Glasgow, here we are! This years World Champs extravaganza sure seemed to creep up this year. When first announced that the UCI was going to combine all disciplines into one location at one time, it seemed so far away. But in a few days, the fun begins. For me, the XCO and XCC races, along with the Marathon, will be the focus. When Marathon was announced earlier in the year as a dedicated broadcast on the new Discovery channels, I naively thought we’d see some crossover XC racers entering. But with the races being so close together, there’s no way that’s going to happen. And with the world champs, it appears to be the same. The Marathon race is the Sunday before the XC races. With the short track qualifiers just a few days after, I doubt we’ll see PFP try again to sweep everything.
I hate predictions, they rarely pan out, and do not mean a thing in the end. But I’d be surprised if Paulne FP walk away with a gold medal this year. She is the queen of targeting these events though. She can handle the pressure better than anyone I think. That’s the best part of World Champs for me though – anyone can have a good day and take the gold. Certainly no one thought Jordan Sarrou would have taken it a few years back. He was the best on that day, and bam, world champ.
As for the US racers, not expecting any medals to be honest. I do think Blevins is good enough to take a XCC medal, but he’s been off the podium this year and seems inconsistent. Sam Gaze again?
Good luck to all racers, and let’s see what the weather can do to behave.
