Race Thread

[Sciatic]

Interesting she's jumped straight into Elites - and won't bother with U23.....whereas her sister was 2nd in the U23, though still coming back after her Worlds crash in practice. Another Canadian Ian Ackert won the U23, and he seems another talent; finished behind Philipsen in the junior XCO Worlds.

I think the Canadian riders are more promising going forward; the US riders appear to be what we've already seen. Any promising US male CX riders soon disappear to either road or MTB. Will AJ August continue with CX? You'd think not....

Yes, Canada seems to have some good ( by North American standards) cross talent. I toyed with the idea of going up to Victoria (there’s a ferry) to watch the Canadian nationals being held there this year.

 

[theyoungest]

I don't know for sure, but I don't think the national team programs are involved in managing the fields/allocating spots. I think anyone can sign up for the UCI races at Pan Ams. It would also be kind of silly seeing a field with just two different kits.

That's what I would have thought too. But, for example, Ava Holmgren raced (and won) Canadian nationals as an elite last year, allowing the twins to double up on jerseys as was probably part of the reasoning for racing U23s yesterday. In Isabella's case it's likely a moot point as there wouldn't be much to prove at U23 level, although perhaps a missed opportunity for another jersey at worlds if in fact she is locked in to elite now.

I imagine it's more fun to ride for a podium at U23 Worlds than for a possible top-10, top-15 in the elite race. If riding the Pan Ams as an elite excludes her from the U23 level in Europe the rules need to be changed. For the European championships I understand it, that's basically the same level as Worlds... but the Pan Ams?

 

[Sciatic]

Friend who lives in Missoula was at the PanAms this past weekend taking lots of photos:

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid0yg9TvsZ1rh2QkRusY7bZ89ZhvddaTCKwgSN1mpBztJcNz4WVDN7TM7czToatvfZ7l&id=1495670858

View: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0yg9TvsZ1rh2QkRusY7bZ89ZhvddaTCKwgSN1mpBztJcNz4WVDN7TM7czToatvfZ7l&id=1495670858&mibextid=qC1gEa

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid0277kCD3uScc4QuC7MqrxmHmw2rZRmjnoXuNihc2fHEp2Vc5P6Sc6Lsekw7kseyC7yl&id=1495670858

View: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0277kCD3uScc4QuC7MqrxmHmw2rZRmjnoXuNihc2fHEp2Vc5P6Sc6Lsekw7kseyC7yl&id=1495670858&mibextid=qC1gEa

 

[jono]

I imagine it's more fun to ride for a podium at U23 Worlds than for a possible top-10, top-15 in the elite race. If riding the Pan Ams as an elite excludes her from the U23 level in Europe the rules need to be changed. For the European championships I understand it, that's basically the same level as Worlds... but the Pan Ams?

You're right, and I'd be surprised if Holmgren would have consciously chosen to eliminate the possibility of racing for another rainbow jersey in U23.

For the remainder of the European calendar, it hardly makes a difference as none of the World Cups, and few if any other races, have a separate U23 race.

 

[theyoungest]

UCI maakt zich zorgen: "Als ze Wereldbeker als speeltje zien, zitten we met probleem"

De vele afzeggingen voor de Wereldbeker veldrijden baren de UCI zorgen. "Ik heb respect voor renners die zeggen dat ze ervoor kiezen om rust te nemen", zegt UCI-topman Peter Van den Abeele. "Maar de Wereldbeker benadelen voor een ander klassement? Dan klopt er iets niet."

sporza.be

UCI is concerned: "If they see the World Cup as a plaything, we have a problem"

The many cancellations for the Cyclo-Cross World Cup are worrying the UCI. "I respect riders who say they choose to take a rest," says UCI CEO Peter Van den Abeele. "But disadvantaging the World Cup in favour of a different ranking? Then something is wrong."

"This cannot continue."

UCI CEO Peter Van den Abeele sighs when he hears that Thibau Nys will suit up for the World Cup in Dendermonde next weekend.

"It is a shame that Wout van Aert, Mathieu van der Poel and Tom Pidcock are not yet there in the World Cup. They have had a very long road season and are taking a rest period. That is okay."

It is the recent statements and cancellations of other riders that worry Van den Abeele.

"Lars van der Haar said after his victory in Maasmechelen that he will drop the World Cup rankings."

"Thibau Nys prefers the Superprestige in Niel over the World Cup in Dendermonde. I have respect for riders who say they choose to take a rest. But do you want to disadvantage the World Cup for a different classification?"

