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Race Thread

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Almost the first time (in a long time) where MVDP just didn't get the technique right. Not only did he look tired but also a little "square" on the bike where he normally looks fantastic (even superhuman). Of course, when it rains it pours, so the technique also gets worse. Nice to see Toon Aerts come out on top. Would also be fantastic if Lars vd Haar gets a win/podium.

Contrary to popular belief, he is human after all, and thank goodness for that. He seems to be back to his dominating ways, though.
 
Contrary to popular belief, he is human after all, and thank goodness for that. He seems to be back to his dominating ways, though.
Had van Aert not been injured, i'm sure he would have won a few of the first crosses after Mathieu came back in November. Iserbyt came close once or twice, but even in full form, he wasn't strong enough to beat Mathieu who was still "settling in". So, it's a combination of not having strong enough opposition and being ridiculously strong himself (even at 80%). Cyclocross really needs van Aert (or someone like him) to at least push Mathieu. Whether van Aert would come close enough to actually beat him on occasion like he did up to 3 years ago, remains to be seen, but at least he'd keep Mathieu on his toes. Now it's just... not fun anymore. And it's clear Mathieu isn't happy with the situation either (he's basically said so a few times).

Every great champion needs a great rival.
 
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That was a brilliant race. MvdP set back by a puncture twice at the worst time (he had to do a climb with a puncture). Which cost him so much power that Aerts rode away, twice. The first time Aerts was caught by a puncture himself. The second time he looked set to win, but then crashed 3 times in the space of 1 lap time.. So MvdP won in the end.
Hope Aerts is ok, that looked rough.

I wish we could've seen if Aerts could ride away without MvdP's luck or if MvdP could've won without Aerts crashes. They looked very close.
 
That. Was. AMAZING. Extraordinary. Sublime. Heartbreaking. Uplifting. I don't often rewatch bike races of any discipline, but I'm sure I'll revisit that one. Rain and mud so deep it came nearly to the hubs. Rivulets running across the off-cambers like streams. Punctures and stuck gears. Crashes and attacks. The rider who dominated in the early season literally carried from the course. I just started watching cyclocross this season so I can absolutely say that was the best 'cross race I've ever seen. Chapeau to every woman and man who participated.
 
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Digs deepest of all... can push himself hardest.
That's really not the analysis i would make about Mathieu. In fact, often he can start freewheeling the last 4 laps. There are very few occasions where he has to dig deep and those are often the times he indeed gets beaten. If Aerts doesn't crash 3 times today, there is no way he would have won, and it wasn't because he dug deeper than the rest.

That was a brilliant race. MvdP set back by a puncture twice at the worst time (he had to do a climb with a puncture). Which cost him so much power that Aerts rode away, twice. The first time Aerts was caught by a puncture himself. The second time he looked set to win, but then crashed 3 times in the space of 1 lap time.. So MvdP won in the end.
Hope Aerts is ok, that looked rough.

I wish we could've seen if Aerts could ride away without MvdP's luck or if MvdP could've won without Aerts crashes. They looked very close.
I actually got the impression Aerts was slightly better throughout the race and on the climb. But by then Mathieu already had one puncture to make up for, so who knows. Great race today, kudos to Aerts, he might win my respect yet. He showed confidence and dedication and then you see that, on a heavy, muddy course, you can make Mathieu's life difficult. Maybe one of the reasons for the dull races the past year, are also because the other riders lost hope too often and didn't even think about being able to make him suffer.
 
Maybe one of the reasons for the dull races the past year, are also because the other riders lost hope too often and didn't even think about being able to make him suffer.

I'm more or less sympathetic to this point of view, but am reminded of something the French writer Pierre Chany said about Merckx, as quoted in Fotheringham's biography, Half-Man, Half-Bike: "Has anyone wondered whether Molière damaged theatre, Bach harmed music, Cézanne was detrimental to painting or Chaplin ruined cinema?"
 
That's really not the analysis i would make about Mathieu. In fact, often he can start freewheeling the last 4 laps. There are very few occasions where he has to dig deep and those are often the times he indeed gets beaten. If Aerts doesn't crash 3 times today, there is no way he would have won, and it wasn't because he dug deeper than the rest.


I actually got the impression Aerts was slightly better throughout the race and on the climb. But by then Mathieu already had one puncture to make up for, so who knows. Great race today, kudos to Aerts, he might win my respect yet. He showed confidence and dedication and then you see that, on a heavy, muddy course, you can make Mathieu's life difficult. Maybe one of the reasons for the dull races the past year, are also because the other riders lost hope too often and didn't even think about being able to make him suffer.
Gotta disagree. Mathieu rode away on merit, and then was set back by that 2nd puncture. It was also far from the post so he had to do a lot of the lap with that puncture. Giving you and many others the wrong impression Aerts was stronger. I think they were pretty equal. Some laps MvdP stronger some laps Toon stronger. In pure power. In the end Toon made (far) more mistakes and MvdP could win even with all the powers lost due to punctures. Technique made MvdP win this race. If Toon had slightly better technique and didn't crash as a result he could've won here
 
That's really not the analysis i would make about Mathieu. In fact, often he can start freewheeling the last 4 laps. There are very few occasions where he has to dig deep and those are often the times he indeed gets beaten. If Aerts doesn't crash 3 times today, there is no way he would have won, and it wasn't because he dug deeper than the rest.
O.K.... He soft-pedals his way to the victories... never breaking a sweat.
Better?
 
O.K.... He soft-pedals his way to the victories... never breaking a sweat.
Better?
About 80% of races this is closer to the truth than your initial analysis, even though you are trying to make a mockery of the notion.

Gotta disagree. Mathieu rode away on merit, and then was set back by that 2nd puncture. It was also far from the post so he had to do a lot of the lap with that puncture. Giving you and many others the wrong impression Aerts was stronger. I think they were pretty equal. Some laps MvdP stronger some laps Toon stronger. In pure power. In the end Toon made (far) more mistakes and MvdP could win even with all the powers lost due to punctures. Technique made MvdP win this race. If Toon had slightly better technique and didn't crash as a result he could've won here
I didn't say he didn't ride away on merit. But in a race like this, if you push too hard, you'll get punched in the face later in the race for it. So taking 10 seconds if it means burning up, is meaningless. Overall i got the impression this was Aerts' race, more than Mathieu's. They both had their share of bad luck going into the final, and -like you said- if Aerts doens't crash a few times, he takes the win. He was in complete control at that moment. Until he wasn't.

Gotta say mentally he got stronger. There were races in the past where if Mathieu got passed or if he had a lot of bad luck with punctures he'd let his head hang and he'd finish at 3 minutes of the winner. He didn't give up today
Definitely. I know i made the same comment last week, maybe in a different topic or on a different forum. The way he won Amstel is a testament to that as well.
 

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