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Louisville 2013: A Day at the Races

You've seen the call ups, a few muddy faces, and the podium shots. Now here's a day at the race.


Remember Jake, it's Kentucky:

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Hup hup! The day started with Van der Poel leading the Juniors.


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I believe the children are our future. Teach them well and lead the way . . .
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The Kevin Paulwels Fan Club meets an American member.

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Your Podium Cafe Editor studiously ignoring the carnage in front of him.

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Don't worry, I gotcha:

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Frenchies all over the place:

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Marianne Vos doing what Marianne Vos does:

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A bit of podium heartache:

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Most of the PdC crew:

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She would like everyone to know that she does not mean to be rude, but she hasn't had a break all day. (I gave Jimbo the one with the ashes in it.)

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Every single PdC'er was well-equipped for spending time at the sand pits.

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Strung out U23s coming through. Who would want to miss this for a podium ceremony?
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Every lap, it got worse:

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Louisville was a fantastic host:

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Jimbo after another costume change:

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NYCross.com brought it:

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And so did this guy:

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And the river kept rising:

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Perhaps assisted by the people turning the floodwall into the overflow portajohns:

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We even opened up our northern borders for the day:

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No shortage of cross fans in Louisville:

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The Elite Men make their first pass through:

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PdC fans not so enthusiastic about the Kiwi?

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But they get all excited for the Norwegian? Hmm.

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The course had changed completely, by the end of the day:

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The Frenchies needed encouragement:

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Oh, and then there were these guys . . .

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being chased by this guy,

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who was, in a roundabout way, being chased by this guy:

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Banner of the race:

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Everyone raced hard, until the very end:

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Except for me. I pulled off just before the line. I had to go see a man about a beer. Others soon had to go see a man about . . . something else:

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It was an excellent day:

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Want the full gallery - a 131 photo tour? Check out the slideshow here. Make sure you turn on the captions (top right, under Show Info).

All photos copyright Mark Blacknell