Race Thread

[Axel Hangleck]

A very good race, with the 3 favourites dominating; the European Champion & World Cup winner takes the Worlds.....which seems right. The course looks harder than yesterday, with lap times slower.
As ever, will we see them all in the coming years racing CX? Ferguson has a WWT team contract, I don't think the other two do.

 

[Wyndbrook]

Ferguson must be getting fed up of French riders. First Julie Bego, then yesterday and now today.
Celia Gery is almost certainly going to become the most successful rider of the championships.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

For the men U23 the world cup winner is Dutchman Tibor del Grosso. Can Tibor win in Tabor?

The opposition will come from the Belgians. Jente Michels is European champion. Emiel Verstrynge is Belgian champion and had some places of honor in pro races already.

Well, i'm sure Verstrynge likes the parcours more now than he did a few days ago.

 

[DNP-Old]

Lelandais, Groslambert, Huybs and Dockx already out of it.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Impressive from Del Grosso, and a good battle behind; Bisiaux was impressive as a first year U23, in 4th....and the French have some promising youngsters - will they stay in CX??
Another impressive first year U23 in 6th place, Canadian Ian Ackert - now on Trek's Dev XC squad.

 

[Didinho]

Fem already gone. Parcours is really tough now, running uphill after the barriers. The strongest will definitely win.

 

[RedheadDane]

Welcome to the open Dutch Championships.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Welcome to the open Dutch Championships.

No, they've actually been ongoing for a few years now.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

The least interesting race of the weekend; the rider with the most power winning. Puck needs a more technical, tough course to beat Fem......

 

[KZD]

Unless she decides to stop cyclocross, Van Empel will surely become one of the greatest ever, the way she destroys her rivals in these hard courses is incredible.

Casasola is always strong in these big Championships events but this time Verdonschot managed to beat her and become the best non-Dutch in 5th place.

 

[theyoungest]

Van Empel with a little nudge to the town where she's from on the finish there. She's from Maaskantje, famous among Dutchies (and a few Germans) because that's where the tv series New Kids takes place. A series about a few simpletons who are obsessed with explosions.

 

[theyoungest]

The least interesting race of the weekend; the rider with the most power winning. Puck needs a more technical, tough course to beat Fem......

I think on an honest course like this, the weeks Pieterse has had, with knee problems, illness and little training, will catch up with you. It's similar to what Fem had during the Christmas period.

 

[pmcg76]

That was pretty predictable and not really that interesting tbh. Think Puck is still getting over that illness, but regardless hasn't been on her level of last year all season really. Likewise since Alvardo started having back issues, she hasn't been the same rider. Think she was hanging on to secure the World Cup really a few weeks back. Brand is a model of consistency. Great ride by Verdonschot, has really improved over the course of the season and Casasola has been the revelation.

Junior ladies race in contrast was a cracker, was hard to call who was going to take it. So far, the podiums have been as expected apart from order really.

 

[jmdirt]

What is the most commonly used term to define a thick wooden "plank"? I have not often heard it being called a "beam". I have heard that people use "a 2 by 4" often... but clearly this relates to the size (in inch i presume). So what's the most common term used for a 2 by 4 of a custom size? A piece of timber? Bar? Beam?

Also, that automated translation is quite confusing. I only posted it as a source for even MvdP crashing 4 times. "But here you have to hit that bar much harder to maintain your speed between the bars." Would be better translated as "But here you have to charge towards the (first) beams more fiercely in order to maintain speed in between the beams.

balance beam
supporting beam
ridge beam
laminate beam

2x4 is a 2x4 no matter the length standard or custom (even though they aren't actually 2" by 4")

 

[jmdirt]

Congrats Fem!

 

[Pantani_lives]

A race with Van Empel always has a lot of suspense.

• Will she get away in the first or in the second lap?
• Will she win by one or by two minutes?
• Which of her compatriots will be second?

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Think Puck is still getting over that illness, but regardless hasn't been on her level of last year all season really.

