Dum sport.

"Where cyclo-cross and mountain bike racing differ in ideology is in-race technical support. In mountain biking, the rider must be fully self-sufficient to carry out in-race repair work should his machine malfunction. In contrast, a cyclo-cross racer is allowed to use up to three bicycles in a race. Since this is a winter sport and the tracks are often very muddy, a clean cyclo-cross bike can weigh in excess of 10kg less than a muddy one!
(10 kg! Skulle inte tro det. Jag har uppskattat vikten på leran som fastnat på min hoj under extremt leriga turer och långlopp till 3 kg. Det är inte tekniskt möjligt att få fast så mycket lera på en CX-ram.)
The handicaps of excess weight and mud clogging have resulted in a highly organised pit stop system. Trained teams of mechanics work quickly throughout the race to ensure that the rider may have a clean, oiled bike once each lap. Normally two machines are in the use/cleaning cycle, while a third is kept in reserve in case of mechanical failure."
( så det team som har gott om pengar har en fördel här, medans den cyklist som för egna stålar har utrustat sin CX med skivbromsar som fungerar en hel tävling är förbjuden att ställa upp.)