A Man Called Mustache
Kiwi cyclocross champion Alexander Revell is known in Belgium for his mustache and many simply call him "de snor" – Flemish for mustache. But folks also respect him for his tenacity and appreciate his very friendly personality. When he arrived in Belgium he had a TV crew waiting for him, of course in Belgium the passion is not limited to cyclocross, and Ironman World Champion Frederik Van Lierde was also nicely received by media and fans.
Slowtwitch: Thank you for your time.
Alex Revell: You're welcome Herbert.
ST: You just recently returned back to Belgium for a month long cyclocross campaign and I believe you got a pretty nice reception at the airport. How likely is it that the same will occur upon your return to New Zealand in January?
Alex: It's pretty unlikely anyone will be at the airport when I arrive. Certainly not a TV crew! It will be after midnight too by then, but mainly there just isn't the same hype around it all back home. Maybe my girlfriend will be able to find a way to get there to see me though – that would be nice.
ST: What analogy best describes the difference in passion in New Zealand versus Belgium?
Alex: Difference in passion? I think it's there just as much, but on a micro scale. Look at the crowds watching the All Blacks play rugby and it's pretty similar. The sport isn't nearly as popular but the people who are there are right into it.
ST: Well, maybe those folks right into it can get you a nice reception. Along those lines, how is the sport at home coming along and growing?
Alex: It's growing faster than anything else in cycling I would say, apart from enduro perhaps. Our local series in Wellington put on by the Bike Hutt was getting over a hundred people each week, and has grown steadily over the past few years. At an elite level it's still tiny, but I think that will also develop as more people begin at a young age and develop a passion for it rather than doing it on the side of their MTB or road racing. But then the reality is that since it's not an Olympic sport there's virtually no support at all, and it's at the wrong time of year to attract the top current athletes from the other disciplines – NZ cyclocross nationals are on when our top road and MTB riders are competing at Worlds on the other side of the world. Then when it's time for cross worlds – it is summer in NZ and our road and MTB national championships are going on. Bit of a dilemma. Also I am now in my fourth winter in a row (apart from a few weeks on either side of the season) in order to get enough racing in – so you have to be pretty motivated and impermanent in order to do this kind of thing.
ST: Was there a specific food item or meal in Belgium that you were especially looking forward to enjoy again?
Alex: I thought about the Speculoos spread that they have here, but actually I didn't really like it that much! Novelty value puts it up there though. Otherwise I was looking forward to food being cheap here again, as it's noticeably more expensive in NZ.
ST: For those who are not familiar with Speculoos spread, would you mind describing it?
Alex: It's just like the famous biscuit by the same name, which is a spicy cinnamon flavored thing that is great for dunking, but you have to be quick, now turned into a sweet crunchy spread that competes with Nutella and the one or two hundred thousand other unknown brands of chocolate hazelnut spread that line the shelves over here.
ST: In Belgium you are really a bit of a rockstar and your distinctive mustache makes you easy to recognize. Can you go to the grocery store without being accosted?
Alex: Not usually, nor on a bike ride! But I find it endearing, despite it also being very surreal. People are mostly friendly and just want a photo, until they get drunk then they sort of stumble through conversation and start to get gruff and rowdy.
ST: When did the whole mustache thing start and do you think you could get rid of it now?
Alex: It started growing early last year, and obviously it took a while. I don't really like shaving, so I'm happy to let it grow. I didn't plan to have a moustache, but it just sort of appeared one day when I trimmed my beard a little too short and I just left it there. It was shaved off on Belgian television by the wife of Sven Nys in February, but it seems to have found its way back onto my face – which is favorable for my return to Flanders and continuing the progress it has enabled me to make with my riding.
ST: With everyone so excited and focused on your mustache, do you now better understand how a well-endowed female might feel?
Alex: I do but I don't think it's really the same. Well, I do get much more attention from men than women so maybe it's not so different.
ST: You raced the Cyclocross Worlds in Louisville, KY and we were curious what you thought about the venue and the atmosphere in general.
Alex: I don't have a single bad thing to say about my time in Louisville, it was fantastic. The race course was choice, had a bit of everything and while there was no one overly challenging bit the combo of snow and frozen ground with mud and sand made for a tough course. It was a huge party – slightly less before, but during and after in particular. While I'd been to a few World Cups during the season I'd never been to a World Championship before so found it just so much more international. The mayor really got into it, and so did locals who had never heard of cyclocross. As has been said by others already, the 10,000 spectators were just as alive and noisy as 40,000 Belgians.
