You are as bad in being subtle about your feelings towards Mathieu as you are in this particular analysis.
How many CX races does Hausler do annually? How long has it been since Hausler was a decent WT rider? What did you expect?
Even Stybar doesn’t “just” enter midway a CX season and finish right behind Mathieu. He finishes well behind the seasoned top CX riders. Again I ask, wat did you expect?
The explosiveness and technique to be a top CX/MTB rider takes time to hone and diminishes over time without practice. It never goes away completely though and I think Stybar will finish higher as the season goes along and he finds that “cross feeling” as Mathieu put it.
Based on the level of skill it takes to be a top CX/MTB rider I think it’s easier to transition to the road if you have the physical ability to go along with it than the other way around. At least it sounds more logical to me.
What did I expect? Absolutely nothing. I just thought is was cool to see a WT rider from Australia take the start and be willing to take his lumps.
I don't know enough about transitioning between disciplines to make an educated guess on where he, nor Stybar should finish.
As for Stybar, I believe he was a former CX world champ. He didn't get lapped and made a decent finish, so that's good.
I said I find it interesting that seasoned WT pros with little experience get shelled out the back when seasoned neo WT tour pros take it all the way to the top with very little experience.
You have shed a little bit of light on why that be the case. That's what discussions are all about: Learning from others. Thanks for your input.
I believe the Freudian term for the meaning of your opening sentence is called projection.