Race Thread

[jono]

Diegem is always a special race under the lights.

Great win for Del Grosso to finish an fantastic month for him, he was super smooth in that sand section and that ended up deciding the race.

Wyseure with a very good second place.

Nys has to improve on sand, currently its clearly his weakness on cross.

Superb recovery from Vanthourenhout, after the crash on the startline.

It's interesting comparing the strengths and weaknesses of del Grosso and Nys. Nys is clearly the punchier rider for climbs. Del Grosso is not just better than Nys on sand, he is one of the best there (see del Grosso vs Sweeck at Koksijde 2024).

Based on pedigree I'd be inclined to say Nys is the better technical rider apart from sand, but it's not clear-cut. I'd be tempted to compare these rivals to Wout (TDG, better at steadier efforts) and Mathieu (Nys, punchier and technical) but I don't think it works out that neatly. But regarding the Wout-TDG comparison, I do suspect Visma are kicking themselves for not signing del Grosso when they had the chance.

During the Christmas period (beginning with Namur) their results are 1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 14 and 23 (Nys) and 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 14 (del Grosso) which is about as even as it gets.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Visma have only themselves to blame; extremely short sighted to be forcing young riders into dropping a discipline to concentrate fully on the road.

 

[theyoungest]

Visma have only themselves to blame; extremely short sighted to be forcing young riders into dropping a discipline to concentrate fully on the road.

I'm not sure that's even the reason, Del Grosso used to be known as somewhat of a difficult kid. Alpecin is a much better fit for him, for multiple reasons. He's really a mini-MVDP. Not a Van Aert or Vingegaard whom you can mold into a perfect pro.

I think that's a nice contrast between him and Nys: the enfant terrible vs. the chosen one.

 

[pastronef]

Lander Lockx already on a Rose bike despite still in 2025. Unibet still has a Cannondale contract until tomorrow

 

[awavey]

Pieterse gets her first win this season and Schreiber the first podium.

yay Puck