"If the World Cup is seen as a plaything, then we have a problem," says Van den Abeele.

"That's not good for anyone, not even for cyclo-cross as a discipline."

Bundling the World Cup in a shorter period
The World Cup was created to allow the best cross riders to compete against each other.

But the Big Three (Van Empel, Pieterse and Van Anrooij) are also ignoring World Cup cross-country events among women.

"Yet nowhere else can they win as much prize money as in the cyclo-cross World Cup. Then something is going wrong, right?"

Van den Abeele insists that the UCI wants and must take action to protect the World Cup races.

"We will also look in the mirror ourselves," he is self-critical.

"Should performances in the World Cup be rewarded with more points? Should we bundle the World Cup cross races in a shorter period so that all the top riders can be there, for example from December to the last weekend before the World Cup?" Van den Abeele makes suggestions.

"These are all matters that I urgently want to discuss with Flanders Classics and other major players from the cyclo-cross world."

"We will make these decisions with the highest priority so that they can be approved at the World Cup. This way they will come into effect next season."

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Well this kind of seems like the outcome of them/Flanders classics increasing the series from 8 to 16/14 rounds.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Well this kind of seems like the outcome of them/Flanders classics increasing the series from 8 to 16/14 rounds.

Why do they think CX can support 14 rounds, when the MTB World Cup only has approx 8 rounds for each of its disciplines, and is a much more international sport. 14 rounds in just 3.5 months is madness - and has had an affect on the other series.
Why not revert back to 8, and swap weekends with the SuperPrestige - so one Sunday is a World Cup, and the next is SP - and run X20 and other races on the Saturday.

 

[theyoungest]

Why do they think CX can support 14 rounds, when the MTB World Cup only has approx 8 rounds for each of its disciplines, and is a much more international sport. 14 rounds in just 3.5 months is madness - and has had an affect on the other series.
Why not revert back to 8, and swap weekends with the SuperPrestige - so one Sunday is a World Cup, and the next is SP - and run X20 and other races on the Saturday.

Yes, it all seems a bit "how dare these pesky little riders not do what we intended them to do". When everyone could see this coming... way too many world cup races, way too random which ones are in and which ones are out, nobody understands it, nobody cares about it.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

The other issue is Flanders Classics running both the World Cup, and Superprestige.....Too much power with one organiser - and really the World Cup probably needs a non-Belgian organiser; it can at times appear to be just another Belgian series......

I don't know when the contract is up, but I wouldn't have a problem with Discovery taking it on; they already have the Track Champions League, and MTB World Series......why not add CX?

 

[theyoungest]

The other issue is Flanders Classics running both the World Cup, and Superprestige.....Too much power with one organiser - and really the World Cup probably needs a non-Belgian organiser; it can at times appear to be just another Belgian series......

I don't know when the contract is up, but I wouldn't have a problem with Discovery taking it on; they already have the Track Champions League, and MTB World Series......why not add CX?

To be fair Flanders Classics are actually quite internationally oriented. They really want to grow the brand. You can debate if this is the way to do it, but 6 out of 14 World Cups in Belgium isn't an unfair amount.

 

[jono]

The 2024 Lifetime Grand Prix lineup has been announced, and does not include a bunch of the North American based crossers who took part in 2023: Caroline Mani, Raylyn Nuss, Eric Brunner, Tobin Ortenblad, Rebecca Fahringer and Kerry Werner all didn't make the cut. You'd expect at least a few of these to include more CX races on their calendar next year, although Mani could retire and Fahringer's career is on hold due to ongoing concussion issues.

 

[Hugh Januss]

Why do they think CX can support 14 rounds, when the MTB World Cup only has approx 8 rounds for each of its disciplines, and is a much more international sport. 14 rounds in just 3.5 months is madness - and has had an affect on the other series.
Why not revert back to 8, and swap weekends with the SuperPrestige - so one Sunday is a World Cup, and the next is SP - and run X20 and other races on the Saturday.

Maybe we just need 14 MTB World Cups and 2 more 3 week Grand Tours while we are at it one in Australia and one in the US. Oh yeah, and make attendance mandatory!

 

[Barkintheeye]

Late (very) to the party (UEC CX 2023).

The Pontchateau race course became fantastic with the rain. Challenging and selective just as a championship course should be.

Women's race. Amazing how easy Van Empel makes it look. Clearly on another physical level. She has never amazed with her technique but being so much stronger she probably can ride well within her limits and still drop all the others.

