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Race Thread

Page 251 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
An apology of sorts, no doubt written by the team, and not making it a personal apology to Kamp.
View: https://x.com/IserbytEli/status/1845156228600647751


So what happens now? What panel determines a sanction here? How soon will anything be enacted (most weekends it would be relevant for it to be within 24 hours)?

And what was he playing at when he climbed over a fence back onto the track and started cycling in the wrong direction?
He's making it about something Kamp said. Well, too bad, mr. Iserbyt, we didn't hear that, and we did see you purposefully trampling on your opponent's equipment. A suspension is in order.
 
About van Empel and mountain biking: Before 2023, she only competed in some junior and under-23 races during the summer (van Empel started cycling at the end of 2019, competing at a local/national level). At the beginning of 2023, she signed with Jumbo-Visma and was crowned cyclocross world champion in Hoogerheide. From there, she participated in some second-tier road races and then transitioned to mountain biking, where she achieved the following results:

  • Nove Mesto World Cup: 17th position in her first elite race in the discipline (ahead of riders like Laura Stigger, Teochi, Lill).
  • Lenzerheide World Cup: 16th position ahead of Sina Frei, Neff, Courtney. In this race, she was in 9th place at the start of the final lap, but a fall dropped her to 16th.
  • European Championship: 10th place, ahead of Berta, Indergand, etc.
All these results were achieved without the support of a specialized mountain bike team and with a new bike (Cervelo ZFS-5 and ZFH-5) that only she and Milan Vader were using. In summary, she’s a rider who, in her first contact with the elite category, after a very limited stint in the lower categories, has shown she’s among the best in the world (top 20), with much room for improvement in various aspects. Sina Frei herself recently won a World Cup race, when at the beginning of the year, she was in the top 20 - top 30.

I believe her decision to step away from mountain biking is influenced by her team (Visma), for whom her presence on the road is much more valuable than in MTB, a discipline with a smaller audience. Hopefully, in the future (she’s 22), she’ll return to that discipline, as I believe she can compete at the highest level.
She was actually 2nd in the U23 XCO European championships in Portugal, behind Puck, and ahead of Giadia Specia, and Sofie Pedersen.
There is a very good XC MTB racer in her, but I don't see it happening, unless she leaves Visma; they tolerate CX, but don't seem to want riders doing MTB.
 
She was actually 2nd in the U23 XCO European championships in Portugal, behind Puck, and ahead of Giadia Specia, and Sofie Pedersen.
There is a very good XC MTB racer in her, but I don't see it happening, unless she leaves Visma; they tolerate CX, but don't seem to want riders doing MTB.
Visma signed Milan Vader for the express purpose of having him do both MTB and road, culiminating in the Olympics. Unfortunately he had this severe crash at Pais Vasco in one of his first races for the team and it never came to fruition. With Van Empel they abandoned the MTB trajectory when it became clear that qualifying for the Olympics was an impossible task.

They're also still in the trial and error phase of forming a women's team. A complete management overhaul last year, this year again some of their main riders leaving, it doesn't seem to be going very swimmingly. Not a great environment for the very shy and reticent Van Empel to develop, I imagine.
 
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So how come Exact Cross races (best fields and presumably best prize money/appearance fees outside of, or alongside, World Cup/Superprestige/Big Duck) are classified as C2 (with one exception), while numerous races that have inferior competitors and budgets, and no TV coverage, are C1?

And how come they have never thought to have some all-season classification within them?
 
So how come Exact Cross races (best fields and presumably best prize money/appearance fees outside of, or alongside, World Cup/Superprestige/Big Duck) are classified as C2 (with one exception), while numerous races that have inferior competitors and budgets, and no TV coverage, are C1?

And how come they have never thought to have some all-season classification within them?
Competing sponsors?
 
And how come they have never thought to have some all-season classification within them?

I believe there is a limit in UCI rules for the amount of trophy classifications a country can have. Belgium already has Superprestige and Rubber Duck trophy, so they can't have any other. That's why the Brico/Exact Cross have the fastest lap prize.

But I checked now the UCI rules and couldn't find anything about that. Despite being fairly sure of that, I may be completely wrong.
 
They're also still in the trial and error phase of forming a women's team. A complete management overhaul last year, this year again some of their main riders leaving, it doesn't seem to be going very swimmingly. Not a great environment for the very shy and reticent Van Empel to develop, I imagine.

How unfortunate that the team doesn't have a senior rider able to take the youngsters under her wing.
 
Good job commissare priorities are correct, Iserbyt fined 100 Swiss francs, would have been 250 for first littering offence.
I know Kamp is a very hard aggressive rider and there is much history, and I generally defend riders actions, but..

Perhaps round two later in the year if Pidcock rides cross, I believe Eli andTom are not exactly in love.
 
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Eavesdropping opportunity at 34:24: perhaps one of the Flemish speakers could let us know of anything that will escape the swear filter.
Ryan Kamp says "niet doen he, flikker op jongen, niet op mijn fiets gaan staan" which means "hey don't do that, f.ck off man, don't stand on my bike". But that's already after the fact, not a possible reason for Iserbyt to lose it.
 
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In between winning races in cyclocross, mountain biking, and road cycling, including multiple world titles, Puck Pieterse has also managed to get her bachelor's degree in human movement sciences at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, all at age 22. She's definitely someone who can make you wonder "what the hell am I doing with my life".
There's also the sneaking of snowboarding when she's a day or two spare.
 
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Maybe Red Bull Netherlands is not that into cycling. They don't sponsor any cyclists. Plenty of good ones to choose from (on the women's side, that is).

And also, whichever one they pick, they'll always be eclipsed by the foremost Red Bull athlete, you know who he is.
That is my thought; I remember a while ago checking RB athletes by sport, then country, and there were no cyclists from the Netherlands. Though there was a BMX rider who was RB, but is no longer (also went out with the other Puck).
 
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