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At home in Belgium, Nys is a real celebrity; where he goes, the camera crews follow. With thousands upon thousands of fans who avidly support him, Nys has the power to bring cross-country MTB to a whole new audience. 

Before Nys started racing, there was little-to-no coverage of races in the Belgian press or on television. This is typical for the UK, but for a cycling nation who can't get enough of road racing and cyclocross, this was unusual. There are now big sponsorship deals and television coverage at provincial level races if Sven attends. 

The UK and Belgium are, of course, very different kettles of fish; the UK is a burgeoning cycling nation, with the sport still in its infancy where popular culture is concerned. However, cycling has been brought to a much wider, public audience in the UK following World and Olympic success for GB athletes, and there are a handful of hard-working souls who are hell-bent on bringing MTB to the forefront of cycling in Britain, and gaining it the coverage it deserves. I believe, following the growing success of World Cup XC coverage on Red Bull TV,  that it is only a matter of time before those outside of mountain biking begin to see how awesome it is, and the talent that GB has. 

Obviously it's not quite as easy as this, but if we could only have a Sven Nys...

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In 1985, age 15, Frischi followed in his father's footsteps and started racing cyclocross. He was an overwhelming talent in his category, winning 21 out of the 22 races he entered in 1987/88, including the Junior World Championships. 

In 1990 Frischknecht travelled to the USA to join Team Ritchy and race the up and coming NORBA National Championship Series. He was just 20 years old, yet he beat all the big US names to win the series. He completed this breakthrough year in MTB with a silver medal at the inaugeral UCI MTB World Championships. 

It was the start of a very fruitful career. The Swissman went on to win two XCO World Championships and two XCM World Championships. He won two cyclocross World titles and was second at the Atlanta Olympic Games, 6th in Sydney and 7th in Athens. He has won 18 World Cups and has thrice won the overall World Cup series. He has won a European title and multiple Swiss Championships and even managed to finish mid-pack in the 1996 Olympic road race, on a cyclocross bike, the day after taking the silver medal in the cross-country race!

Thomas Frischknecht is still a familiar face on the World Cup scene and is very much at the heart of the Scott Swisspower team. 

Frischi is a legend of cross-country mountain biking, and he has a son...

World, watch out!

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Having an U23 category at the World Cups allows young riders to serve their apprenticeship. They can race among their peer group, have more tangible success and manageable experience.

The very best U23s do have the option of moving up to Elite ranks early, should they wish to. In my experience, many of the top U23 riders prefer to race alongside the elites. It pushes them harder and allows them to measure their capabilities and progress. Britain's Annie Last was one of the first riders to utilise this change of rules by the UCI. Ahead of the Olympics she was able to develop her racing by surrounding herself with the best riders in the World, her 2012 competition. 

Jolanda Neff, twice U23 World Champion, has just completed her first season racing as an Elite. When she took the decision to move out of the U23 category early in the year she was nervous but undoubtedly excited by the prospect. She explained that it was the best thing for her racing and her future, she felt that winning all the time does not push a rider to be the best they can be. 

Great Britain's U23 riders have been highly successful at World level this year. Beth Crumpton has had some very impressive World Cup results in her first year as an U23, including 8th in Nove Mesto after a start-straight crash. Grant Ferguson has also been well inside the top ten on the World stage, fourth in the Val di Sole World Cup a testament to his talent. Ferguson is also our Senior National Champion. Kenta Gallagher is another talented U23, taking his first ever World Cup victory this year in the XCE discipline. 

Without Red Bull TV coverage, and little more than a paragraph in many write-ups, the U23 category is often overlooked. This is unfortunate because the talent and the racing is super exciting for the future of cross-country.

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