Recent content by stonerider

Is Remco starting the season too hot? Will he be lukewarm by the time the Tour de France starts?

You have to manage a talent like MvdP carefully or you will mentally burn him out. He still probably has a good 2 years left near his peak physical powers. The last thing you'd want to do is burn him out and have him quit training hard and/or retiring early. I imagine Visma suffocates racers...

After his last trip to Australia, I doubt he ever travels to that country again.

Just looking at podium shots, del Grosso needs to hit the weight room to build some upper body strength so he can become the next MvdP. You can see the power MvdP generates when he decides to go by pulling on his bars and crushing the pedals. You need upper body strength to generate that kind...

Could Brand have been carrying a lot of fatigue from a Spanish training camp? If so, she should rest this week and do some shorter, intense efforts to stay sharp.

Yesterday would have been a walk in the park for MvdP also if not for the two punctures.

Hopefully MvdP will win his 8th CX World Championship this year and retires from CX racing. Then Wout will not feel the need to follow him to the fields each winter.

Some racers create their own "bad luck" by overriding their skill level and making bad decisions when they are on the limit. Did Wout follow too closely in that tarmac turn in slippery conditions...Yes. Did he lean his body/bike over too much for the conditions with his butt in the saddle...Yes.

What is up with Tibor Del Grosso's back? He's stretching it out all during the races. It's the same way MvdP used to stretch out his back during CX races when he was having back issues a few years ago.

del Grosso and Puck were in a video at the same training camp. Both of them are fading at the end of the races. Something tells me riding wheelies uphill doesn't translate to CX dominance. del Grosso has tons of talent but he lacks the killer instinct of MvdP.

Fem would do best with a smaller contract with a CX team without the expectation of also doing road racing. I suspect the contract she signed with Visma was too big to just be a CX racer. The internal pressure to also perform on the road got to her. She may not like all the travel involved...

Fem is calling a timeout on her cycling career. She is mentally burned out and is leaving Visma.

I didn't notice MvdP in Puck's video. I'm thinking he rarely trains with the "team". Tibor could benefit from some training sessions with MvdP. It's kind of funny he doesn't train with his "teammate" since they seem to be on a similar CX schedule.

Mathieu is on the downside of his peak years...he will decline. How fast will he decline...no one knows.

Many multi-discipline racers have found it too difficult to race a full road and/or XCO calendar while also trying to race CX in the winter. You only have so many "mental" matches to burn each year so you need to be careful where you use those matches. I suspect road and XCO pays the bills so...