Race Thread

[lemon cheese cake]

Shame there is no Iowa but there is Fayetteville. Looking at the location Beekse Bergen looks like it'll be a mixture of sand and woods so probably like Lille, and in can't see on a map where Benidorm would host a race other than a golf course just north of the city. It wouldn't really work having it by the beach as there is nothing but asphalt and concrete once you leave the sand. There are quite a few better venues in Spain than whatever this will be.

A round in the UK has been rumoured to take place next season and a couple of the locations are the parks of Alexandra Palace and Crystal Palace. Ally Pally has had the Rapha Supercross and Crystal Palace held the world championships a few decades back, but there are other good locations in London that could hold a decent course and race. The main thing with anything in the uk is getting the landowner on the side which can be quite difficult if it's a council owned place like Crystal Palace. The alternatives are apparently somewhere in the south east of england. As it's not on the National Trophy next season and had a really successful national champs this year, most likely this would be at the South of England Showground near Crawley.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Please not Crawley....I thought it was an awful course, it's nearly another Dendermonde, especially if it's wet. I'd be pleased if it's the Cyclopark in Kent...that could work.

There is a video on You Tube of Beekse Bergen, and it looks like it could be a replacement for Koksijde.....

 

[Gwbert]

Please not Crawley....I thought it was an awful course, it's nearly another Dendermonde, especially if it's wet. I'd be pleased if it's the Cyclopark in Kent...that could work.

There is a video on You Tube of Beekse Bergen, and it looks like it could be a replacement for Koksijde.....

Crawley was awful, just awful and i say that as a Brit. A UK round would be great though and a London park would make it super accessible - I’d struggle to justify a trip to Belgium/Netherlands but London for a day to see the World Cup would be ace

 

[Davesta]

I wonder how liberal they might be with London as a location - it could mean anything from a central London park to anywhere in the south east of England…Clanfield held a UCI race this year and is planning a new dedicated CX course, so could be a possibility. Not very close to London though !

 

[Ricco']

Can it be Milton Keynes again? It's only 80km out of London.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Crawley was (and always is) horribly muddy and isn't the best course but they and the Cyclopark do have experience with holding large cx races with lots of spectators and Crawley has masses of space for parking which would be needed as it's in the middle of nowhere.

Cyclopark has the disadvantage (from a spectator point of view) in that parking wouldn't be great and the venue is hard to get around and spectate on due to being really long and narrow. There are also lots of fences everywhere which does limit movability. However these points aside, its a great course to ride with a lot going on.

As I mentioned getting permission from some of the landowners/councils would probably be very hard (probably very very very hard to get it from Royal Parks if you wanted it in Richmond Park or something like that).

Milton Keynes would probably be happy to have it back as they still have regional league events in Campbell Park, but I think after they had it in 2014, some sort of Rugby World Cup 'fan zone' was in the park in 2015 and the local council didn't have the budget to help promote the race.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

I'd like to see UK cyclocross move away from some of the park courses - they tend to be very similar, the only difference is whether it's dry, or wet. So you get a fast grass crit, or a deep muddy slog....

Another thing is Flanders Classics organising both the WC and the Superprestige. Surely it should be one or the other? When a classic venue/race like Koksijde isn't in the WC because it doesn't pay, but Dendermonde is in, then questions need asking.

 

[Gwbert]

I'd like to see UK cyclocross move away from some of the park courses - they tend to be very similar, the only difference is whether it's dry, or wet. So you get a fast grass crit, or a deep muddy slog....

Another thing is Flanders Classics organising both the WC and the Superprestige. Surely it should be one or the other? When a classic venue/race like Koksijde isn't in the WC because it doesn't pay, but Dendermonde is in, then questions need asking.

The pandemic must have really hurt organisers with no fans etc - hopefully next season we’ll be back to normal and organisers will feel more comfortable with expected revenues etc

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Eli Iserbyt rijdt deze zomer drie Wereldbekers mountainbike: "Stiekem met hoger doel"

Eli Iserbyt kiest deze zomer voor een alternatieve weg om zichzelf naar een hoger niveau te stuwen. Zijn ploeg Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal is een Continental-ploeg, waardoor hij op de weg niet op hetzelfde niveau als Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Tom Pidcock (INEOS Grenadiers) en Mathieu van der Poel...

www.wielerflits.nl

 

[Davesta]

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/drone-cameras-to-give-new-perspective-on-cyclo-cross-from-march-1/

This is good news - the drone shot was amazing; will be great to see more of it next season!

