Race Thread

[Axel Hangleck]

There’s still hope she might get some competition. Shirin could continue to improve, Backstedt could come back a little bit stronger, Puck could find that little she’s been missing…

I'm struggling to see how Lucinda doesn't win the Worlds....... However, if all the racing catches up with her (which is unlikely) or, she makes a bad start and another Dutch rider is takes advantage......Shirin is cable of winning, I wonder if Hulst really suits Backstedt.....
We haven't seen the best of Puck since the summer on the MTB......the Tour, and MTB World Cups/World championships were underwhelming.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Del Grosso looking a bit tentative (bike?) along with VDP's passivity on the first lap letting Sweeck come back, Nys looks the liveliest.

 

[Hugh Januss]

I'm afraid Nys is making too many attacks here.

 

[KZD]

Nys making a mistake when he was at the limit just like in Namur.

GOAT looking good to take the World Cup in his final year.

 

[Hugh Januss]

Well that's that then.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Ahh the fool, was looking like it could be a good finish there too

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Nys was not winning that anyway, whereas Pieterse in the women's race definitely would have had a good chance against Brand today if she hadn't crashed, but it would have been nicer to see it being decided by a proper attack rather than a mistake.

 

[Barkintheeye]

Good to see that Nys is really trying. It's not enough but points for the effort.

Nys, Del Grosso and Verstrynge looks to be a promising new generation of riders when the likes of MVDP, WVA, LVDH decides to retire.

 

[Bolder]

I'm afraid Nys is making too many attacks here.

Mvdp said afterwards that he didn't have good legs until the end. Nys didn't know that, but in hindsight he should have forced Mathieu to make the first moves. Still the goat, though.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Nys was not winning that anyway, whereas Pieterse in the women's race definitely would have had a good chance against Brand today if she hadn't crashed, but it would have been nicer to see it being decided by a proper attack rather than a mistake.

Its a part and parcel of off-road racing.........races decided by mistakes........It's not road racing.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Its a part and parcel of off-road racing.........races decided by mistakes........It's not road racing.

Sure, but when the winner is pretty much determined beforehand you still like there to be some degree of suspense for as long as possible.

 

[Hugh Januss]

Mvdp said afterwards that he didn't have good legs until the end. Nys didn't know that, but in hindsight he should have forced Mathieu to make the first moves. Still the goat, though.

The first couple attacks were okay, it's alright to get a bit of a heat check on the competition. Nys looked like he thought he could just ride away from Van der Poel, but that's not likely. Settle back and let VdP show his hand, don't keep attacking until you get to the point where your knees buckle at the first sign of a counterattack. I think Nys's best chance lies in a long sprint finish, like he has shown on the road.
In other news Strohmeyer is seriously in need of some of his mom's home cooking or something!

 

[AmRacer]

The first couple attacks were okay, it's alright to get a bit of a heat check on the competition. Nys looked like he thought he could just ride away from Van der Poel, but that's not likely. Settle back and let VdP show his hand, don't keep attacking until you get to the point where your knees buckle at the first sign of a counterattack. I think Nys's best chance lies in a long sprint finish, like he has shown on the road.
In other news Strohmeyer is seriously in need of some of his mom's home cooking or something!

Nys coocked the others not named MvdP.

 

[Davesta]

Mvdp said afterwards that he didn't have good legs until the end. Nys didn't know that, but in hindsight he should have forced Mathieu to make the first moves. Still the goat, though.

I suspect MvdP’s legs didn’t feel good because he was forced to ride harder than he wanted due to Nys’ forcing…he definitely looked under pressure, but as someone above said - Nys wasn’t ever gonna ride MvdP off his wheel, so probably not the best tactics.

 

[hayneplane]

MVDP looked to me like he was just biding his time under a request from race organisers to keep it a contest for at least half the race so viewers didn’t switch off early.

 

[jono]

I wouldn't put much stock into any rider's post-race interviews. They're not going to give any important information away, especially right in the middle of this busy period. Was MVDP on the back foot? Perhaps, but if Nys was really putting him under pressure I wouldn't expect the other 5-6 guys in the group to also be able to hold on.


I do agree Nys didn't ride smartly. Even if he gained a 5 second gap on van der Poel with one of his frequent, punchy attacks, he is never staying away, but he is spending bullets. Even on a course like this one where it's difficult to apply consister power, MVDP's advantage is when he makes an attack he will stay on the gas for a half lap or more. Nobody came close to touching the 6:42 lap he put in when he finally went away.


Re: Strohmeyer, he's posted about some issues he feels he has with fuelling, but I think he is racing foolishly. His strategy might be good for getting a few moments of TV time in the first lap or two, as he did today, but he should realize that if he is riding with guys like Cameron Mason or Laurens Sweeck or Lars van der Haar, he will soon blow up. He is not on their level. Compare that with a guy like Tyler Clark, who Strohmeyer beat in every race on the American calendar. Clark has ridden nearly every European cross sitting between 30th-40th from the first lap to the end of the race, and has finished ahead of Strohmeyer in each of the 4 races where they both participated.

