Race Thread

[Moose McKnuckles]

Mathieu is the youngest WC ever. Congrats. What a performance.

Van Aert visibly upset at his mechanicals.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Next season will be the season of the Vans probably.

 

[pablohidalgo7]

Impressive mathieu van der poel, he is a huge talent. Im looking forward to see his improvements this year in the sub 23 road races.

 

[jaylew]

Not the most exciting race but great job by mvdp.

 

[eric_vv]

Impressive mathieu van der poel, he is a huge talent. Im looking forward to see his improvements this year in the sub 23 road races.

Is he still allowed to race them? He can't race U23 CX anymore and both are UCI races. I don't know the rules, but its the UCI we're talking about here!

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Well, this race highlighted the gap between the Europeans and US cyclocrossers. Page was the best US finisher, over 4 minutes down. Powers, the US champion, was over 6 minutes down.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Mathieu!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Van Aert so strong though. Mathieu would have had a tough time winning if Van Aert didn't have mechanical issues.

It's not comparable. Van der Poel did a start-to-finish lead race. Van Aert, thanks to his fall mainly (with his chain he didn't even lose that much), had only one option, all or nothing.

If Vd P did all or nothing while in the lead he could've risked falling more and throwing away his lead. So logically Van Aert went faster. Still the fastest lap was VdP's and he might still have held reserves.
Yes, it would have been a great battle, but I don't agree with Van Aert that he was outright the strongest and 'would've won if' .. we never know, because than Vd Poel would've ridden a different race also.

Also, if leading from the first lap to the last lap and winning isn't a deserved win, i don't know what is

 

[Echoes]

Mathieu!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Enjoy it, Marty. Nice winner. Nice and humble celebration, this time.

Also great that after the race, nobody on this forum has begged Mathieu to switch to the road yet...

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Enjoy it, Marty. Nice winner. Nice and humble celebration, this time.

Also great that after the race, nobody on this forum has begged Mathieu to switch to the road yet...

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Is he still allowed to race them? He can't race U23 CX anymore and both are UCI races. I don't know the rules, but its the UCI we're talking about here!

UCI has some stupid inconsistent rules though. For example, last year Pauline Ferrand-Pr?vot wasn't allowed to enter the MTB Worlds at the elite level, allegedly because she was an U23, not a senior. Yet she's now World Champion on the road and in CX and is still 22. I think the people in charge of the various codes interpret the rules their own way so it's very inconsistently applied.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Enjoy it, Marty. Nice winner. Nice and humble celebration, this time.

Also great that after the race, nobody on this forum has begged Mathieu to switch to the road yet...

And I hope they dont. Cyclocross needs him and van Aert with the additions of Sweek and Van der Haar other wise it will be boring.

On what Cant was saying about the likes of Vos and Ferrand Prevot I do agree to a certain extent as the 1st and 3rd places were taken by roadies when only one rider on the podium rides cross week in week out for the whole of the winter and autumn.

 

[Echoes]

And I hope they dont. Cyclocross needs him and van Aert with the additions of Sweek and Van der Haar other wise it will be boring.

Mathieu is still under contract with BKCP till 2017 anyway and he clearly said he enjoyed cyclocross more than road (the small Vier Caravan show with van Aert).

Van der Haar clearly said in a Wielermagazine (I think) that he was just a "creditable" road rider and a top cross rider. So he's never going to be a full time roadie. Van Aert did some nice performance at the Tour of Li?ge, last summer and was doing well at a pro race but I don't seem to remember which one. Wait & see for him. But I certainly wish they all remain in the field.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Mathieu is still under contract with BKCP till 2017 anyway and he clearly said he enjoyed cyclocross more than road (the small Vier Caravan show with van Aert).

Van der Haar clearly said in a Wielermagazine (I think) that he was just a "creditable" road rider and a top cross rider. So he's never going to be a full time roadie. Van Aert did some nice performance at the Tour of Li?ge, last summer and was doing well at a pro race but I don't seem to remember which one. Wait & see for him. But I certainly wish they all remain in the field.

