Lars van der Haar, the reigning European cyclo-cross champion, likes to plan, be it the best line in a race or his travel schedule. He began his 11th elite season in September and his first weeks as a father, his wife recently delivering a daughter to their family. So this year a set schedule was a new priority to balance travel, competitions and family.
He travelled as planned to the United States to begin his UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup campaign at the headquarters of his team, Baloise Trek Lions, in Wisconsin. However, without three World Cups in the US for the first time in several years - the Iowa event is no longer on the schedule - Van der Haar had to make a tough decision to forego the Fayetteville races, a World Cup and a C1, and head home early.
"So I've already just become a father and I was already going into America a little bit tired. And then I knew that the jet lag from Chicago [after racing in Waterloo] back would be less rough than coming back from Fayetteville because of the double flight. And because I didn't already have to go straight into Tabor and then two weeks later it's Europeans, I thought, I think it's gonna be a little bit smarter to go home earlier, and the team gave me that opportunity to do that," Van der Haar explained to Cyclingnews.
"So that's why I made that decision to then try and maybe win in Tabor and then be better in the end of the season."
The Dutch champion led from the holeshot to the finish of the C1 contest Friday held on the property of the Trek Bicycles headquarters in Waterloo, Wisconsin to take the win. In between, he fended off challenges from many of the Belgian, Swiss, French and US contingency in the US who will line up at the opening World Cup race Sunday.
"I'm not doing next week [Fayetteville World Cup]. I'm going home already on Monday, so I didn't want to leave my wife any longer alone," Van der Haar told Cyclingnews. "The jet lag coming back from Fayetteville is a lot harder than from Chicago."
The travel from northwest Arkansas to the Netherlands involves a change of planes, typically in Atlanta or Chicago. In addition, a team representative said the smaller jets that depart from the airport in Fayetteville are not big enough to transport all the equipment, so bikes and gear are moved by truck to a larger airport for the flight across the Atlantic. Any non-stop flight from a major hub like Chicago, two hours away from Waterloo, Wisconsin, eliminates many headaches.
Van der Haar said he would like to see the triple-header of World Cup races return to the US, with the finale in Waterloo to help with the travel back to Europe.
"It could be three races, and then they have to maybe start in Fayetteville, then to Iowa and then Waterloo. Last year, where it was Waterloo, Fayetteville, Iowa - that was really rough. It would be better to make a triangle, and better for the flying to end in Waterloo," Van der Haar suggested.
"It could be a lot less travelling and then we can train more. So if they can make the calendar a little for the racers, it makes it a little bit easier. Should I raise it or should I not? It's just always a constant battle of can I train enough, can I rest enough?
"Yeah, no, I'll get my rest but I am also not that guy that it would be beneficial to race 40 races. You've got guys that are better off with 40 races but me, personally I'm better off with 35 races for instance. So I know that I have to find my periods within the season to rest."
He also noted that he was not happy when the UCI changed the World Cup schedule just a few weeks ago, switching two events to Belgium and adding an event in Dublin.
"The World Cup [organisation] only two weeks ago announced new races and suddenly everything changed when you've almost booked your flights to England," Van der Haar said about an expected stop in London for the World Cup, which did not materialise. "And now suddenly, Dublin, and it just completely changes your schedule, and you completely have to find a way how to then deal with that."
Last season Van der Haar won the overall Superprestige series. He was the top Dutch rider for elite men in the other two series, while fourth overall in the X2O Badkamers Trofee and fifth overall in the UCI World Cup. He said he would not focus on the World Cup title this year, or any other general classification, and will see how the season progresses once he returns home.
"I'm shooting for wins in the World Cup but for the GC I'm not," he confirmed. "But you never know how it will go."
