The Crosscast
Neil Mansfield, Matt Payne and special guests talk about World, European and UK cyclocross. Follow us on @TheCrosscast @CrosscastNeil and @MattFixerPayne. And give us a like on Facebook and Instagram.
Neil Mansfield is the host of the show and the cyclocross uber-geek. He races for Grity Race Team and his family all love cross. He has been podcasting since 2015 and over-analysing racing using spreadsheets for a lot longer. He helps Caroline (Mrs M) run Grity Sustainable Sports Apparel. Find out more at https://linktr.ee/crosscastneil.
Matt Payne is the voice of British cyclocross having been on the mic for all of the big races for years. He is a professional commentator regularly heard at raceside, and also on TV and streamed coverage for all cycling disciplines. He has long experience of professional race promotion, but also a passion for grass-roots opportunity from being the brains and voice of e-Sports to UCI commentary, to organising local league races.
The Crosscast
The Crosscast S7E04 - Euros and EvoDevo with Matt Ellis
In Episode 4 of Season 7 Neil and Matt are joined in the studio by GB coach and CX guru Matt Ellis. Matt E was fresh back from the European Champs that saw GB feature on 4 of the 7 podiums with a win and three silvers across Team, Junior, U23 and Elite in male and female categories.
They talk about EvoDevo https://www.evodevocycling.org.uk/ and how much it is benefiting GB riders at a key time of development. They are back from the first trip and planning on Trip 2, which you can help with the CrowdFunder link above.
The National Trophy from Derby is covered: a course that needed finesse and skill as well as power, and Neil tells a tale of a lap 2 puncture 😭 that sealed 😁 but despite the 'send it through the ruts and hope' strategy, meant that he never really got established in the race.
They talk through how Koppenberg gave an opportunity to enjoy some outstanding technique, and hinted at form ahead of the European Championships. Pontchateau was almost cancelled due to the storm but Neil and Matts were blown away by some excellent GB performances, and development for those further down in the fields.
In the Laatste Ronde, they look forward to the Torbay Trophy and World Cups from Dendermonde that has an intriguing start list, especially as Mason and Bäckstedt have taken wins there in the past and will be on a high after Euros, and Troyes that looks like a classic French course (and you can take your pick on whether to go with the Yorkshire or French pronunciation).
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To support the show pop over to https://www.buymeacoffee.com/crosscast to make a donation towards our hosting fees - every little helps! Follow us on Insta and Facebook, and share to your networks! Neil is part of Grity Sustainable Sports Apparel @gritykit, and Matt runs Full Speed Events @full_speed_events.