Fifth place in Pontchâteau gives Ryan Kamp confidence towards next races: "I look back with real satisfaction on that fifth place"

Wednesday, 15 November 2023 at 08:30

Ryan Kamp is one of the very talented youngsters in the cyclocross world, having won the U23 World Championships back in 2020 in his second year in the category. Since then, Kamp has been struggling to establish himself as the consistent force within the World Cup, but recent performance in Pontchâteau gives him a lot of confidence.

"It's going quite well, yes. I think my form is good," Kamp tells In de Leiderstrui in Dendermonde, where he crosses the line in tenth. "Also, I haven't always had the same luck. Occasionally a crash, occasionally some bad luck. But that is of course also part of our sport. In Niel, to give just an example, I had a good feeling, but I couldn't transfer that feeling to the race and the associated surface. And then you have to deal with stumbling, getting stuck every now and then and things like that."

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Kamp certainly would have signed in advance for a season as it has been going so far. "I look back with real satisfaction on that fifth place at the European Championships. That was a real bonus. Of course I have also had peaks and valleys, although I certainly cannot complain about how the first ten races went."

"There are the important aspects for a mudcross where I can improve the most. So I'm mainly talking about the ability to keep pace. My technique could also be improved a bit: I can't do those 'new school' cross things, such as making certain jumps or climbing stairs, very well yet. Fortunately, I already notice that it is slowly but surely starting to improve. So that's very nice."