Race Thread

[postmanhat]

Pidcock's shoulders starting to roll a bit for the first time

 

[KZD]

Either Pidcock drops the other three or he will be third and that doesn't look likely.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Race too long for Pidders the cocky peacock?

 

[postmanhat]

MVDP probably won it on that turn into the cobbles

 

[KZD]

What a race, Namur never disappoints.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Best race so far, maybe of the last 3 seasons, since Valkenburg.

 

[dutchdescent]

smoked

 

[dutchdescent]

MVDP probably won it on that turn into the cobbles

he wins because he has insane ability to dig deep

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

he wins because he has insane ability to dig deep

Unlike the others? lol

 

[dutchdescent]

Unlike the others? lol

No of course not Let me rephrase: he seems to have access to something extra even though he looks quite cooked. Not many riders seem to be able to do this.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

No of course not Let me rephrase: he seems to have access to something extra even though he looks quite cooked. Not many riders seem to be able to do this.

He should buy van Aert a beer. No way he would have won without van Aert bridging the gap.

 

[Winnen]

It's not a race that suits him particularly well.

And he still was able to win 5 out of the last 6 editions.

Why don't we see laptimes more often during the cross? I would love to see if Wout accelerated when catching Pidcock or if Pidcock just couldn't keep his pacing as the previous laps.

And for the true cyclo-cross fans: who was the last non-Belgian/Dutch guy on the podium in Namen?

 

[Spine Concept]

He should buy van Aert a beer. No way he would have won without van Aert bridging the gap.

Hard to disagree with this when Mathieu stated that himself. However, the race was far from over at that point with Piddy only having a handful of seconds advantage. One could argue that in hindsight he would have probably ran out of gas anyway at which point they would have caught him if they kept the same pace.

This might have even been better cause both Mathieu and van Aert would have saved their last efforts for the last lap.

Oh well, hindsight and speculation.

 

[Strawberry_Jams]

Pidcock is usually really consistant with his lap times, and I would have to guess styby, he won it about 10 years ago now, unless someone has been top 3 since. oh wait Mourey won it as well

 

[Winnen]

Pidcock is usually really consistant with his lap times, and I would have to guess styby, he won it about 10 years ago now, unless someone has been top 3 since. oh wait Mourey won it as well

I totally forgot about Mourey! Nice. But it isn't the correct answer. And Mourey was after Styby so I am looking for another name.

 

[dutchdescent]

He should buy van Aert a beer. No way he would have won without van Aert bridging the gap.

True

 

[Ricco']

Anyone knows what was that stat that appeared on the feed? "Queen/King of the Citadel"?

I don't know if I was the only one but the commentary of the GCN duo didn't add much excitement to the battle we were having. If it was on RedBull's TV XCO coverage, for instance, we would've had Rob Warner screaming for the last couple of laps and giving a great vibe to anyone watching.

I like Jeremy Powers and Marty but I would love some more mixing on the commentary teams if possible. Helen Wyman was great last year, Magnus Bäckstedt too, Nikki Brammeier on the few occasions she commented also. They should mix it up a bit.

 

[Flamin]

I totally forgot about Mourey! Nice. But it isn't the correct answer. And Mourey was after Styby so I am looking for another name.

I'm pretty sure it's Mourey.

 

[Flamin]

Anyone knows what was that stat that appeared on the feed? "Queen/King of the Citadel"?

I don't know if I was the only one but the commentary of the GCN duo didn't add much excitement to the battle we were having. If it was on RedBull's TV XCO coverage, for instance, we would've had Rob Warner screaming for the last couple of laps and giving a great vibe to anyone watching.

I like Jeremy Powers and Marty but I would love some more mixing on the commentary teams if possible. Helen Wyman was great last year, Magnus Bäckstedt too, Nikki Brammeier on the few occasions she commented also. They should mix it up a bit.

Fastest ascent of the Citadel?

 

[Ricco']

Fastest ascent of the Citadel?

But which part? The one from the start until the hotel or the cobbled climb?

 

[Flamin]

But which part? The one from the start until the hotel or the cobbled climb?

The one from the start seems the most logical one to me.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

I don't know if I was the only one but the commentary of the GCN duo didn't add much excitement to the battle we were having. If it was on RedBull's TV XCO coverage, for instance, we would've had Rob Warner screaming for the last couple of laps and giving a great vibe to anyone watching.

I like Jeremy Powers and Marty but I would love some more mixing on the commentary teams if possible. Helen Wyman was great last year, Magnus Bäckstedt too, Nikki Brammeier on the few occasions she commented also. They should mix it up a bit.

I agree - I think GCN do a great job normally - but the Red Bull TV MTB (and last year's CX) coverage is superior.

 

[senna6541]

We'll see. It will depend on how muddy it is as well. It's not a race that suits him particularly well. With van Aert not at his best/injured the past few seasons he's not had real competition, yet last year, he only just beat Aerts (who crashed). Mathieu is a guy that can not surprise anymore if he wins by a minute, but i do feel things are not the same as previous years, i could also see him even miss out on the podium. I don't think Gavere was representative of Iserbyt's form, he completely blew the start. He's also shown he's a good climber (not just in CX). Pidcock has been inconsistent in the past, but he's a bit older and stronger again. If he can find the same form of last week, i could see him ride away from Mathieu again. Both Wout and Toon have done very well on this course in the past, so if their form is there, they could also go for the win. Though i'm not sure where Wout is going to start, i assume 2nd row.

This isn't an explosive course, and the technical parts that can make a difference are few and far between. I think if Mathieu isn't 100%, that he's not going to make it.

It took pretty much everything he had (

We'll see. It will depend on how muddy it is as well. It's not a race that suits him particularly well. With van Aert not at his best/injured the past few seasons he's not had real competition, yet last year, he only just beat Aerts (who crashed). Mathieu is a guy that can not surprise anymore if he wins by a minute, but i do feel things are not the same as previous years, i could also see him even miss out on the podium. I don't think Gavere was representative of Iserbyt's form, he completely blew the start. He's also shown he's a good climber (not just in CX). Pidcock has been inconsistent in the past, but he's a bit older and stronger again. If he can find the same form of last week, i could see him ride away from Mathieu again. Both Wout and Toon have done very well on this course in the past, so if their form is there, they could also go for the win. Though i'm not sure where Wout is going to start, i assume 2nd row.

This isn't an explosive course, and the technical parts that can make a difference are few and far between. I think if Mathieu isn't 100%, that he's not going to make it.

MVDP is just a pure killer - once he got a faint whiff of the finish line it was done and dusted. This could be the first of some great battles - or the last best chance to get MVDP...

 

[jmdirt]

Rainbow on top of the box!

 

[Zoef-Lightning]

I agree in what "Logic-is-your-friend" noticed about Van Aert during the race concerning the steep descent and the cobbles afterwards : "And every lap that short steep downhill where they need to get off the bike, he gets on in a way too big a gear". I didn't understand why Van Aert was struggling that way in the short downhill, and then jumped on his bike in a too big gear. Lap after lap. Losing lap after lap 4 or 5 seconds on that section.