Race Thread

[Axel Hangleck]

Does anybody know how the Roodhooft brothers choose which riders ride for certain teams?

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Some interesting racing today in the next round of the Exacta Cross in Beringen; one of the few pure climbing crosses on the calendar.
Fem looks quite impressive, and Lucinda made a good return to Cross after a summer on the road. Eli made it a double for his team, and also a 1-2, with Vantourenhout following.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Good finish to the women's race. What the result would've been had van Empel and Brand not dropped chains and punctured, we'll never know, but it'd probably have been a similar race.

With that Irish WC replacing the London WC it got me thinking, what ever happened to that WC that was planned a few years ago in Canada when the first us races in that series were planned?

 

[Armchair cyclist]

If we follow the sport as a proper sport and not just a show, we are probably not meant to enjoy this:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1574149118741692416

View: https://twitter.com/PBXscribes/status/1574149118741692416

or this:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1574111002764910594

View: https://twitter.com/OutOfCycling/status/1574111002764910594


But I might not be able to resist. Is this a GCN covered event?

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Yes, it was on GCN last night.....

Beringen was dry, and more like a MTB race, yet I saw a few MTB races in France & Switzerland which were more like CX races....with mud, mud and more mud.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Yes, it was on GCN last night.....

Beringen was dry, and more like a MTB race, yet I saw a few MTB races in France & Switzerland which were more like CX races....with mud, mud and more mud.

Fems:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eA0ne1WcKZU

Mens:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXwUqpVhRlQ

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Looks like Silvia Persico has signed for UAE women's team; one hopes she carries on with CX, but who knows. And Colnago doesn't have a current CX bike.....

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Looks like Silvia Persico has signed for UAE women's team; one hopes she carries on with CX, but who knows. And Colnago doesn't have a current CX bike.....

They have that gravel bike that Nathan Haas uses... It does have a very similar head angle and also smaller BB drop than the Specialized Crux, which is fine for racing as it didn't seem to affect the likes of Vas, Rochette, Mason, etc last season. It doesn't have the same amount of frame size possibilities which makes other geometries hard to guess.

Fems:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eA0ne1WcKZU

Quite literally "Fems" race

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Yes, I've seen the Gravel bike, who knows if it's suitable; some gravel bikes aren't.

 

[Ricco']

Gullegem joins the Superprestige.

I'm laughing, one of the worst races of the year (saved last year by the mud) in a big series.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

I'm of the view that a bad course is a bad course whether it turns muddy or not.......and we see too many of them during the season.

Anyway, some news. Looks like Blanka Vas returns today in the Czech Toi Toi Cup. And Stybar is hoping to do more CX this winter - one hopes his new team are also up for this in the new year.

Something that struck me the other day, Specialized are under represented in CX, especially compared to Road & MTB. They have Blanka Vas and Rochette for the women, but have no real consistent top 10-15 male Elite riders. Cam Mason is a top U23 rider, and the aforementioned Stybar are the only ones I can think of.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Gullegem joins the Superprestige.

I'm laughing, one of the worst races of the year (saved last year by the mud) in a big series.

And Boom rejoins to take the a spot Gavere sort of left after Boom wasn't on the schedule previously.

 

[Ricco']

Joris Nieuwenhuis joins Baloise Trek from tomorrow.

Curiously he does the same career path as Lars van der Haar. From Rabobank Development Team to Development Giant/Sunweb/DSM to the principal team and then at 26 years old to Telenet/Baloise.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

I saw that news on Twitter earlier today, and it's quite a surprise. His CX form has nosedived in recent years - one assumes due to his road racing. Sven and him obviously feel he still has something to offer. I may be reading this wrong, but it's also another WT team not really showing much interest in developing/helping a CX rider.....

And interestingly, it's CX only, no move to a road team - he wants to continue/ restart education.

 

[stonerider]

Something that struck me the other day, Specialized are under represented in CX, especially compared to Road & MTB. They have Blanka Vas and Rochette for the women, but have no real consistent top 10-15 male Elite riders. Cam Mason is a top U23 rider, and the aforementioned Stybar are the only ones I can think of.

Stybar is with Team Bike Exchange in 2023. Does that mean he will still race the Crux for CX until 12/31 and then 1/1 switch over to the Giant TCX?

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Stybar is with Team Bike Exchange in 2023. Does that mean he will still race the Crux for CX until 12/31 and then 1/1 switch over to the Giant TCX?

A couple of team changes off the top of my head:
Last year, when Turner went to Ineos he still raced on the Crux until december 31st, but when Boom moved from Astana to Lotto Jumbo i think I remember him using the Bianchi cx bike while still in Astana colours (Celeste and the Astana went together much better than with the Lotto kit tbh). I guess it depends on the sponsor

 

[Axel Hangleck]

I always find swapping teams/ equipment mid season weird. Riders must surely have tested their new gear in private, so not to upset current team/sponsors.
There really should be a CX transfer window from, say September 1st??

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Im sure some of the cx teams back in the days of names like Telenet Fidea, Sunweb Napoleon Games or BKCP Powerplus did have contracts that ran from September to August.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Maybe i'm reading too much into it, but I feel there is a slight divide between Betsema and van Empel. Some of the things today and also last week, but also in the races last year maybe show that.

 

[postmanhat]

Slightly ominous first two races for Brand, but really encouraging to see how much closer Van Empel is to her already. Had no idea she was a footballer till quite recently, which makes her progress even more impressive. Looking forward to seeing the improvements in Van Anrooij, Pieterse, Vas, Burquier, and Persico amongst others when they return.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

A week on from the Road Worlds, and Jan Christen starts his CX season at home in Switzerland - and in the colours of UAE.....

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Vas has been busy winning in Czechia with the Toi Toi cup this week(end). Boros also won them both, who it'd be good to see doing more belgian races again. Toupalik also as he was looking really good a few years ago (e.g. early celebration at Zolder) but since leaving the Roodhooft brothers setup back to a Czech programme, he hasn't really done much or featured as highly.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

It will be an interesting season for Vas; can she 'kick on' and make progress. After her Overisje win, and 2nd in the Euros, she took a break, then came back, and was nowhere near as good. Got Covid during the Worlds.
However, her road season wasn't anything outstanding, and neither were her two XCO World Cups.....I wonder if she's been rushed into the Elites too early?

 

[stonerider]

It will be an interesting season for Vas; can she 'kick on' and make progress. After her Overisje win, and 2nd in the Euros, she took a break, then came back, and was nowhere near as good. Got Covid during the Worlds.
However, her road season wasn't anything outstanding, and neither were her two XCO World Cups.....I wonder if she's been rushed into the Elites too early?

Is Lars Boom still her CX coach?

 

[lemon cheese cake]

So back to the yearly situation of riders not going to the US world cups due to it being too far/jet lag affecting them too much...