When her main target is in July, I think that's fair enough - none of her XCO rivals are tiring themselves out in the winter......Everything should be planned around that - anything else is a bonus.

 

[Lequack]

Shame about the boring racing today, unfortunately tomorrow looks to be more of the same, with no one able to match MVDP.

 

[theyoungest]

I think during the Christmas period Pieterse was definitely approaching her best. Everything was aimed toward a peak at Worlds, but that didn't happen due to illness. Not because she didn't take it seriously or saw it as just a bonus.

On this course even a fully fit Pieterse would have a hard time beating Van Empel though.

 

[pmcg76]

I think during the Christmas period Pieterse was definitely approaching her best. Everything was aimed toward a peak at Worlds, but that didn't happen due to illness. Not because she didn't take it seriously or saw it as just a bonus.

On this course even a fully fit Pieterse would have a hard time beating Van Empel though.

Nobody was going to beat Van Empel today, she is a level above this season, but I would expect Pieterse on last years form to be a lot closer and ahead of Brand. I am not criticising her as I understand priorities are somewhat different now, merely an observation of where she is versus last season.

 

[Wyndbrook]

Looks like it's going to be no golds for Belgium this year.

 

[Sciatic]

Tough course and Honsinger slides into the top ten, ahead of several riders who’ve been beating her consistently this year. Hard to know if she has been “all in” with her training and focus this year, so don’t know if there is room for more improvement (other than her starts, of course).

 

[Samu Cuenca]

There's a Viktoria Chladonova on Instagram who has 15 followers. Two of them are Rutger Tijssen (Van Empel's trainer) and Dieter Vanthourenhout. I don't even know if it's the Chladonova, but clearly some are trying to contact her

Today I was looking through her actual/official Instagram account to see, if the bikes she's been using would give any hints to where she might end up (it seems to be Giant for CX, Canyon for MTB, and then a mix of the two for the road), and there I spotted that either Hans Timmermans from DSM or someone that pretended to be him had reached out to her 6 months ago. Whether that ever led to anything, I can't say, but at least it could be another sign that bigger teams have been following her progress.

 

[DNP-Old]

* * * * Stefano Viezzi, Aubin Sparfel
* * * Senna Remijn, Jules Simon, Albert Withen Philipsen
* * Keije Solen, Arthur Van Den Boer, Zsombor Takacs, David Thompson
* Paul Seixas, Krystof Bazant, Michiel Mouris, Mats Vanden Eynde, Barnabas Vas

Viezzi vs. Sparfel is the main attraction of the week as far as duels go. There's hardly any margin between them, they trade victories like it's Pokemon cards and the World Cup was decided by a hair. It's 50,1 against 49,9. Viezzi started the season like a rocket, only to lose ground to Sparfel midseason, only to reclaim the throne just last week in Hoogerheide. In normal circumstances, these two will fight for gold. However, I am counting on a very good Remijn tomorrow. He has been the disappointment of the season, but has regained form in prior weeks. If he wakes up with good sensations, he can become world champion. I have less faith in Simon, who is Mr. Consistency, but hardly ever wins. Good candidate for a medal, though. The French will have strength in numbers, with Seixas, Vassal and Vezie in their ranks too. Which brings us to the dark horse, the super talent: Albert Withen Philipsen. This is his race, the one he has been working towards all winter. Didn't care about winning, just about getting points to get himself the best possible starting row. He worked himself up from rank #86 all the way to 24th. Row 3 it is. He is fresher than everyone here, nobody can hang with him when it comes to pure watts. Question is: how well does he start? In Hoogerheide he was in the top 5 after just half a lap. If he is able to replicate this, the world title is in his grasp. To complete a never before-seen trilogy of rainbows.

 

[Barkintheeye]

Van Empel really killed it immediately. No mercy. Fantastic running by her. Most of the women do something of a walk but Van Empel has fast feet. All as expected!