stay in Europe – what are your plans?
NE: The focus is around three World Cups and then the CX World Championships. Derrick and I are leaving in mid-December and staying until February. It will be a much longer trip than last year, and will be focused on the World Cups. Last year I was just there for the experience, but this year I’m there to be in the race.

The costs for Worlds and racing in Europe mount up quickly – how has it been finding sponsors/fundraising?
NE: Definitely difficult because of the economy right now. Before Europe, we had to make it through the North American season. Fortunately, the community has really stepped it up to help us. I really can’t thank these people enough for all their help and it will really go a long way. All the race organizers and communities at every event we did this year were also a great help. Besides racing in a lot of different places this year, I got to experience these cities off the bike at gracious home stays. The support is more than I could ever imagine from our families and the cycling community.

Bob Woods and Ian Austin set the last local OBC cyclocross series race as a fundraiser and it brought out over 100 people to race in the snow. Many people we haven’t had the pleasure of seeing in too long came out to cheer, say hi and donate more money than we would ever have anticipated. Their kindness and generosity is touching and we will remember that when we are slugging it out in the trenches in Belgium.

Any plans beyond this year?
NE: After Worlds we are going to take a mandatory few weeks off as we have been on the go since September. Then once things get back to normal I’m very pleased to say that I will be racing with the Specialized/Mazda women’s road team out of Montreal. The philosophy of this team is that every riders needs are different and if they are to prosper in sport and in life the team provides them with an environment that accommodates growth in cycling and in their personal lives as well.

They understand that my CX aspirations are very important and they know that I may need a little time to get up to full speed in the spring and they have been very accommodating and flexible about this.

As for Cross 09, Derrick planted a money tree in the back yard and he told me it will be ready come September next year so no worries…
Once again, I would just like to thank everyone who has helped us out through the first half of the season. While most of you are hanging your cross bikes up now, know that we’ll still be cleaning ours, cause we are ready to start round 2. Ding Ding.