ST: Talk about your race.
Alex: I was happy with my race – mainly I just wanted to be consistent and avoid mistakes as much as possible. I had quite a good start and was riding alongside Jamie Driscoll in the first lap (maybe his start was just bad!) of course I then slipped back or others got away from me, it's all the same. I came off once towards the end of the first lap and lost a lot of time sliding slowly down a very greasy bank with no way of halting myself. My aim was to improve on my best World Cup position (Hoogerheide in 45th) but that ended up being apples and oranges a bit, to butcher a phrase because the field was smaller at Worlds. 38th in the world sounds great when I tell people though!
ST: How did you like that long sand trap there? It seemed to cause the most difficulty for folks.
Alex: It was frozen so that tends to make sand easier to ride, and the ruts firmer. I didn't have trouble in it, but it was also straight – when you have to take corners in sand it increases the difficulty by a factor of about 10 I find! You'll see plenty of photo evidence of me struggling to do that.
ST: How often do you battle Lewis Rattray?
Alex: Ideally more often, so far only in Louisville and a few times when we've both been at the same race in Belgium, once in China in September and once in New Zealand too last year. I just need two hands to count the times.
ST: How long did you stay in the US and did you get to look around a bit?
Alex: I was there for just under two weeks in the end, although the first few days were a total blur of jetlag and fatigue. It was my birthday too when I arrived so I went out for dinner with my host David, and I fell asleep at the table! I went to the Kings CX race in Cincinnati with Joe and Mitch from Bob's Red Mill which was great – the race wasn't great because I felt like a stodgy butter truffle being coated in coconut, but going up there with them in the short bus was classic.
ST: After that straight back to New Zealand?
Alex: No, straight back to Belgium actually. For one last race before saying goodbye to people and visiting some friends in Holland and Germany. Then straight back to NZ for the last few weeks of the best summer on record, which I was constantly being reminded of in the months beforehand.
ST: In late August of this year you won the Kiwi cyclocross championships in some fun conditions. Were you considered the favorite with all that European experience?
Alex: I think there was a certain amount of expectation that I would do well, but there was no pressure from anyone else and I wasn't trying to get too stressed about it. I was already planning to race more overseas towards the end of the year and needed to time my form with that in mind, so it was a bit of a gamble. While the field was small there were a few other riders who I knew could beat me if they had a good day so I just hoped that the course would be of a suitably challenging nature to mean my experience in much more difficult races would pay off. In the end the course was bone dry apart from the hole they dug and filled with water, and it was warm, so it was a very close race for the most part and there was little separating the top few places. I think I just had a clean race while some of the others had little incidents here and there, which made the difference.
ST: What race did you first fly the Kiwi Champion kit?
Alex: At the Qiansen Trophy Cyclocross Event in Yanqing county, Beijing back in September. It was only a few weeks after nationals, so I was very lucky to get my skinsuit made in time. It was a great feeling to put it on – enough to turn the most curmudgeonly into a patriot for an hour.
ST: I believe you also have a few new sponsors in hand. Is that correct?
Alex: Yes quite recently my stars aligned and Ricoh NZ came onboard to help me get back to Europe to race in Poland at the Bryksy Cross, and here in Belgium through till the beginning of January. I am riding Nichelson bicycles, have my clothing provided by Bioracer and shoes and helmet by Mavic, so it's by far the best prepared I've ever been for riding and racing for which I am very grateful.
ST: No grooming sponsors like Gilette or similar?
Alex: Not at this stage, I haven't looked into it but now that you mention it I think it's a good idea for when I'm in Belgium – there's so much TV coverage that it would be pretty cheap advertising!
ST: Is there anything else we should know?
Alex: I had a fairly rocky final month of preparation for coming over here, including an accident and subsequent injury to my shoulder taking me to hospital for a night, and then an allergic reaction to my medication a week or two later. So instead of ramping up to the start of my campaign here I was hobbling around disgruntled and unable to ride, then moving house and moping about until this last week or so when I got back on my bike and have never been happier. So I don't really know what to expect of these races coming up, but if I can better my results from last year I will be very happy. I am also hoping to have some photo cards soon so all those people that gave me dirty looks when I shook my head last year can come and ask me again with hopefully a different result.
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