Race Thread

[Hugh Januss]

Huh? I was sure I saw the change happen right after the pileup... as in; they showed the pileup, and the next thing they showed the shoe change, too quickly for Boros to have made to the pit.



I was not! I've got both Van Empel and Iserbyt on my team for the CX game.

I think I heard the commentator say his shoe came off in the fall. As others were still going through the barriers Boros was hopping around trying to find it. I guess the retention device was broken because he then stopped at the pit for another shoe. It was a bad day for shoes!

 

[Hugh Januss]

56

No.

 

[Barkintheeye]

Satisfying to see that Iserbyt’s standard Slim-shady-lurking-tactic didn’t pay off. Impressive form by MVTH. Good win!

 

[Wyndbrook]

Start lists for Sunday looking a little thin.
Whilst the men's race still has plenty of top riders the womens has been really reduced.
Brand, Worst and Casasola are the only riders who will racing for the win.

 

[jono]

Wout's program, only 6 races, no Worlds:

Date	Series	Race
Mon 23 Dec	Superprestige	Zilvermeercross, Mol (BEL)
Fri 27 Dec	Exact cross	Loenhout (BEL)
Sat 4 Jan	standalone race	Gullegem (BEL)
Sun 5 Jan	World Cup #9	Dendermonde (BEL)
Sun 19 Jan	World Cup #10	Benidorm (ESP)
Sun 25 Jan	World Cup #11	Maasmechelen (BEL)

And Niels Albert says he heard MVDP will only be riding three races: Benidorm, Hoogerheide, and Worlds. Hoping this is not true, but I suppose Albert would be connected to the sorts of people that would know.

Niels Albert: “Hoor dat Mathieu van der Poel maar drie crossen zou rijden”

Het is al december, maar de crossplannen van Mathieu van der Poel zijn nog altijd in nevelen gehuld. Al heeft tweevoudig wereldkampioen Niels Albert wel het een en ander opgevangen. In zijn analyse voor HLN schrijft hij te hebben gehoord dat MVDP deze winter slechts drie crossen zal rijden."

www.wielerflits.be

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Start lists for Sunday looking a little thin.
Whilst the men's race still has plenty of top riders the womens has been really reduced.
Brand, Worst and Casasola are the only riders who will racing for the win.

Is anybody really surprised by the thin start lists?
It's become the norm; teams/ riders dislike travelling outside of their region, unless they have to.
Put these races on during the Kerstperiode, and see what happens then....but won't happen. The sport doesn't help itself.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Wout, and likely MvdP are treating CX like the sport it was designed for; training for the upcoming road season.....
Moving the World Cup to a 2 month window, in the hope of attracting 'road stars' is looking more foolish all the time.

 

[stonerider]

Wout's program, only 6 races, no Worlds:

Date	Series	Race
Mon 23 Dec	Superprestige	Zilvermeercross, Mol (BEL)
Fri 27 Dec	Exact cross	Loenhout (BEL)
Sat 4 Jan	standalone race	Gullegem (BEL)
Sun 5 Jan	World Cup #9	Dendermonde (BEL)
Sun 19 Jan	World Cup #10	Benidorm (ESP)
Sun 25 Jan	World Cup #11	Maasmechelen (BEL)

And Niels Albert says he heard MVDP will only be riding three races: Benidorm, Hoogerheide, and Worlds. Hoping this is not true, but I suppose Albert would be connected to the sorts of people that would know.

Niels Albert: “Hoor dat Mathieu van der Poel maar drie crossen zou rijden”

Het is al december, maar de crossplannen van Mathieu van der Poel zijn nog altijd in nevelen gehuld. Al heeft tweevoudig wereldkampioen Niels Albert wel het een en ander opgevangen. In zijn analyse voor HLN schrijft hij te hebben gehoord dat MVDP deze winter slechts drie crossen zal rijden."

www.wielerflits.be

MvdP is busy playing golf this offseason. He doesn't have time for this CX foolishness.

Now we can set back and see how all this affects his road results in 2025. If he has a sucky 2025 road season we can say he should have raced more CX in the winter months.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

At some point, it ceases to be cyclocross...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1865052786259292514

View: https://x.com/cyclocross24/status/1865052786259292514

 

[Hugh Januss]

At some point, it ceases to be cyclocross...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1865052786259292514

View: https://x.com/cyclocross24/status/1865052786259292514

Ouch!

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Alpecin trying to make their lack of WC participation something to brag about

https://twitter.com/x/status/1865081065129546034

View: https://x.com/AlpecinDCK/status/1865081065129546034

 

[TourOfSardinia]

It's really windy this morning on the west coast of Sardinia
and there has been enough rain to create puddles.

 

[theyoungest]

It's really windy this morning on the west coast of Sardinia
and there has been enough rain to create puddles.

Belgian media saying it's pretty much impossible to go ahead with the race, too dangerous. In what seems to be a Murphy's law situation for the organizers, the press room also burned down last night

Extra domper voor organisatoren in Sardinië: de perszaal is vannacht volledig uitgebrand | sporza

De organisatoren van de Wereldbekercross in Sardinië lijken van niets bespaard te blijven. De wedstrijden zelf lijken niet te zullen doorgaan door een storm die over het eiland trekt en tot overmaat van ramp brandde vannacht de perszaal uit langs het parcours. Bekijk hier de beelden.

sporza.be

 

[theyoungest]

Confirmed: race canceled.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Confirmed: race canceled.

meanwhile near Bilbao a wind mud-feat goes on.
With not too bad TV camera work

View: https://www.youtube.com/embed/sa2rwyxmQeI

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Apparently Lucinda made a fun video:

 

[Sciatic]

Apparently Lucinda made a fun video:

Do you have a link?

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Do you have a link?

it's on sporza behind a paywall

 

[Wyndbrook]

it's on sporza behind a paywall

Its on X, seem to struggling copying link.
It's also on Wielerflits.

 

[Barkintheeye]

Alpecin trying to make their lack of WC participation something to brag about

https://twitter.com/x/status/1865081065129546034

View: https://x.com/AlpecinDCK/status/1865081065129546034

That's a truly odd statement from a WT team. Intended as an apology?

 

[RedheadDane]

Anyone else who won't be able to watch the race Saturday, because of the forced downgrade to MAX?

 

[Wvv]

Rumours that Mathieu will ride Loenhout on 27/12. Just like Wout, so could be their only duel this season.

 

[jono]

Rumours that Mathieu will ride Loenhout on 27/12. Just like Wout, so could be their only duel this season.

Wout is scheduled to race Benidorm, and I expect if Mathieu is racing at all, Benidorm will be part of his plans too.

 

[Wvv]

According to Wielerflits, Mathieu might attend Hulst.

Wout is scheduled to race Benidorm, and I expect if Mathieu is racing at all, Benidorm will be part of his plans too.

Very true yes.

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

No.

Disagree, the decision to make women's races shorter is based on the tired idea that somehow women are less capable of riding the same lenght as men. They can, and they can do it well, and while this is not the case with cyclocross because it is a short race (that feels like eternity when you're racing), the longer the race, the more women catch up.