Race Thread

[theyoungest]

Same, Van Empel is just too bland for my liking. Like those statues on Eastern Islands. Happy: 😑, sad: 😑.

She's just a very timid person, and not a great speaker. In English nor in Dutch. She lets the legs do the talking.

I also rather watch a Puck Pieterse interview, but it's bike racing we're talking about here, not a personality contest.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Absolutely lovely junior women race. Great to see technique prevail over power. Revol took the victory on pure skills. That’s what I love about CX!

That's actually a rarity in CX; it tends to be pure power over skills........

Van Empel is proof of this.....and everything I dislike in CX......Yet when she tried fat tyres (XCO), she had her arse handed to her, a bit like Vos did.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Same, Van Empel is just too bland for my liking. Like those statues on Eastern Islands. Happy: 😑, sad: 😑.

She brings nothing to the sport; we really needed a different champion. A pity she can't piss off back to football......but that relies on skills, not just fitness.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

 

[Coffeeplanter]

She's just a very timid person, and not a great speaker. In English nor in Dutch. She lets the legs do the talking.

I also rather watch a Puck Pieterse interview, but it's bike racing we're talking about here, not a personality contest.

This is just pointless yapping.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

That's actually a rarity in CX; it tends to be pure power over skills........

Van Empel is proof of this.....and everything I dislike in CX......Yet when she tried fat tyres (XCO), she had her arse handed to her, a bit like Vos did.

I very much doubt we've seen the best of her in XCO, but we may very well have seen the last of her, due to her team's non-interest in the sport.

She brings nothing to the sport; we really needed a different champion. A pity she can't piss off back to football......but that relies on skills, not just fitness.

That's not very nice. At least CP's insults are funny.

 

[JR1012]

Shame Blanka not in touch yet... hope she'll make it eventually

I mean when you look at the last world cups, not her place but the huge time gap is a little bit surprising.

 

[theyoungest]

This is just pointless yapping.

I'd like her to show a bit more of what she really thinks, she's an enigma in that regard. But to me she just seems to be really very shy. She's actually already improved quite a bit, her English also seems to be getting better.

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

She brings nothing to the sport; we really needed a different champion. A pity she can't piss off back to football......but that relies on skills, not just fitness.

It isn't any of that for me. I just inherently root for the underdog, and she is never that, so I want to see others win. Personality wise, she isn't super dynamic, but she seems nice enough. I do wonder why she never seems to be able to translate her talent to the road nearly as much as does Puck or even van Anrooij (who I really missed this season).

 

[stonerider]

Since Tibor was essentially doing an easy training ride today for the U23 Gold, could he also race in the elites tomorrow?

 

[theyoungest]

We have have our first official cyclocross worlds spat (every edition needs one): Lucinda Brand accuses Van Empel of pushing her into the barriers in the last lap. I don't think there's much to it, and actually Brand won her world title in a dirtier fashion against Annemarie Worst, but there you go.

"Chagrijnige" Lucinda Brand hekelt manoeuvre van Fem van Empel: "Dit vond ik niet kunnen" | sporza

Het had de kers op een geweldige seizoenstaart kunnen worden, maar Lucinda Brand moest op het einde van een superspannend WK dan toch het hoofd buigen voor landgenote Fem van Empel. De zilveren medaille foeterde over hoe de titelstrijd was beslist: "Was het nodig om me in de hekken te rijden?"

sporza.be

 

[Barkintheeye]

That's actually a rarity in CX; it tends to be pure power over skills........

Van Empel is proof of this.....and everything I dislike in CX......Yet when she tried fat tyres (XCO), she had her arse handed to her, a bit like Vos did.

Don’t want to get into a XCC vs CX debate but I will agree that this course was lackluster. Too easy for elite women as well as for U23 men. Nothing much happened and the stairs really killed the non power riders. Pieterse seemed to lose 5 seconds on every stair…

 

[Unchained]

Absolutely great race, parity at the front had a fun to watch back and forth. I wish I knew more about pit stops at the elite level. Obviously it makes a difference or they wouldn't do it!! Made for that much more excitement because top 2 were so close for so long. Top ten riders all very impressive!! Fem-tastic.

 

[kingjr]

We have have our first official cyclocross worlds spat (every edition needs one): Lucinda Brand accuses Van Empel of pushing her into the barriers in the last lap. I don't think there's much to it, and actually Brand won her world title in a dirtier fashion against Annemarie Worst, but there you go.

"Chagrijnige" Lucinda Brand hekelt manoeuvre van Fem van Empel: "Dit vond ik niet kunnen" | sporza

Het had de kers op een geweldige seizoenstaart kunnen worden, maar Lucinda Brand moest op het einde van een superspannend WK dan toch het hoofd buigen voor landgenote Fem van Empel. De zilveren medaille foeterde over hoe de titelstrijd was beslist: "Was het nodig om me in de hekken te rijden?"

sporza.be

She got squeezed out at the exit of the corner, that's about as bog-standard as it gets.

 

[Coffeeplanter]

It's cyclocross, not road racing. It just comes down to getting your front wheel to a spot first, in which Van Empel succeeded.

 

[jono]

After having watched all three raes, I really like the course. Any muddier and I think the racing would have been dull.

 

[Brullnux]

She brings nothing to the sport; we really needed a different champion. A pity she can't piss off back to football......but that relies on skills, not just fitness.

Chill out, she's 22 and probably just shy. Has she done/said anything actually bad or is she just a bit boring in interviews?

 

[jmdirt]

FvE again!

 

[jmdirt]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgXeP8ZgPwA

 

[Sciatic]

She's just a very timid person, and not a great speaker. In English nor in Dutch. She lets the legs do the talking.

I also rather watch a Puck Pieterse interview, but it's bike racing we're talking about here, not a personality contest.

Thanks for that context, helps to learn some of a rider’s personality and background.

 

[Sciatic]

Sidenote: why is there a fish on the sleeve of the Dutch kit?

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

We have have our first official cyclocross worlds spat (every edition needs one): Lucinda Brand accuses Van Empel of pushing her into the barriers in the last lap. I don't think there's much to it, and actually Brand won her world title in a dirtier fashion against Annemarie Worst, but there you go.

"Chagrijnige" Lucinda Brand hekelt manoeuvre van Fem van Empel: "Dit vond ik niet kunnen" | sporza

Het had de kers op een geweldige seizoenstaart kunnen worden, maar Lucinda Brand moest op het einde van een superspannend WK dan toch het hoofd buigen voor landgenote Fem van Empel. De zilveren medaille foeterde over hoe de titelstrijd was beslist: "Was het nodig om me in de hekken te rijden?"

sporza.be

It happened, but Brand lost on that last little bump before the finishing straight. She cocked that up royally. Sour grapes is never a good look.

 

[Andy262]

Good race, slightly dull course I thought. But the best rider won. It is a shame that the U23 race is basically weakening the elite field, as several in that could have been Top 10 here.

Looks like a real power course and that should suit Backstedt tomorrow. Go Zoe.

 

[Lequack]

Good racing, I was expecting a boring solo, but Brand and Van Empel made it interesting. Shame about the last corner for Brand though.

What is strange to me is that Van Empel often shows she has higher power output than Brand or Pieterse, but yet when the road season comes around she is nowhere to be seen. You would think she would be able to carry that power over to the road no?

 

[theyoungest]

Sidenote: why is there a fish on the sleeve of the Dutch kit?

Logo of the sponsor of the national team, the Dutch lottery.