Kudo Coach guide to Cyclo-Cross

The cycling discipline of cyclo-cross has never had such a wide global appeal and with the current stars of road cycling, Wout Van Aert, Van Der Poel and Tom Pidcock still racing and winning cyclo-cross races at World level, the popularity of this sport will only increase.

Whether you’re looking to start cycle racing or to increase fitness during the winter in preparation for your summer goals, cyclo-cross is an ideal discipline. With more racing leagues popping up each year, you won’t have to travel far to find a race.

What is cyclo-cross?

Cyclo-cross races are typically 40-60mins (depending on your category) and run over a 2-3km lap. Traditionally this is a winter discipline but there are increasing amounts of summer events too.

The courses vary massively and can take place in parks, woods and can be hilly or flat. Most courses will require you to dismount the bike, this may be due to hurdles, steps or steep banks. As a winter sport the conditions can vary from fast hardpack, frozen ground or more typically mud.

A cyclo-cross bike has narrow tyres and no suspension so there’s a limit to how rough the terrain can be. Compared to mountain biking the courses are relatively un-technical. Instead the technicality comes from riding at high speed; not the course itself. Unlike road racing you are rarely in a bunch and if you are unfortunate enough to have a crash it’s most likely to be on grass, rather than unforgiving tarmac. For these reasons the sport is an ideal introduction to competitive cycling for younger or less experienced cyclists.

The laps are short, usually only 5-8 mins long, and therefore a practice lap (advised to check the obstacles/corners) doesn’t take very long. The event can also be exciting for spectators and family members to watch as they can see you multiple times during the race and easily follow the action.

What kit do I need?

A specific cyclo-cross bike is not too dissimilar to a road race bike, the main difference being the additional tyre clearance so that a 33-35 mm tyre with tread can be run with some additional space for mud build up. The gearing is slightly lower but this is only subtle.

With the addition of disc brakes for road bikes and the popularity of wider road tyres, it’s now possible to fit a treaded cylo-cross tyre on many road bikes so it’s worth trying. Gravel bikes are very close to cyclo-cross bikes and can certainly be used for a race, though it may be worth swapping the tyres for a narrower, more knobbly tyre if the conditions are muddy to increase the grip.

You’ll need to be on and off the bike in a cross race so it’s probably time put the carbon sole road shoes and single sided pedals to one side, and switch to a double sided mountain bike style pedal and shoe, which has the cleat recessed so you can run more easily.

How hard is a CX race?

Cyclo-cross is an intense affair and will see you at maximum effort for up to an hour! The courses provide few descents and so recovery is limited. As a result you spend the whole race going constantly above/below your anaerobic threshold!

One of the positives though is that the races are run on time not distance. You can be lapped but are never going to finish minutes after the winner.

For the competitors at the front a cyclo-cross race can be a tactical one with attacks and surges. For the riders further back it will feel like a technical time trial. This constant hard effort is excellent training and will increase your FTP (Functional Threshold Power) and strength endurance. For many cycling events this is the most important factor and some regular winter cross racing will benefit your summer cycling, whether that’s a sportive, road or XC mountain bike racing.

The races will go off fast so make sure you include a warm up before the line up. Ideally this will include some short efforts at race pace and will get you set for the start effort. You can find a Kudo Coach warm up under gravel/race prep.

Pacing your effort is really important and tough to get right. It’s very easy to do the first lap too hard when racing others and then suffer badly. A good plan is to split the race into three sections, in the first third keep control of your breathing and hold back, in the middle third start to squeeze but keep it smooth then in the final third give it everything you have left.

The only downside of cyclo-cross is that due to the high intensity and possible bad weather it can be quite draining, so make sure you don’t race too much and take regular weeks off to stay motivated and focus on less intense endurance workouts.

So get out there and give it a go!