Magaly Rochette's cyclocross racing plans are back on track after a lengthy derailment that began six weeks ago, as the two-time elite women's Pan American cyclocross champion will be looking to reclaim her title at the recently revived Pan American Cyclocross Championship in Falmouth, Mass. and will return to the start line on Friday.

The start of her 12th cyclocross season has hit more than just a bump for this accomplished Canadian. After developing COVID-19 over the summer, Rochette abandoned plans to compete in mountain bike events. However, after a cyclocross race in mid-September, he was forced to take an extended break due to extreme fatigue.

"If I feel I can push and fight throughout the entire race, I'll be happy. I can't say anything about the result," Rochette told Cycling News about his comeback the day before the Pan American. But at the same time, maybe I can surprise myself."

"I'm excited to get out there and show everything I've got. Even if I don't get to play as many matches as I usually do, I think I can push myself tactically and technically, and if I can do that, I think I can have a great race."

Earlier this week, she said on Instagram I'm ready to get my mind right. Hoop says my health is ready. Let's see how my body is doing, I've been away from racing for over a month but looking forward to heading to Really Rad CX this weekend."

The Really Rad Festival of Cyclocross, the final weekend of the four-event USCX, has added a third day of racing in conjunction with Pan-Ams. Only a month ago, the Continental Championships, which will feature top riders from 44 countries in Central America, North America, and South America, was canceled by local organizers in Costa Rica.

After missing the 2021 Pan Am due to scheduling conflicts with her European race campaign, Rochette is back on track to contend for the elite titles she won in 2018 and 2019. She said she has only been training for the last two weeks and still is not at her normal level.

"I've really focused on technique, short intensity, and recovery. I haven't ridden more than two hours yet. I'm doing shorter sessions so that I don't completely drain my energy. Doing shorter intensities helps stimulate the muscles and cardio, but doesn't really dig deep into the overall energy level," she admitted.

She spent time mountain biking, which took up 90 minutes over several sessions, plus short runs, an hour of yoga, and back treatments. Her off-bike training "focuses on mobility and strength to avoid injury and to build a proper body."

Her off-bike workouts are "a great way to get in shape."

She also spends time on her bike, which she says is "a great way to get in shape.

Perhaps it was the summer COVID-19 seizures ...... She said that was partly to blame, but that she had been showing signs of fatigue even before that.

Rochette completed a 960 km ride in Iceland's Westfjord Way Challenge this summer and described the adventure as "I've always traveled for bike races, and I've never been tired. After returning home to Quebec, she contracted COVID. She also hurt her back, which she suspects was caused by "sneezing too much."

She also suffered a back injury, which she attributes to "sneezing too much.

She withdrew from mountain bike racing and focused on the cyclocross season. Rochette lined up for her at the US Cyclocross Series (USCX) season opener, C1 Virginia's Blue Ridge Go Cross in Roanoke, Virginia, and finished fifth. However, she felt fatigued from Saturday's contest and was unable to finish the second day of racing.

"I think I was already tired. I had been burning the candle at both ends for months and months, ignoring the signs my body was sending me.

"What happened was that my white blood cell count got super low and my hematocrit got super low. It was as if my body was trying so hard to fight the infection that it ran out of white blood cells and ran out of muscle to keep fighting. That would explain my exhaustion and muscle weakness."

She followed up Go Cross with a second USCX race at Rochester Cyclocross, where her goal was to slowly build up her fitness, but she was unable to complete the C1 race in two laps and missed Sunday's C2. He also missed two World Cup races in the US.

The three-time elite Canadian cyclo-cross gold medalist jumped into competition against a stacked field led by defending champion American rider Raylyn Nass and Austin Killips, who is ranked third overall in the USCX. is Sydney McGill, ranked 9th in the USCX standings.

Rochette, who returns with a red and white Maple Leaf kit, will debut a custom Rapha kit representing Specialized Feedback Sports at the Really Rad Festival of Cyclocross over the weekend. If his health holds up, he will compete in the Verge Northampton International Cyclocross, a UCI weekend race in the U.S., the following weekend, and from there, on November 26 in British Columbia, he will compete in the He hopes to head to Europe instead of the Canadian Cyclocross Nationals.

"Canadian Nationals is cool and still in my head, but at the same time, the race (in Victoria, BC) is far away and in the complete opposite direction of Europe ....... It makes me want to go to Europe."

"After next weekend, there aren't many races in North America, but there are multiple races every weekend in Europe. So my thoughts right now are to go to Europe and continue to build my form by competing in smaller races, like the France Cup, the Swiss Cup, and smaller races in Belgium. - Until I'm ready to come back to the World Cup."

"But we'll see. My main goal is a long-term one. ...... I want to come back better than ever. So I don't want to rush things, and if my body feels like it's not ready, then I'm going to listen to it and take things more slowly."