Besançon is a city in the northeast of France with a long tradition of outdoor sports, including hosting Tour de France stages 18 times. The venue for this year’s World Cup has previously hosted rounds of the Coupe de France Cyclocross and also the French National Cyclocross Championships in 2019. That year’s tricolore was won by Caroline Mani, a native of the city and graduate of the local club AC Bisontine. (Besançon residents are known as “Bisontines”). The course was fairly typical of French cyclocross, bumped up a notch in difficulty to meet World Cup standards.
From a photographer’s perspective, the parcours provided lots of varied features to shoot, though I found myself mostly drawn to the short, steep berms which were made very treacherous by the conditions. With enough momentum they were ride-able but if riders needed to dismount they were at the mercy of their toe-spike selection.
The weather was, of course, a big factor on the day. It was snowing at the start of the women’s race but it tapered off by the end and the temperature was starting to edge up just a bit. Overall I enjoyed this venue and what could have been a bit of a boring race (unless you are a big Lucinda Brand fan) was made very exciting by the rides from Katie Clouse, Clara Honsinger and especially the podium-clinching performance of Maghalie Rochette.
World Cup Besançon Photo Gallery, by Ethan Glading
Hi Ethan - amazing images as usual - got to take issue with the notion of Brand being boring. She was on the edge of her ability the entire race and her lead was due to her being willing to take risk / reward choices and lean on her massively improved technical skills. Best example her being the only rider able to negotiate the left hand line which took out Worst and SVA. Honsinger seems a bit off - course looked ideal for her and Clouse was phenomenal. Also hope you mention TV coverage which was exceptional in showing more than just Brand off the front.
Hi Ethan - amazing images as usual - got to take issue with the notion of Brand being boring. She was on the edge of her ability the entire race and her lead was due to her being willing to take risk / reward choices and lean on her massively improved technical skills. Best example her being the only rider able to negotiate the left hand line which took out Worst and SVA. Honsinger seems a bit off - course looked ideal for her and Clouse was phenomenal. Also hope you mention TV coverage which was exceptional in showing more than just Brand off the front.