I dont mean to be rude, but I wasnt actually meaning van der Haar going to the road like Stybar and Boom. I just meant he would be a rider throwing his hat in to the ring more often as the likes of Pauwels, Vantornout and Nys start to retire.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

And I hope they dont. Cyclocross needs him and van Aert with the additions of Sweek and Van der Haar other wise it will be boring.

Completely agree. I hope van der Poel, van Aert, Sweek, Van der Haar, and Vanthourenhout all stay in 'cross. It will make for an absolutely incredible next few years.

 

[Kwibus]

Completely agree. I hope van der Poel, van Aert, Sweek, Van der Haar, and Vanthourenhout all stay in 'cross. It will make for an absolutely incredible next few years.

While I really love the cross (allthough I get to see it way to less:/) I hope van der Poel will switch to the road at some point. Not yet though, let him enjoy his cross. I can imagine that a cross is more fun then a road race where not much happens while a cross is an hour all out effort riding through the mud!! I should start doing it myself some day

van der Poel allready has shown that he has so much talent on the road as well that I have a hard time not seeing him try it at some point.

 

[jaylew]

I agree with Kwibus. I'd like to see him on the road eventually but let him stay in cross another year or two (or three). I'd be happy if he continued to do both like Stybar. He's so talented, I don't see any way he doesn't eventually switch to the road but he just turned 20 so he's got a little time.

Of course, he's already picked up the biggest win he can ever get in CX.

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

Well I can understand and respect it if he stays on the CX all the time, I could also understand it if he switches to road in a few years. I would like to see him race the classics at some point in his career. But it's really up to him as far as I'm concerned. I do hope that he will keep combining it though. Styby last year managed to do a full road season and still win the CX worlds and he would've done a number of high level crosses and the worlds again if it wasn't for his unfortunate injury. So even in modern day cycling it is possible to combine it, just like his daddy did.

By the way, I wouldn't really want him to start focusing on the road in the immediate future. I really want to see some more Mathieu vs. Wout the coming years more than anything he's gonna do on the road.

Maybe after a few more years of Mathieu vs. Wout he can do a Stybar and peak for both the CX worlds and the spring classics.

 

[theyoungest]

The Stybar approach only works if he's really a classics rider, however he seems to think he's more of a climber.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

van der Poel allready has shown that he has so much talent on the road as well that I have a hard time not seeing him try it at some point.

I agree. He's reached the pinnacle of the sport at age 20. I would be shocked if he did not start moving to road within 2-3 years.

 

[Echoes]

http://www.sport.be/nl/wielrennen/veldrijden/article.html?Article_ID=718068

"Ik heb nog een contract tot eind 2017, en ik ben zeker van plan om die overeenkomst te respecteren. Ook daarna is het voor mij nog niet zeker dat ik overstap naar de weg. Ik doe het veldrijden nog veel te graag. Nu dat ik een jaar in de regenboogtrui mag rondrijden, zal het alleen maar leuker worden."

I still have a contract [with BKCP] till end 2017 and I surely intend to respect this agreement. Also afterwards I'm not sure to make the transition to the road. I still enjoy doing cyclocross way too much. Now that I may show the rainbow jersey for a whole year, it will only be more fun."



Besides Mathieu seems prepared to defend his Superprestige ranking.

Reaching the pinnacle of the cyclocross season? Well yeah but there are also classics in cyclocross. Races like Asper-Gavere or the Koppenberg are prestigious events that they all want to win. Mathieu knows it.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Nice demonstration of Mathieu today. Proven again to be the deserved World Champion

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Nice demonstration of Mathieu today. Proven again to be the deserved World Champion

That was an impressive race from Mathieu. I think he wanted to send a message to Van Aert, who was whining after the Worlds race.

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

Mathieu with his first time winning two crosses in one weekend I guess.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Mathieu with his first time winning two crosses in one weekend I guess.

Good racing both days from him. For the first few laps yesterday, I thought he was strugglong after his efforts last week.

 

[Echoes]

Great news for cyclocross fans as Mathieu extends his contract with BKCP until 2018.

The cyclocross haters who want him to switch to the road will have to wait.