Interview: Curtis White on Embracing the Full European Cyclocross Immersion
Curtis White shares the challenges and benefits of battling the world's best during his full-season European cyclocross campaign.
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Curtis White of the Cannondale p/b CyclocrossWorld program has been one of the cyclocross athletes representing North America in Europe this season. Now in his fourth year as an Elite ‘cross racer, White has been taking full advantage of a European immersion that started in mid-November to improve his skills and fight for strong results.
White achieved a career-best World Cup result last month at the wet and muddy World Cup Dendermonde, and he now heads to Worlds in Oostende this weekend looking to improve on his 18th-place finish from Dubendorf Worlds.
We checked in with White about his experience during this unusual season and what he hoping to gain from the full Belgian immersion going into next season.
Curtis White Interview
Zach: What was the hardest part of coming into the season a month plus after everyone else had started racing?
Curtis White: Although it was a big factor, the hardest part wasn’t showing up feeling behind the eight ball with less race speed in the legs. I had confidence in my training over the previous nine months, and I knew I would regain that explosivity once I started racing consistently.
The hardest part was having absolutely no idea what to expect. Would we be allowed into Belgium? Would we be allowed to start the races? What happens if the season is canceled halfway through? Will we actually have a World Championships? On top of the already massive effort to understand what paperwork we needed and what policies we had to adopt and adhere to, we had to keep the faith that we would find a way to compete and show off all the work we had put in. The support from Cannondale Cyclocrossworld.com was unwavering during that time and made keeping that faith much easier.
Zach: How long did it take you to adjust to the point of feeling comfortable?
Curtis White: It felt easier to adjust this year because we had more time on our hands. We arrived at our house in Sittard, Netherlands on November 5, almost a month and a half earlier than we normally would after our National Championships. After we finished our quarantine period and tested, we were only racing once a week for the first month or so. That gave us more time to acclimate in a relaxed environment with the weather being quite a bit better than late December. We also had more time to explore roads and trails that we haven’t had the time to train on before, so it was a nice mix of returning to a familiar place and still exploring.
Zach: Great results are hard to come by in Europe, what other things have you been using to gauge your season and progress?
Curtis White: This season is already a success in that I’m able to compete and raise my level. I’m not trying to sound like the cheerleader of this cyclocross season here, but there have been lots of barriers to hop just to stay on the grindstone and keep the faith all through the summer, working to improve, and just getting to the start line here.
It is uncomfortable situations like this where true growth happens. I’ve become more comfortable putting myself in uncomfortable situations over the last year. Whether it is training through this pandemic, reaching my best numbers, living in Europe for 3 months, or getting the holeshot and trying to hang on to the front group for as long as I can, I’m always trying to do something I’ve never done before.
I was confident that I had the training and the numbers and the technique, but it was the explosiveness I had to trust would come. I was constantly focusing on the positives coming out of every opportunity, and trusted my ability to correct mistakes or make adjustments when needed.
Zach: I listened to your podcast about Dendermonde and you talked a lot about honing your top end. What do you mean and why does that take so long?
Curtis White: The “top end” I was talking about referred more to the explosivity you get from racing regularly, which was where I was improving for the first month of the season. For the previous nine months with no racing, my coach, Al Donahue, and I were committed to reaching a higher level and not getting bogged down by external factors. I had a really solid build and mix between endurance volume, VO2, anaerobic and technical work, but that final 1-2% only comes from these really intense, high-paced and unpredictable racing situations.
Dendermonde was one of those courses where if you went into that red zone for too long, you would detonate because there were so few opportunities to recover. It was a total diesel effort. I knew I had the depth, maturity, and patience to pace the effort well. I think that was the biggest contributor to my success, because two days later in Bredene, I had the explosivity to race near the front on a faster course.
Zach: A lot has been said about starts this year. How are both the holeshot and that first lap different than in the US?
Curtis White: The level is higher and deeper here, and there’s never a lull. In the US, I can comfortably start well or maybe get the holeshot and never step out of my comfort zone too much. There is simply less urgency at home.
In Europe, you fight for every single position. The most important part of the starts here is having that aggression and confidence. You have to go into every race with the knife between the teeth, and that’s the level I want the US to be at.
Zach: We have seen you get some good jumps, what have you worked on to improve on that skill?
Curtis White: I’ve always felt confident in my starts, but I’ve been working to hold that pace for longer to race within the first couple groups on course. I’ve been putting out the best numbers of my career this season, so I think the main thing to work on is getting comfortable in those high-stress situations and following through with good technique. Once the technique starts to slip, you begin wasting matches.
