Race Thread

[lemon cheese cake]

Why did this race changed from Hoogstraten to Merksplas?

I liked more the old course, this one didn't appeal much to me. 2018 was a great race for both male and females on that mudfest.

It seems we've been losing some great parcours over the time. It seems we will not have anymore the traditional Ronse parcours from now on. Really liked that one and also Spa who's not been done for a couple of seasons.

They built warehouse units in the fields where it was I think. It's also a shame about Ronse and Spa also wasn't as popular being down in wallonia. Its a shame as it was a good course. They've also built a Rallycross on parts of where the riders races.

 

[Barkintheeye]

The Merksplas course was in my view a really great course with the current wet muddy conditions. Lots of tricky sections paired with some faster ones. It was apparently difficult with many mistakes among the elite riders. Great racing!

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

It's time...

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Looking forward to this weekend. With Van Aert and Pidcock back in action, it will add a different dynamic hopefully (other than the Pauwels Sauzen Vs Telenet Baloise battle). Also the courses are pretty good. Kortrijk was surprisingly decent despite being in a city centre last year, and Tabor is always great,. It should be super fast world cup as the highest temp is looking like 0 degrees. Judging by Gosse van der Meers Instagram, it's been pretty cold and/or foggy in Czechia for the last couple of weeks so probably wont be that muddy if at all.

 

[RedheadDane]

Brandt wins ahead of Betsema and Kastelijn. Alvarado was fourth, after crashing and almost sliding under the barriers.

And is Fem Van Empel related to Vini Zabu's Etienne Van Empel?

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

van Aert had to start from the third row.

 

[RedheadDane]

Those graphics are really useless when they just write "T. Aerts"... But anyway, they're both at the front.

 

[Flamin]

Toon Aerts completely clueless. What a gift for Vanthourenhout.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Toon Aerts completely clueless. What a gift for Vanthourenhout.

He did come in with a mechanical a bit later, maybe that had something to do with it. Nevertheless, they will say they didn't make a tactical error

 

[Flamin]

He did come in with a mechanical a bit later, maybe that had something to do with it. Nevertheless, they will say they didn't make a tactical error

He had a flat, but not at that moment.

Yes, lol, third cross (in a row?) now.

 

[Flamin]

Van Aert is very strong.

Wow, a certain win for Vanthourenhout gone now because of a flat. Van Aert might even win.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Iserbyt rode the perfect race.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

 

[WKA311]

Nice race but the course was dull as hell. Ryan Kamp looks like he can get on podiums next year if he continues his development. Van der Haar is really back to better days, even if he was just hanging on most of the time. Wout has a base level these days that is just ridiculous, he will be back to winning ways in no time (still depending on MVDP level ofc).

Concerning tomorrow I'm really looking forward to see Pidcock. I'm actually expecting him to hit the ground running and be able to fight for a podium.

What do y'all think about Iserbyt? Has he already peaked for some races this year as he was doing last year early on? Or is he holding his best back a bit more towards the end of the cross season? Might just be that the others have upped their level this year (Vanthourenhout in particular). He seems a bit less dominant without MVDP/WVA compared to last year.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Brandt wins ahead of Betsema and Kastelijn. Alvarado was fourth, after crashing and almost sliding under the barriers.

And is Fem Van Empel related to Vini Zabu's Etienne Van Empel?

I don't believe so.

 

[Flamin]

Iserbyt rode the perfect race.

There wasn't really anything else to do for him than follow wheels. Then he got lucky that Vanthourenhout punctured.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

There wasn't really anything else to do for him than follow wheels. Then he got lucky that Vanthourenhout punctured.

Your grandma could have won ;-)

He could have screwed up the team tactics, and he still needed to drop van Aert and van der Haar when needed.

Nice race but the course was dull as hell. Ryan Kamp looks like he can get on podiums next year if he continues his development. Van der Haar is really back to better days, even if he was just hanging on most of the time. Wout has a base level these days that is just ridiculous, he will be back to winning ways in no time (still depending on MVDP level ofc).

Concerning tomorrow I'm really looking forward to see Pidcock. I'm actually expecting him to hit the ground running and be able to fight for a podium.

What do y'all think about Iserbyt? Has he already peaked for some races this year as he was doing last year early on? Or is he holding his best back a bit more towards the end of the cross season? Might just be that the others have upped their level this year (Vanthourenhout in particular). He seems a bit less dominant without MVDP/WVA compared to last year.

He's said that, unlike last year, he wants to be able to improve throughout the season and keep his form for longer. Last year's schedule was really with van der Poel's absence in mind.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Like i said earlier, i'm hopeful we 'll get a more interesting season. Today Iserbyt, Vantourenhout & van der Haar confirmed they are at least Aert's equal or even better. Sweeck didn't get a course tailored to him, but so far this season he's been more consistent than the past 3 seasons combined. With Pidcock hopefully stepping up and Mathieu coming back, but with a slightly lesser focus on CX this year, maybe we could see some 3/4/5-way battles. That's been way too long. Fingers crossed.

 

[Flamin]

I have to admit Merksplas last week and yesterday were really good races. Vanthourenhout stepping up, Lars VDH showing glimpses of his best form,... There's hope.

Also Kamp was very impressive. He punctured (which Wuyts obviously didn't notice) when he was with the Van Aert group chasing Vanthourenhout, and lost a boatload of time. Still managed to finish 6th.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Damn, Iserbyt is flying.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Haha, nice. Happy to see Vantourenhout not gifting it to Iserbyt.

Sweeck & Pidcock somewhat disappointing today though.

 

[Flamin]

Great win, lots of panache both from Iserbyt and Vanthourenhout.

Trek boys very attentive, sitting right on the wheel of Vanthourenhout when he attacked. Not.

 

[RedheadDane]

Sweeck & Pidcock somewhat disappointing today though.

To be fair to Sweeck, he did make a rather impressive head-dive early on.

Anyway. In my next life, I want to be Belgian, and I want my name to be Vanthourenhout!

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Van Aert looks like he weighs twice as much as during the TDF.

 

[tobydawq]

Why on Earth did they start at 2:30 instead of 3 pm??? That's just not polite.