In October JB Murphy and Will Ryan attended a cyclocross camp in Aigle where they experienced some top class coaching. Below is an account of how that camp unfolded, by Andy Layhe.
As part of Cycling Ireland’s development of cyclocross, riders JB Murphy (U23) and Will Ryan (Junior) accompanied Cyclocross Coordinator Andy Layhe to a week long camp at the UCI Headquarters in Aigle, Switzerland.
The trio were under the watchful eye of experienced Belgian National Coach Rudy de Bie and former Swiss professional Arnaud Grand. A total of 20 riders from all corners of the world were selected for the event aimed at developing rider skills and cyclocross specific advice and experience.
Morning sessions included cyclocross skills and drills based around the UCI Centre and in particular made use of the cx specific skills section in place there.
Afternoon sessions included road rides ranging from 90mins to 2hr30 in duration, taking in some wonderful training roads that surround the area.
The week culminated with the EKZCrossTour UCI C1 race based within the UCI campus itself. Unseasonal weather greeted the riders as temperatures hit 27 degrees on a very dry and fast course. JB Murphy decided to skip the race to recover in time for his trip to the forthcoming UCI Track event in Berlin. Junior Will Ryan, taking part in his first overseas cyclocross race finished a credible 16th in the junior, 4mins13sec down on winner Loris Rouiller.
CX Coordinator Andy Layhe oversaw all the training rides and undertook classroom sessions with the experienced UCI coaches who were there to study under the UCI’s coaching Diploma Scheme.
The experience gained by both the riders and staff at the camp will be filtered through to the squad of development riders over the course of the season and the forthcoming national squad camps.