 

[Mick Dundee]

Eli Iserbyt rijdt deze zomer drie Wereldbekers mountainbike: "Stiekem met hoger doel"

Eli Iserbyt kiest deze zomer voor een alternatieve weg om zichzelf naar een hoger niveau te stuwen. Zijn ploeg Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal is een Continental-ploeg, waardoor hij op de weg niet op hetzelfde niveau als Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Tom Pidcock (INEOS Grenadiers) en Mathieu van der Poel...

www.wielerflits.nl

Interesting news… he should be well suited based on his size, low centre of gravity and explosivity. I’ll be keen to see how he fairs, as long those World Cup 'climbers' circuits on his list aren’t wet and tricky on the day.

 

[Gwbert]

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/drone-cameras-to-give-new-perspective-on-cyclo-cross-from-march-1/

This is good news - the drone shot was amazing; will be great to see more of it next season!

Yeah the drone shot was sweet & showed something closer to what it’s like as a rider

 

[Kerry]

As a new convert and addict to CX I am frustrated that I cannot find old races to watch on the net which are not with non English commentary or just concentrate on the front two and ignore the other 50 odd - not even giving updates. Are there such sites and if so where please?! I also enjoy the commentaries from Rob Hatch as an extra bonus. Any help for a new boy gratefully received

 

[Axel Hangleck]

English commentary CX races are fairly new; I think it was only 3-4 seasons ago GCN put them on Facebook, then You Tube, and then finally GCN/Eurosport.
You Tube will have English commentary of various World Championships, and Red Bull TV have the World Cups from season 2019/20 with the Rob Hatch/ Helen Wyman commentary.

 

[Kerry]

Many thanks my friend. I shall check those out.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld pull the plug on their program. Sad news, after 16 years - and not a great look for the sport in the USA. One hopes all the riders get a team for the CX season; most have road teams for the summer.

I wonder if the rise of gravel racing has had any effect on this? I did see a few comments on social media mentioning this......

 

[stonerider]

Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld pull the plug on their program. Sad news, after 16 years - and not a great look for the sport in the USA. One hopes all the riders get a team for the CX season; most have road teams for the summer.

I wonder if the rise of gravel racing has had any effect on this? I did see a few comments on social media mentioning this......

CX isn't what it used to be in the US. We lack the exciting star power. Curtis White and Clara Honsinger are great racers but don't really have an excited following among the fans.

 

[Wyndbrook]

CX isn't what it used to be in the US. We lack the exciting star power. Curtis White and Clara Honsinger are great racers but don't really have an excited following among the fans.

Maybe, but there are other markets. Cross is booming in the UK and Canondale are not exactly forward in marketing their bikes.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

I suspect, CX remains rather niche, and many manufacturers have small CX ranges, if they have CX bikes at all.
Cannondale actually dropped their CX bike, the SuperX, and replaced it with an evolution of their road race bike. Specialized's CX bike is the Crux, but they now market it as a Gravel bike, even though it is still used as a CX race bike.

 

[Kerry]

Hi all, me again. I can only locate two races on Red Bull and they are from 2020. I watched some stuff on Tiz but that permanently buffers now. I am useless with technology and so am struggling to find any old CX races with English commentary and would also like to be in the position to watch some live stuff on here - anywhere . Again I am looking for some help before my new found love for the sport fades away in frustration. Cheers from Somerset, England

 

[Wyndbrook]

Hi all, me again. I can only locate two races on Red Bull and they are from 2020. I watched some stuff on Tiz but that permanently buffers now. I am useless with technology and so am struggling to find any old CX races with English commentary and would also like to be in the position to watch some live stuff on here - anywhere . Again I am looking for some help before my new found love for the sport fades away in frustration. Cheers from Somerset, England

There are a number of older races on YouTube, but in the UK the best source is GCN, but is subscription only.
They cover all major races, worlds, Europeans, world cup, super prestige, x20 trophy, many national champs and some US races.

 

[Ricco']

After Marion Norbert Riberolle, Anna Kay also joins the Plantur Pura team.

Star Casino seems to have folded since they no longer have social networks and their manager is now with EF-TIBCO.

With Riberolle, Kay, Verstrynge, Wyseure and presumably Quinten Hermans and Van Kessel, the Roodhooft brothers are building monster cx teams.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

With Riberolle, Kay, Verstrynge, Wyseure and presumably Quinten Hermans and Van Kessel, the Roodhooft brothers are building monster cx teams.

So they are responsible for both Tormans and Alpecin? Does that not have some conflict of interests issues?

 

[Ricco']

So they are responsible for both Tormans and Alpecin? Does that not have some conflict of interests issues?

Most of the guys left Tormans after the partnership switched from Intermarché - Wanty to Lefevere's team.

Verstrynge and Wyseure are already officially members of the Alpecin Fenix Devo Team since march and the rumors in February pointed for Hermans and Van Kessel to go the same way in the end of the year.

The four have the same agent.

https://then24.com/2022/02/08/bomb-in-cyclocross-country-tormans-crossers-do-not-go-to-quick-step-but-to-alpecin-fenix/

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Thanks: CX news never easy to find