Sure, there's plenty more cyclocross racing on the horizon with the 2016 Cyclocross National Championships and of course the World Championships at the end of January 2016. But the end of the calendar year has us thinking back over the last 12 months and reflecting on those moments that had the cyclocross community talking.
Here, we look back over some of 2015's main events, our favorite moments from the last year and the tech that shaped this season thus far.
Have a favorite cyclocross moment for 2015 of your own? Share it with us on our Facebook Page or over on Twitter. #cxm2015lookback
The Kids Are Alright: The Youth Movement in the Men’s Elite Field at the World Championships
There was a sea change coming.
You could see it all the way back in Louisville in 2013. There a young 22-year old Lars van der Haar, not that he’s all that old now at 24, stood third on the podium behind 37-year old Sven Nys and 31-year old Klaas Vantornout.
While the 2014 Elite Men’s podium at the World Championships boasted a combined age of 97, it wasn’t going to last.
Fast forward to 2015 and Tábor, Czech Republic for the 2015 UCI World Championships and the tide had fully risen. A pair of 20-year olds in the form of Mathieu van der Poel, who had won the 2013 U23 World Championship race in Louisville, and Wout van Aert stood atop the first two podium steps with the old man of the group, Lars van der Haar, taking the final spot.
Van der Poel was the youngest World Champion ever in the Elite Men’s field and it was the youngest ever World Championship podium; average age of just 21 years.
On top of the world in 2015. Wout van Aert, Mathieu van der Poel and Lars van der Haar. © Matthew Lasala / Cyclocross Magazine
