Helen Wyman Cyclocross Coaching Clinics
Last weekend (17-18 August 2019) saw former two time European CX Champion and World Championship bronze medalist Helen Wyman visit us for two days of cyclocross coaching days. Saturday saw Helen and her husband/coach Stefan, visit Lurgan Park and Sunday saw them both at the new dedicated cyclocross training facility at the National Sports Campus in Dublin.
Both sessions catered for all abilities and categories and even saw Irish National Champion David Conroy dropping by to lend a hand. Sessions covered a number of CX related topics from setting of correct tyre pressure, camber riding, mounting and dismounting and some expert tips on specific training methods and race tactics. Helen gave an insight into her career and relayed her wealth of experience to the different groups through a Q&A session at the end of each session.
Sunday’s Dublin session was also the first time the dedicated cyclocross training facility was used. Several months in the planning, it was designed to match the UCI World governing body’s facility in Aigle, Switzerland. The specialist facility will be the focus of cyclocross training sessions, become the hub of cyclocross in Ireland and hopefully play host to racing events in the future.
The Irish Cyclocross Team Development fund sponsored two riders for each session to help promote the discipline. The fund, established in late 2018, raises funds that can be allocated to riders to assist them with racing and travelling costs.
On completing the session in Dublin Helen Wyman said, “It really is quite an honour to have hosted the very first training skills session on the Sport Ireland site. There are very few dedicated cyclocross facilities in the world and to have one on this amazing sporting campus is fantastic. The facilities at Sport Ireland are second to none and the design of the CX area will certainly benefit the discipline here. It consists of all the features of a CX course and is a great means of improving riders skills and providing riders with all the necessary tools to progress in cyclocross.”
We would like to thank both Helen and Stef for their time here and to all the riders who turned up to the sessions. With the season only four weeks away, it’s an exciting time for cyclocross.
