I hadn’t known much about Zonhoven before I got here, but when I started to recce the course in the morning, the horribly steep and sandy descents did ring a bell. Even looking at them was scary, let alone the thought of people coming down on them, at race speed. I didn’t have to wait for the first batch of riders, who were the women.

It feels wrong to complain about good weather but cyclo-cross and sunshine just don’t go together – but it’s a very convenient condition to take pictures in. However, luck shone us as clouds started to cover the sky but it didn’t rain. It was almost perfect: you get the benefit of dramatic backgrounds but you don’t have to sit in mud on hours end.

The unusually sunny weather continues! It’s the second consecutive weekend this cross season when it’s sunny and almost warm – it’s easy to take photos but I do miss the rain and other adversaries from a photography point of view: it’s much easier to take dramatic photos when it’s pissing down and the mud is ankle-deep.

Sunshine isn’t normally the dominant weather at cyclo-cross races, but that was the case on Sunday, at the first round of the cyclo-cross World Cup in Plzen, Czech Republic. It was another great weekend with brilliant racing, though

A quick post before tomorrow’s race as I have spent the afternoon at the course. Most riders were out and doing laps on the course. One thing I really like was that all ages were allowed to be on the course – I’m not sure how UCI compliant that is, but it must have been very inspirational for these youngsters to ride right next to Stybar, Albert and other great riders.