Rider Diary: Denzel Stephenson from the Namur World Cup

Hello from Sittard, in the Netherlands, where we are staying with USA Cycling on my first trip to Europe for racing. The trip is from December 16th to 30th. This past Sunday we raced the Namur World Cup and it was a really hard course – many people say it is the hardest World Cup. The day of the race we had to wake up at 5am because the race was at 10am and Namur is an hour and a half drive from Sittard, where the team house is. We had to get kitted up in the dark and pre ride the course as soon as the sun came up and it was light enough to see. The course was drier than usual, but the mud was thicker so it made it harder to ride on the long straightaways. I had a solid race and I ended up 20th which was a good place to be for my first World Cup. My BJC teammate Eric Brunner was 24th. I felt like I was really strong on the running sections and the technical drops. I also got to visit with my Grandparents who are from Germany! I’m looking forward to the rest of the time that i have to train and race here with the rest of Team USA! I want to say thanks to my coaches and teammates at Boulder Junior Cycling, all our sponsors, and to everyone who supported me on my RallyMe fundraising campaign. I really appreciate your support! — Denzel