The Cycling News forum is looking to add some volunteer moderators with Red Rick's recent retirement. If you're interested in helping keep our discussions on track, send a direct message to
In the meanwhile, please use the Report option if you see a post that doesn't fit within the forum rules.
Thanks!
Apparently Mathieu read our posts and decided to slow down for a little while todayRicco' said:jaylew said:I can appreciate any kind of win, and while I've never been one of the biggest Sagan fans out there, I appreciate and admire his talent and have changed my tune on him somewhat.Echoes said:It's hard to enjoy Mathieu's total dominance when one appreciate a road bunch sprint won by Sagan. It's logical after all. Even if both have the same nasty wheelying habit but at least Mathieu is still low-profile and discrete off the bike.
I cheer for Mathieu to win pretty much every race he enters, whether road, cross, or mtb. I'm thrilled he won but I have to admit that it's just not quite as enjoyable to watch when there's very little drama. Maybe I should ask him to at least wait until midway through the race before destroying everyone.
I think I'm behind this thought also. I enjoy when he goes solo from the start, but I hope it's not the only thing that would happen. As a VDP fan I'm over the moon when it happens, but I also like to see good duels. Hope Van Aert comes back stronger, my favorite crosses of last season happened all when they both challenged each other to the max (Gieten, Zonhoven, Namur, etc.).
I have to admit, I find the courses in the DVV Trofee more interesting, although I do like Zonhoven and Gieten from the Superprestige, Kruibeke and Hulst from the Brico cross, and all of the Soudal Classics (although the Niel/Jaarmarktcross is a bit strange, and last year they had a 'spiral of doom' which just ruin courses in my opinion)jaylew said:Yeah, Lars went at the perfect time. Wout had just brought back VDP's attack and they just gifted him 20-30 seconds. Also one of the only times this year Mathieu didn't take the lead from the gun. I know he won again yesterday but I wonder if he's beginning to come back to the field a bit. Not my favorite course today.
lemon cheese cake said:but yesterday was a fight until Vanthourenhout and VDP hopped the hurdles and WVA didnt
He didn't hop in Eeklo, in the first race of the season. Although in both US world cups, he did. Waterloo were definitely not full height (probably 20cm), although Iowa may have been (UCI full height is 40cm). He also hopped the hurdles/barriers/planks/gates (call them what you want) in Gieten, which I think were full height.Echoes said:lemon cheese cake said:but yesterday was a fight until Vanthourenhout and VDP hopped the hurdles and WVA didnt
But it's always been so. Mathieu always hops the hurdles and Wout never does (reason being a crash as a junior or a U23 if I'm not mistaken).
Very impressive top ten finish in the group that sprinted for 6th place.Ricco' said:Brico Cross Kruibeke is starting.
And for once, the thing people are talking about isn't the Van Aert/Van der Poel duel. It's the first cross season as an U23 of the amazing prospect Tom Pidcock. And it's going to be already on the elite race!
Have you seen this gem?Der Effe said:It's great indeed, but courses with sand need battles like this:
https://youtu.be/2ulhSSbdZGM
That VdP move at 1 minute is my favourite cyclocross moment since I started watching.
Gung Ho Gun said:Have you seen this gem?Der Effe said:It's great indeed, but courses with sand need battles like this:
https://youtu.be/2ulhSSbdZGM
That VdP move at 1 minute is my favourite cyclocross moment since I started watching.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_T467HuNfg
Yes, this was the first race this season that kept my interest till the end. The riders crumbling just after the finish line was something to behold :surprised:Ricco' said:Epic cross at the Koppenberg! Van der Poel won, crushing Aerts and Van der Haar on the last lap (Van Aert cracked with 3 laps to go). He himself was completely knackered once he finished, couldn't go one metre further!
I think that there is a rule about the start finish being 'straight and packed' or something like that (asphalt is really packed). I'm pretty sure that the set time for UCI elite men is 60 minutes. At the Euro champs today MvdP finished in 57:35 so I'm assuming that they calculated approximately how many laps the elites could do in 60 minutes, and then set the number of laps.RedheadDane said:Bit of a stupid question; is the finish line always on asphalt?
And I thought it was a set amount of laps, taking however long it would... not a set amount of time, using however many laps it takes... (if that made sense.)