Men's race was great! Another well deserved and impressive win by Vanthourenhout who really shines when it comes to technical mud riding. Mason also brilliant and Van der Haar crashing out more than once. If he has any weaknesses, washing out his frontwheel is one of them. I feel for him and also share this weakness. If there is one thing that is hard to get right it's that one.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Late (very) to the party (UEC CX 2023).

The Pontchateau race course became fantastic with the rain. Challenging and selective just as a championship course should be.

Women's race. Amazing how easy Van Empel makes it look. Clearly on another physical level. She has never amazed with her technique but being so much stronger she probably can ride well within her limits and still drop all the others.

While I don't think we saw the best of her on the MTB,......just being stronger isn't usually good enough against a stronger, deeper field who are technically superior. With her promising results on the road, you'd think that would likely be her summer priority.....

 

[JR1012]

Lucinda Brand is back. First race after her injury will be on Sunday in the WC at Dendermonde.

 

[theyoungest]

While I don't think we saw the best of her on the MTB,......just being stronger isn't usually good enough against a stronger, deeper field who are technically superior. With her promising results on the road, you'd think that would likely be her summer priority.....

It's difficult, Fem is far from the finished article on the MTB, way less experience than pretty much all of her rivals. Add to that her poor shape during this year's MTB races (and a bit of bad luck, crashing in Lenzerheide in a top-10 position). But from recent statements it seems she's sort of given up on it, road will definitely be more of a focus next year.

 

[Barkintheeye]

It's difficult, Fem is far from the finished article on the MTB, way less experience than pretty much all of her rivals. Add to that her poor shape during this year's MTB races (and a bit of bad luck, crashing in Lenzerheide in a top-10 position). But from recent statements it seems she's sort of given up on it, road will definitely be more of a focus next year.

Seems sensible given her relative weakness in technique and her relative strength in power. She could probably achieve big things on the road.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

https://cyclinguptodate.com/cyclocr...-thibau-nys-skipping-upcoming-world-cup-round

This seems more like he's unhappy that riders are specifically skipping his race than the just because it's a world cup round. If it was Dublin, Flamanville, or even Gavere, I'm sure he wouldn't take so much of an issue. This is the same Mettepeningen that was quoted in an article about the costs of sending riders and staff to the US for one race as madness so I'm sure he knows about the costs and other reasons riders are less inclined to race the world cups.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Dendermonde was only ever suitable for a World Cup in the Covid era; it's basically a flat farmers field - fine for club/local races, and maybe X20 at the most. For the biggest series - never!!

 

[Barkintheeye]

Dendermonde was only ever suitable for a World Cup in the Covid era; it's basically a flat farmers field - fine for club/local races, and maybe X20 at the most. For the biggest series - never!!

Agree, uninspiring race course. There are just so many other options. Yet sometimes it’s good with a pure mud bath. Simple, no fancies, just plain and simple running and slogging through mud.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Last call for the 2023-24 Cyclocross Game. Submit a team before Saturday's Jaarmarktcross WE race to get points for that event, or at least before Sunday's Dendermonde start to meet the final deadline.

 

[theyoungest]

Dendermonde was only ever suitable for a World Cup in the Covid era; it's basically a flat farmers field - fine for club/local races, and maybe X20 at the most. For the biggest series - never!!

I think with the current weather it should suit Zoe Backstedt, she could get her first World Cup podium. Maybe even win. It's going to be one long slog through the mud.

 

[Gwbert]

Dendermonde was only ever suitable for a World Cup in the Covid era; it's basically a flat farmers field - fine for club/local races, and maybe X20 at the most. For the biggest series - never!!

I enjoyed the wva win the other year where he just TTd for an hour through the mud and won bu a couple of minutes, but agree it’s not the best

 

[Wyndbrook]

I'm not aware of any news regarding the return of WvA and Pidcock, have I missed anything?
van Aert is currently in Columbia riding a Gran Fondo and the Brujabike interview with Pidcock is the last I have seen of him.

 

[stonerider]

I'm not aware of any news regarding the return of WvA and Pidcock, have I missed anything?
van Aert is currently in Columbia riding a Gran Fondo and the Brujabike interview with Pidcock is the last I have seen of him.

They're both enjoying a nice holiday after a stressful season. They have to live like a monk to obtain their top levels and certainly need plenty of down time in the off-season to enjoy life. Wout is also probably figuring out from the team what they expect from him on the road (schedule) and how CX racing will fit in with a new coach since Primoz took his old coach away.