Race Thread

[Axel Hangleck]

Both deserve some 'down time' after a long season...it eventually catches up, even for these riders. It would do no harm if either missed a season of CX....but that isn't the plan.

Maybe Wout is also out there looking for Colombian CX talent......... He may struggle....

 

[Wyndbrook]

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.

I appreciate that, I was more wondering, especially regarding Pidock , of the possibility that they may not race this winter.

 

[theyoungest]

I appreciate that, I was more wondering, especially regarding Pidock , of the possibility that they may not race this winter.

The same, although perhaps less likely, goes for Van Aert. Maybe the plan for him to finally win a cobbled Monument involves skipping cyclocross altogether. Maybe he'll be paired with the team's new Norwegian trainer, in Norway they don't care about winter sports if they're not on snow or ice

 

[Strawberry_Jams]

I think possibly this could be Pidcock's last proper season in cross with a real focus towards worlds etc.
Although he could do a bit in the future because he enjoys it, to keep up his fitness and to gets the best out of him in other disciplines.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Anyone else remember It's a Knockout/Jeux Sans Frontieres? Is this really sport? (I'm loving it, but feeling guilty about it)

 

[Samu Cuenca]

I was fearing the women's race could get decided by Wiebes crashing right when Alvarado was coming from behind, but thankfully that didn't happen. There have been quite a few other crashes though.

 

[theyoungest]

The two technically best crossers in this field, Alvarado and Van Alphen, finishing one and two. I wonder where Rochette went?

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Worst seemed to have an extreme of fatigue-induced lack of co-ordination here. (still got a podium place though)

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Well, the course continues to be awful since they've moved it to the other side of the town

 

[lemon cheese cake]

The two technically best crossers in this field, Alvarado and Van Alphen, finishing one and two. I wonder where Rochette went?

Listening to the video her husband posted, it sounds like Rochette just needs to get into the groove of european courses after travelling over to europe in the middle of this week. The time difference will always through a spanner into the works, but this heavy course is a bit different from the last races she did in New England that was still quite fast running even in the rain and mud.

 

[DNP-Old]

One thing Thibau really has to learn to become an elite rider is knowing when it is time to showboat and when it's time to just be practical about it. In Maasmechelen he tried to ride uphill every lap and failed every time, and just now he dropped from 2nd to 20th by trying to stay on the bike, when running wouldn't have cost him a single position.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Who knew it. The top tube also serves as a tool for reseating the shoulder.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

I was rooting for Nieuwenhuis, but it looks like he lost it now. It was a pretty good fight with Iserbyt beforehand.

 

[theyoungest]

Felipe Orts today became the first Spaniard ever on the podium of a classification cross in Belgium.

 

[IndianCyclist]

UCI threatens Cyclocross World Championships ban for riders who skip World Cup races

Some more idiocy from UCI. Are they going to ban MVDP, WVA, Pidders as well?🤦🙄🤷🏼

 

[DNP-Old]

Some more idiocy from UCI. Are they going to ban MVDP, WVA, Pidders as well?🤦🙄🤷🏼

No no no, they are top 20 in the UCI rankings on the road, so they are exempt.

Wait, ***, Pidders isn't.

Pidders gets a honorary exemption because he has meant much to cycling, like Sagan.

 

[theyoungest]

Some more idiocy from UCI. Are they going to ban MVDP, WVA, Pidders as well?🤦🙄🤷🏼

It's Lappartient, the guy should just keep his mouth shut. He knows nothing about cyclocross.

 

[Ricco']

Weren't UCI the ones who defined a 500.000,00 € (or something) mandatory fee for an organizer to register a race in the World Cup? What about taking a fraction of that and the rest goes to prize money for the riders? If there were 200.000,00 € or something on the table for the riders, doubt many of them would be skipping races left and right

 

[RedheadDane]

Weren't UCI the ones who defined a 500.000,00 € (or something) mandatory fee for an organizer to register a race in the World Cup? What about taking a fraction of that and the rest goes to prize money for the riders? If there were 200.000,00 € or something on the table for the riders, doubt many of them would be skipping races left and right

Didn't one of the really prestigious races (Kwaremont?) deliberately drop out of the World Cup for this season, because the organisers knew that it's an important race, regardless of whether it's World Cup?
So, maybe the UCI just needs to accept that races aren't being considered important solely based on their World Cup status, but but a whole lot of other factors as well.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Didn't one of the really prestigious races (Kwaremont?) deliberately drop out of the World Cup for this season, because the organisers knew that it's an important race, regardless of whether it's World Cup?
So, maybe the UCI just needs to accept that races aren't being considered important solely based on their World Cup status, but but a whole lot of other factors as well.

Well the UCI mostly care about their own interests, and the World Cup is meant to be the premier series in their eyes, so they're obviously not just going to accept this, cause they fear that more of their race partners will drop out of the series as a result.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Nice to see Brand being competitive in her first race back, but she and Bäckstedt probably had an advantage by not having ridden yesterday. Still that was in now way enough to have a chance against Alvarado at this point in the season.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Well the UCI mostly care about their own interests, and the World Cup is meant to be the premier series in their eyes, so they're obviously not just going to accept this, cause they fear that more of their race partners will drop out of the series as a result.

To be fair to the UCI, the World Cup is organised and promoted by Flanders Classics - it's them who people should be directing the criticism at - they were the ones who have brought in the 14 round calendar, not the UCI. They're no different to how Liberty in F1, Dorna in MotoGP run their series; more and ,ore races brings in more hosting fees for them.

The UCI, understandably, wants their flagship CX series to be the No1 target for all riders.....not one of the other 'lesser' series. However, they've got this wrong talking about bans/suspensions.....idiotic.

We don't see this issue with the MTB World Cup, as its approx 8 rounds, and other the series don't run on World Cup weekends......

However, return it to an 8-9 round calendar, and other races organisers can plan their races around the World Cup, so they don't clash. This is all down to the greed of Flanders Classics....

 

[TourOfSardinia]

 

[theyoungest]

Nice to see Brand being competitive in her first race back, but she and Bäckstedt probably had an advantage by not having ridden yesterday. Still that was in now way enough to have a chance against Alvarado at this point in the season.

It's interesting how in women's cross so far the power dynamics so far are really clear: Van Empel>>Alvarado>>the rest. In men's cross it's basically a free for all.

Next week Pieterse will return, curious to see if Alvarado can offer some competition. She looks quite strong so far.