Today was a day each of us was looking forward to, and certainly won't forget in a hurry. Today was World Cup Day in Andorra, which saw the world's best cross country mountain bikers converge on this pretty little alpine town, tussling it out for round 3 of the World Cup.

A coolish morning greeted us, the fresh alpine air a welcome relief following our four or five days dodging traffic in the polluted air of London and Paris.

After an early breakfast, we headed up the mountain on the gondolas. The original plan was for Wendy and Courtney to ride the 10 or so k's up, but a couple of mechanical issues put paid to that, so in order to see the start of the U23 women, they both headed up around 8am with Mitchell and I following half an hour later.

The buzz on the top of the mountain was electric, and the backdrop was picture postcard stuff, with the Pyrenean mountains in their vibrant green splendour nicely counterbalancing the vivid blue sky, the odd wisps of cloud beautifully replicated by the odd snow-capped peaks.

The theatre was the valley in which the race was held, its combatants the amazing athletes who race this brutal sport at the very top level.

We were fortunate to witness these super humans up close and personal, watching first the U23 women, then the U23 men, followed by the elite women and finally the elite men. We had athletes to watch in each race, with an Aussie or two in most races, but also when it came to the elite men and women, people that we'd only dreamed of watching live, people that we'd come to know through Red Bull TV during the World Cup telecasts late on Sunday nights into Melbourne, as well as their social media profiles, with many of the European riders celebrities in the northern hemisphere in much the same way if not more than our superstar AFL players might be back home.

The highlight of the day without a doubt was our meeting with Yolanda Neff after she had cooled down following her race and was hanging out at her team's marquee. We chatted for quite some time and she was genuinely interested in hearing about Courtney's U19 World Championship selection as well as chatting about how big Australia is. She was also happy to pose for a photo with both Courtney and Mitchell, and although they were both a bit shy and embarrassed about approaching Yolanda in the first place, I've no doubt the meeting will live in their memories for as long as they live.

The day was capped off by watching the elite men ply their trade. Nino Schurter was dominant as always and it amazed us how one human being can be so much stronger than 100 or so of the world's best riders. The gap to the rest was minutes, and it was as though the remainder of the field had consigned themselves to second at best, such was the way Nino drew away from the field within the first 2 minutes of the race, never again challenged. Not that the men behind him were anything other than extremely skilled and highly trained athletes, it's just that right now Nino has no peer. He's the equivalent of another Swiss maestro, Rodger Federer, in his prime.