Memories & Photos from 2006 Worlds

By Jessica | Permalink | No Comments | January 7th, 2007 | Trackback

In addition to seeing the 1999 Tour de France live and in person (which is what cemented my love for cycling), I was also lucky enough to see most of the World Championship races last year in Salzburg. It was great fun, especially for an Italophile like me, to watch Paolo Bettini race to victory - the husband & I had gotten ourselves into the tent of the Italian federation, so we were with the “home” crowd when he raised his arms in a victory salute at the finish line. I took a gajillion pictures, most of which you can check out here.

Besides being with all the Italians when Bettini won, highlights of the weekend included meeting both Didi the Devil and Mario Cipollini. Yes, we’re groupies.

Worlds is a great event for cycling fans, as it’s possible to see the riders multiple times throughout a race. With a Tour stage, you stake out your spot and hang out all day until the riders zip by - if you’re lucky, it’s a mountain stage so they’re riding a little more slowly! With a Worlds course, they go by several times - a spectator’s dream. We paid the extra money (I think it was 25 euro apiece) to have access to the “special” areas on top of the mountains, and if we hadn’t had friends who could get us into the Italian tent, I’m sure those passes would have been much nicer to have. As it was, we used them to take the shortcuts through the pass-only areas because it was faster, but we didn’t linger long inside the fences.

In short, if you’ve never seen a cycling event in person, Worlds is a great one to consider - it’s a weekend in one city (which becomes like a mini-UN with all the fans in to support their teams), each country sends their best riders to represent them, and you get more than one chance to see these elite athletes in action.

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