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Barkintheeye

Barkintheeye

Feb 24, 2015
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Axel Hangleck said:
I'm looking forward to being able to watch the Juniors for once; they've produced some great racing, and a good mix of nationalities.......
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That’s one of the better things with the World Championships. We get to see Juniors, U23 and Elite / women and males plus - nowadays - team Relays which can potentially develop into something interesting. A real treat at an otherwise dull time of the year.
 
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Axel Hangleck

Jan 7, 2017
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Small British team with Backstedt, Ferguson with serious gold medal chances; Wolff is an outside bet for a medal, and Mason on a good day could get a top 5. The others will do well to get a Top 10/15.......

There's still not enough top youngsters coming through in CX; most are seemingly going the Track/road route.....
 
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Wyndbrook

Oct 4, 2020
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Barkintheeye said:
That’s one of the better things with the World Championships. We get to see Juniors, U23 and Elite / women and males plus - nowadays - team Relays which can potentially develop into something interesting. A real treat at an otherwise dull time of the year.
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Yes it's great to see the younger categories, although you might be a little optimistic with the mixed relays. I'm not seeing any mention on my disco+ listings.
Probably some limited coverage on YouTube as last year.
 
lemon cheese cake

lemon cheese cake

Sep 28, 2014
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Wyndbrook said:
Yes it's great to see the younger categories, although you might be a little optimistic with the mixed relays. I'm not seeing any mention on my disco+ listings.
Probably some limited coverage on YouTube as last year.
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I don't know if Discovery are showing it, but I think there was confirmation from that the host broadcaster is showing it, unlike last year with NPO/NOS, so it should be available somewhere.
 
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Davesta

Dec 21, 2015
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I’ve just seen that Sara Casasola has signed for Hess Cycling Team, a fairly new conti team - they started in 2023 with a Luxembourg license, and are switching to a British license in 2024, as the team seems to be a plaything of Rolf Hess who runs businesses based in London.

It’s an odd choice of team for Casasola, who’s been battling with the best in the world all season - I’d have expected she’d receive offers from world tour teams. I hope this doesn’t hold her back or stunt her development.
 
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Wyndbrook

Oct 4, 2020
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Axel Hangleck said:
Small British team with Backstedt, Ferguson with serious gold medal chances; Wolff is an outside bet for a medal, and Mason on a good day could get a top 5. The others will do well to get a Top 10/15.......

There's still not enough top youngsters coming through in CX; most are seemingly going the Track/road route.....
Click to expand...
You're right, cross is very popular in UK, but as a non Olympic sport the support from British Cycling is very limited.
Most junior teams aim towards trips to Europe to race on the road.
Parents are a big driver in this with Ferguson riding for her dad's team, and Giles Pidcock and Peter Georgi also running teams. Their aim is most likely to get them world tour contracts.
 
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Wyndbrook

Oct 4, 2020
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Davesta said:
I’ve just seen that Sara Casasola has signed for Hess Cycling Team, a fairly new conti team - they started in 2023 with a Luxembourg license, and are switching to a British license in 2024, as the team seems to be a plaything of Rolf Hess who runs businesses based in London.

It’s an odd choice of team for Casasola, who’s been battling with the best in the world all season - I’d have expected she’d receive offers from world tour teams. I hope this doesn’t hold her back or stunt her development.
Click to expand...
Hess is another of these teams that have launched with claims of wanting to achieve world tour status and ride the tour in x years.
Let's hope they do.
 
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Samu Cuenca

Samu Cuenca

Sep 26, 2020
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Davesta said:
I’ve just seen that Sara Casasola has signed for Hess Cycling Team, a fairly new conti team - they started in 2023 with a Luxembourg license, and are switching to a British license in 2024, as the team seems to be a plaything of Rolf Hess who runs businesses based in London.

It’s an odd choice of team for Casasola, who’s been battling with the best in the world all season - I’d have expected she’d receive offers from world tour teams. I hope this doesn’t hold her back or stunt her development.
Click to expand...

Casasola's problem might be that she's done a fair bit of road racing during her career without getting any real stand out results. There's no doubt she's raised her CX level quite a bit this season, so perhaps she's about to get a big breakthrough on the road, too. If that happens it could make sense for UAE to pick her up, although I'm not sure how much they want to focus on CX in the future. Persico has skipped CX this season, and Venturelli has only done a couple of WC races and otherwise been engaged with the national track team.

I'm not really sure what to think of the Hess team. So far the riders seem to be happy about being there, but it could easily end up as the next disaster.
 
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Axel Hangleck

Jan 7, 2017
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Wyndbrook said:
You're right, cross is very popular in UK, but as a non Olympic sport the support from British Cycling is very limited.
Most junior teams aim towards trips to Europe to race on the road.
Parents are a big driver in this with Ferguson riding for her dad's team, and Giles Pidcock and Peter Georgi also running teams. Their aim is most likely to get them world tour contracts.
Click to expand...

