Race Thread

[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.