First Cyclocross of the season - Nittany Lion Cross..... LIVE!!

Saturday 10th & Sunday 11th September 2011

13:15/14:30 USA eastern; 18:15/19:30 UK & 19:15/20:30 CEST

Doesn't time fly?  It's already the first cyclocross of the season - the Nittany Lion Cross, in Philadelphia. 

It's a two-day festival of cyclocross, with races for the elite women and men today and tomorrow - women at 13:15 Eastern USA (aka 18:15 UK, 19:15 CEST) & men's at 14:30 USA Eastern (19:30 UK, 20:30 CEST) - and there'll be live coverage of all the races online.

Here's the course - the excellent website says:

This course is mostly eastern grass; the start is on a paved section which turns into gravel. This first turn is a sweeping turn to the right. The barriers, one set, are about 3/4 kilometer from the start. The course is undulating. There is one section that crosses over some tree roots that is less than 50 yards in length.

More below!  Including the European invasion....  how will they fare in the US of A?

This will be an interesting one - since the UCI changed the rules, the early-season USA races give lots of UCI points, which are very important, as they are used to decide starting positions in the rest of the UCI races - very important for the riders who will be contesting the Cross World Cups.  This has meant certain European riders have been hopping across the Atlantic to try to get as big an advantage as possible, especially while rivals are still on the road/MTB!  The women's startlist includes Gabby Day and Helen Wyman from the UK and Joyce Vanderbecken from Belgium, as well as a great set of American riders, and the men's has Tom Bosch from the Netherlands and Ian Field from the UK.  

My confession - although I follow European CX, I know pretty much nothing about the USA scene.  Many apologies for being useless!  I know of Adam Myerson through his twitter - but I'd love to know more -  please please add anything you know to the comments, I appreciate it!

(You may remember Gabby Day, Helen Wyman and Ian Field from their interviews right here on Podium Café - and Helen from her fantastic crayon art! - here's Gabby, Ian, Helen before & after her win at the iconic Koppenbergcross, and Helen's awesome crayon art!)

It looks like a fantastic set of races - and another reason to love it is it's equal prize $ for men & women, which does NOT happen in the Euro races! yay Nittany!