Yes, that's true, the non-Olympic status is an issue. Saying that, I don't think enough youngsters are coming through in XC MTB - something raised by Evie when she won the Commonwealth gold in Birmingham.......That's an Olympic sport, but often seems like an after thought.....The Track is the focus.
 
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lemon cheese cake

lemon cheese cake

Sep 28, 2014
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Axel Hangleck said:
Yes, that's true, the non-Olympic status is an issue. Saying that, I don't think enough youngsters are coming through in XC MTB - something raised by Evie when she won the Commonwealth gold in Birmingham.......That's an Olympic sport, but often seems like an after thought.....The Track is the focus.
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And the ones that are then are also filtered down with them going to the road. Harry Birchill and Joe Blackmore spring to mind. In the other direction, Harriet Harnden now focuses more on Downhill and Enduro than XC or CX.
 
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theyoungest

Jan 11, 2010
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lemon cheese cake said:
I don't know if Discovery are showing it, but I think there was confirmation from that the host broadcaster is showing it, unlike last year with NPO/NOS, so it should be available somewhere.
Click to expand...
Sporza have it on their schedule, so I suppose there will be live images. And it may even be quite an exciting race, on the startlist I don't see a clear favourite.

Axel Hangleck said:
Yes, that's true, the non-Olympic status is an issue. Saying that, I don't think enough youngsters are coming through in XC MTB - something raised by Evie when she won the Commonwealth gold in Birmingham.......That's an Olympic sport, but often seems like an after thought.....The Track is the focus.
Click to expand...
I'm actually surprised they haven't yet recruited Backstedt for the track program. It seems quite a natural fit.
 
lemon cheese cake

lemon cheese cake

Sep 28, 2014
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theyoungest said:
Sporza have it on their schedule, so I suppose there will be live images. And it may even be quite an exciting race, on the startlist I don't see a clear favourite.


I'm actually surprised they haven't yet recruited Backstedt for the track program. It seems quite a natural fit.
Click to expand...
I understand after listening to when she was on Matt Stephens' podcast, I think after doing (and winning in) virtually every discipline as a junior, she settled on Road and CX, with CX being her favourite.
 
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jono

Jan 31, 2021
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Barkintheeye said:
That’s one of the better things with the World Championships. We get to see Juniors, U23 and Elite / women and males plus - nowadays - team Relays which can potentially develop into something interesting. A real treat at an otherwise dull time of the year.
Click to expand...
I really wish they would put all the junior and U23 races on the Saturday and the elites on the Sunday. For the forseeable future the elite men will always be the biggest draw and of the other races the elite women most deserve to be on the day with the biggest crowds.
 
DNP-Old

DNP-Old

Aug 6, 2014
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Axel Hangleck said:
CX or XCO MTB? Or both? I'm sure I read that CX isn't a massive goal for him, and it will be a fitness thing for winter.....
I wonder how much off-road the Holmgren's will actually do in the next few years.
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XCO is a definitive stay. He likens himself to Pidders and Van der Poel and wants to continue on that path. Truth be told, much easier to do so in a Trek environment than Colnago. CX will be put on hold for a year, as he wants to go full focus on his pro road debut season.
 
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Logic-is-your-friend

Logic-is-your-friend

Jun 7, 2011
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theyoungest

Jan 11, 2010
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Logic-is-your-friend said:
The barriers in Tabor will be of major importance. They are placed uphill, and they are quite high. Those who can't jump them will lose a lot of time because they either need to keep running or get on the bike on an uphill section, losing a lot of speed. This is how Nys jr did those barriers 4 years ago.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1195715972323303424
View: https://twitter.com/Puncheur_music/status/1195715972323303424
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I know Nys sr. has said they will be decisive, but the only guy who doesn't jump them is Lars van der Haar. In Hoogerheide last year they were also meant to be the make or break-moment of the race... and they never were. In the women's race in Tabor, Pieterse has been able to create a gap on the barriers for two years in a row, but not a decisive one.

What I did notice from the Czech nationals on the same course this year is that now the barriers were so high that nobody jumped them. I wonder if that height is allowed for the Worlds,
 
Logic-is-your-friend

Logic-is-your-friend

Jun 7, 2011
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theyoungest said:
I know Nys sr. has said they will be decisive, but the only guy who doesn't jump them is Lars van der Haar. In Hoogerheide last year they were also meant to be the make or break-moment of the race... and they never were. In the women's race in Tabor, Pieterse has been able to create a gap on the barriers for two years in a row, but not a decisive one.

What I did notice from the Czech nationals on the same course this year is that now the barriers were so high that nobody jumped them. I wonder if that height is allowed for the Worlds,
Click to expand...
I heard they would be higher than normal, so i expect people will get off the bike. And having to close a gap every lap to those who are able to jump them, will definitely take its toll. It may not result in a decisive gap, but it may result in decisive wasting energy. It being uphill also means there is a big difference between being able to jump them, and being able to jump them at full speed.
 
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