How to Start a Cyclocross Race

Video Transcript

"MICKEY DENONCOURT: The most important part of any cyclocross race is the start. You start with everybody else, you know, lined up on a couple of rows. You know, you want to get there. If it's not a big race, whoever gets to the start line first is going to be on the front row. So if that's the case, you want to be, you know, as close to the front of the race as possible, you know, when they fire off the gun to announce the start. You want to be in a gear that's good for you to start in. For me, it's usually my big gear and a couple down for my easiest in the back. That gives me a gear that, you know, it's hard enough that when I first start sprinting on it, I'm going to get it up to speed. And then as we get going I'm gonna, you know, drop some more gears to get a harder gear. You want to figure out what foot works best for you to start with. For me, I prefer to have my left foot down. So, you know, I'll be on the start line with my right foot up in the air anticipating the start. If you get to the race before your race starts and there's another race going on, try to watch the start to see what the protocol is that the person who, you know, starts the race goes through, so you can sort of anticipate when they're going to say go. It's not like there's a gate that opens or anything, you know? It's just someone says go and everybody goes. And then, you know, you need to be as aggressive as possible through the start, you know, get out of the saddle, really accelerate and chase them through."