Zach: Dendermonde was obviously a big race for you, but what other races do you consider big successes from the season?
Curtis White: Bredene was a race I was proud of, right after Dendermonde. I started well, and was racing within the top-10 for the entire race. An unfortunate mistake sent me back to 11th in the last couple laps, but it was validation I could ride with faster wheels and start well.
Although the result may not show it, Mol was another race I was proud of. Sand has been a condition that I’ve put a lot of focus into through 2020, and I had the confidence to race near the front in the early laps, but I was making too many mistakes in the sand and eventually detonated in the final 3 laps, eventually finishing 25th.
To be on the wheel of Lars van der Haar, Daan Soete, and Wout van Aert in the opening lap, or in the second group with Vincent Baestaens, Thibau Nys, and Felipe Orts for the majority of the race and learn from how they rode in the sand and paced the lap provided huge takeaways regarding technique and how to use my equipment more efficiently. That race embodied the theme of this year—don’t be afraid to fail, and focus on growing in uncomfortable situations. Although the result would not indicate success, the takeaways from that race will do more to influence my preparation, expectations, and standards as a professional cyclocross athlete going forward.
Zach: Usually you head to Europe “full-time” after December Nats. How has this season been different in terms of settling in for the long haul? Has it changed your perspective on Euro racing at all?
Coming into this trip, none of us on the team knew what to expect. Even up until three days before departure, the situation was evolving and we weren’t 100% certain if departing November 4th was going to happen. We’ve been rolling with the punches well, and the atmosphere within the team this year has been incredible. This is the longest I’ve been away from my family, my girlfriend, and support system. Three months away from home in Europe over the holidays and during a pandemic is a lot. But yet we’ve still cultivated a dynamic that brings out the best in everyone and an environment to make the most of every opportunity. I have a newfound appreciation and sense of gratitude for European racing.
Zach: You also talked about the importance of training with other athletes on your pod. If the Lions or the Sauces or one of the other Euro teams showed interest, would you consider racing in Belgie full-time?
Curtis White: I want to continue to improve as an athlete and reach my potential. The way to do that is to place myself in an environment with people who are more successful. If the situation was right, I would seriously consider it.
Zach: One reason I am always cheering for you is because of your focus on being the best athlete you can. Given the high level of racing in Belgium, how do you see U.S. racing being a part of a program for an athlete who wants to get those Euro results?
Curtis White: I believe racing in Belgium, and training for racing in Belgium, makes you a better racer. I love the American cyclocross scene, but being successful in the US at the Elite level is being a big fish in a small pond. The competition is so deep and the level so high in Belgium.
We’ve known this for years. If the US racing is going to play an integral part in preparing athletes to race at the front of Belgian races and achieve solid results, a few things need to happen. US cyclocross needs to have a cohesive schedule where there are no overlapping weekends and an incentive for all the best athletes to show up to the same place every weekend. Year-round structure, support, and resources are also critical in athlete development. Because cyclocross is so dependent on technique, I think us athletes need to get creative and find ways to train together before the season and raise our level collectively.
I have faith there are exciting things happening with US cyclocross, but until that becomes the standard, we as individuals are going to rely only on European opportunities in-season to gain experience and reach that higher level.
That said, the biggest gift from this season is not only the fact that I got in my first full Belgian cyclocross season, but that I spent this year training for and racing at a higher level. I look forward to carrying what I learned into my training this spring and summer and into the races next season.
Zach: Every December, we in the Media Pit start talking about your tough luck at US ‘Cross Nationals. On a scale of “whatevs” to “Michael Jordan and I took that personally” does getting a Natty motivate you in training? Would you consider your career a success without getting that Stars-and-Stripes?
Curtis White: The last thing on my mind is ending my career without certain palmarѐs. Winning a Stars & Stripes motivates me every single day. It drives me in training, to take advantage of every opportunity in front of me and to continue operating at a high level athletically and personally. On race day, I remove myself from the numbers. I’m still 25 years old, motivated, and extremely hungry.
Zach: Thanks for your time, duder. Good luck the rest of the way this year.
Thanks for reaching out, and thank you all for reading! You can follow me on Instagram @curtisjwhite for more immediate updates, curtisjwhite.com/in-the-red for my podcast series, or my YouTube channel for course pre-rides and behind the scenes videos.