 

[Hugh Januss]

I wouldn't put much stock into any rider's post-race interviews. They're not going to give any important information away, especially right in the middle of this busy period. Was MVDP on the back foot? Perhaps, but if Nys was really putting him under pressure I wouldn't expect the other 5-6 guys in the group to also be able to hold on.


I do agree Nys didn't ride smartly. Even if he gained a 5 second gap on van der Poel with one of his frequent, punchy attacks, he is never staying away, but he is spending bullets. Even on a course like this one where it's difficult to apply consister power, MVDP's advantage is when he makes an attack he will stay on the gas for a half lap or more. Nobody came close to touching the 6:42 lap he put in when he finally went away.


Re: Strohmeyer, he's posted about some issues he feels he has with fuelling, but I think he is racing foolishly. His strategy might be good for getting a few moments of TV time in the first lap or two, as he did today, but he should realize that if he is riding with guys like Cameron Mason or Laurens Sweeck or Lars van der Haar, he will soon blow up. He is not on their level. Compare that with a guy like Tyler Clark, who Strohmeyer beat in every race on the American calendar. Clark has ridden nearly every European cross sitting between 30th-40th from the first lap to the end of the race, and has finished ahead of Strohmeyer in each of the 4 races where they both participated.

I think Nys would be smart to just glue himself to VdP's wheel for the entire race. He's got the handling skills which Wout lacks but he doesn't have the power and stamina of Van Aert. Biggest matches he should burn before the last 500M is to hang on to VdP's attacks.

 

[Sciatic]

Nys was not winning that anyway, whereas Pieterse in the women's race definitely would have had a good chance against Brand today if she hadn't crashed, but it would have been nicer to see it being decided by a proper attack rather than a mistake.

It looked like Fouquenent was outclimbing Puck each time up the longest climb and that still wasn't enough for the Frenchwoman to stay with Brand. So not sure Puck could have done it either. But it would have kept the result in doubt for a while longer.

 

[stonerider]

What is up with Tibor Del Grosso's back? He's stretching it out all during the races. It's the same way MvdP used to stretch out his back during CX races when he was having back issues a few years ago.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Re: Strohmeyer, he's posted about some issues he feels he has with fuelling, but I think he is racing foolishly. His strategy might be good for getting a few moments of TV time in the first lap or two, as he did today, but he should realize that if he is riding with guys like Cameron Mason or Laurens Sweeck or Lars van der Haar, he will soon blow up. He is not on their level. Compare that with a guy like Tyler Clark, who Strohmeyer beat in every race on the American calendar. Clark has ridden nearly every European cross sitting between 30th-40th from the first lap to the end of the race, and has finished ahead of Strohmeyer in each of the 4 races where they both participated.

I like his ambition, but he's not, and is never likely to be a Top 10-15 rider.....We would have seen glimpses of it.....and it's likely bigger teams would have noticed by now.
As I've said before, the biggest US talents are in other disciplines - not CX.

 

[theyoungest]

I'm struggling to see how Lucinda doesn't win the Worlds....... However, if all the racing catches up with her (which is unlikely) or, she makes a bad start and another Dutch rider is takes advantage......Shirin is cable of winning, I wonder if Hulst really suits Backstedt.....
We haven't seen the best of Puck since the summer on the MTB......the Tour, and MTB World Cups/World championships were underwhelming.

Puck will be the underdog in Hulst, on a course that really suits her. I wouldn't count her out just yet. All pressure will be on Brand, who basically has to win without Van Empel there. Puck can just go all in without worrying too much about the outcome. That's a perfect situation for her.

 

[jono]

I like his ambition, but he's not, and is never likely to be a Top 10-15 rider.....We would have seen glimpses of it.....and it's likely bigger teams would have noticed by now.
As I've said before, the biggest US talents are in other disciplines - not CX.

Strohmeyer finished 21, 12, and 16 in his first European races of the calendar so there is some reason to have self-confidence, but even he has to know that he can't repeat those results by trying to ride in the top 10 at the start of a race.

 

[Wyndbrook]

On a slightly separate note it was good to see so many young US women riding impressively at Gavere.

 

[Hugh Januss]

Strohmeyer finished 21, 12, and 16 in his first European races of the calendar so there is some reason to have self-confidence, but even he has to know that he can't repeat those results by trying to ride in the top 10 at the start of a race.

He started those races the same way but they were somewhat faster more straight forward courses. His struggles seemed to start with Namur, maybe he's just getting *** slapped by the really tough Belgian courses. I think he has the skills but maybe not the horsepower for courses without much recovery opportunities.

 

[jono]

I'm very curious to see what a dry Dendermonde looks like tomorrow. I enjoy a mudder now and then, but past editions have really stretched the definition of what is a bike race.