Cameron Mason is hoping for a final peak of winter form and another impressive result at the UCI Cyclocross World Championships in Tabor. A medal or top five would confirm the 23-year-old Scot as a fully-fledged Belgian-based professional cross rider.
In the last four months, Mason has proved he is part of the next generation of cyclocross racers emerging at the highest level alongside Thibau Nys and Pim Ronhaar. He watched on with admiration as Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert and Tom Pidcock raced the Kerstperiode Christmas races but battled with Eli Iserbyt, Michael Vanthourenhout, Lars van der Haar and Joris Nieuwenhuis every week.
Van der Poel is the stand-out favourite to win the world title in Sunday’s elite men’s race but Mason has earned a place amongst the select group of medal contenders. He will also ride for Great Britain in Friday’s Team Relay event.
“The goal has always been the Worlds,” he tells Cyclingnews during an exclusive interview before travelling to Tabor.
“I’m pretty tired and feeling the effects of all the racing but I’ve got to trust in the process. I know that I just need a few days of recovery to get the freshness back and I’ll be ready for Sunday.”
“I’d like to put myself on that level with those five or six other guys. That’s a lot of people in a fight for the medals but that was the case at the European Championships and the other big race,” Mason says, indirectly highlighting how he won the silver medal in France in November and so became the first non-Dutch or Belgian elite male rider to medal in the UEC European Cyclocross Championships.
“There’s all these guys who have the potential to ride for the win and to ride for podiums. Then in the race things become simple, so I’ll just focus on my own race and see what happens.”
Mason has the results to justify that claim and the respect of his fellow riders after living in Belgium for the cyclocross season and racing for the Cyclocross Reds team.
A major victory in Europe has escaped him but he has seven top-five results that include second in the Superprestige Boom race. High-speed starts have sometimes been a weakness and forced him to chase through the pack but his power and technique are world class.
Mason first turned a few heads at elite level last winter, ending his campaign with ninth at the World Championships.
He then raced for Trinity Racing last summer, with a focus on mountain biking and gravel racing but jumped at the chance…
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