Race Thread

[postmanhat]

Regarding Pidcock and Isybert. I'm sure the latter had a sluggish start last year as well. I think the European Champs were the first time he beat Isybert? Maybe Pidcock has a more intense road season or takes longer to recover from it. Also Isybert has apparently aimed to peak early to capitalse on the absence of of MVDP and WVA. I'd be very impressed if he's still riding away from Pidcock at Christmas.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Regarding Pidcock and Isybert. I'm sure the latter had a sluggish start last year as well. I think the European Champs were the first time he beat Isybert? Maybe Pidcock has a more intense road season or takes longer to recover from it. Also Isybert has apparently aimed to peak early to capitalse on the absence of of MVDP and WVA. I'd be very impressed if he's still riding away from Pidcock at Christmas.

There is obviously more to it than just peaking early. Iserbyt (or Easy Bert as you call him ) is simply dominant, and no matter of "peaking early" explains his form compared to last year, unless he made some huge steps in his development. Otherwise by now, guys like Aerts, Vantourenhout etc should have overtaken him. As such, you can't really predict how Pidcock will compare in a few weeks. His trainer was interviewed two days ago, and he thinks Iserbyt should be able to keep his form for most of the season. Personally, i'd be surprised if he keeps it up, but on the other hand the guy has been training him since he was 13 or 14 years old.

It wouldn't surprise me if Iserbyt still rides away from Pidcock come Christmas, but the gap should be smaller. Tomorrow will be very interesting, with Mathieu back in the field. Like Adrie said earlier this week, you don't really have a point of reference without Mathieu or Wout.

 

[KZD]

Sweeck is doing one hell of a race but Van der Poel is just too strong.
Iserbyt disappointing today.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Sweeck is doing one hell of a race but Van der Poel is just too strong.
Iserbyt disappointing today.

More of an offday by Iserbyt than anything. Or Koppenberg took its toll two days ago. Both him and Pidcock not on the same level.

 

[Mavic]

Iserbyt was probably still feeling the effort of friday in his legs. Even Mathieu said that it could be a reason for having an off day.

With that being said though, Mathieu has also stated that he didn’t really find that “cross feeling” today and basically just rode on his own tempo for the whole cross. It was visible too. He said he didn’t have the acceleration today, which was also visible. Things can only get better from here, he said in conclusion.

This doesn’t bode well for the competition, Iserbyt and everyone else included. If what he said is true we’ll see a very familiar sight in cross this season. Mathieu winning wherever he starts and no one can do anything about it.

I hope there’ll at least be some excitement, of course. So I hope to see a better Eli and Pidcock come the next race.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I agree this doesn't bode well for the competition. That being said a top Iserbyt could have at least made it difficult today. But Mathieu never looked like his normal self today, and still won pretty easily. So if he gets that acceleration bad I think it's going to be a lot of the same story.

Iserbyt did mention it was hard to follow Mathieu in the corners today so that means, despite riding almost no cross training, he is still technically superior to the rest of the field. Iirc they are wasting powers getting back after corners so they can't really pressurize him, even when he's not at the top of his game yet

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Things to consider (as already stated), Iserbyt and Pidcock were dominant in Koppenbergcross, which may be the toughest race of the entire season, and they are both still young (and no powerhouses). That was only 2 days ago and it's not unlikely that this played a big part in their performances today. I expect both to be better next week, and maybe better than the opposition save Mathieu. If Iserbyt were as good today compared to Aerts, Sweeck, etc as he's been the rest of the season, he would have been able to follow, and who knows even beat Mathieu. Aerts has been subpar this season so far, Sweeck hasn't exactly been lighting up the peloton either, and yet today they were the closest rivals to Mathieu.

What am i saying, is that we could still see a few weeks/races where Mathieu doesn't necessarily dominate like last year. Mathieu clearly isn't in top form yet, because otherwise there is no way Sweeck could have finished this close. Iserbyt clearly wasn't as good as he's been this far, or he would have finished ahead of the pack (save Mathieu) by quite a margin. So, now the question that needs answered is: how long until Mathieu is in top shape, and how long can Iserbyt keep his form up (or has it already started to decay)?

If today was the start of Iserbyt's form regressing and if things are only going to get worse for him, then we're looking at another boring season with Mathieu dominating wherever he starts. If it was simply the result of going deep in the Koppenbergcross, but the form is still there, then we might still see some nice duels until Mathieu hits his top form.

 

[Mavic]

I have a deep respect for Mathieu and the amazingly rare talent that he is. I would never blame him for dominating a sport (across multiple disciplines). It's hardly his fault he's so good compared to the rest.

However, I do understand that it can get real old, real fast and that it deters people from watching at some point. This is the reason I hope Eli, Pidcock, or maybe Aerts can at least give us some exciting duels while Mathieu is still working on his form.

When he hits top form I'm afraid it's going to be riding for second place for the rest. I mean, I can still appreciate just how good he is on a bike, but will probably switch to another sport I'm interested in quicker than if it were an exciting duel.

Let's see how it goes.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I have a deep respect for Mathieu and the amazingly rare talent that he is. I would never blame him for dominating a sport (across multiple disciplines). It's hardly his fault he's so good compared to the rest.

However, I do understand that it can get real old, real fast and that it deters people from watching at some point. This is the reason I hope Eli, Pidcock, or maybe Aerts can at least give us some exciting duels while Mathieu is still working on his form.

When he hits top form I'm afraid it's going to be riding for second place for the rest. I mean, I can still appreciate just how good he is on a bike, but will probably switch to another sport I'm interested in quicker than if it were an exciting duel.

Let's see how it goes.

It's not gonna come from Aerts. Mathieu is only going to get better and he's already a level or two beyond Aerts. Realistically, the only guy that might give us a fight is Iserbyt if he can keep his form up, and if yesterday wasn't the beginning of the end rather than just a lesser day after going deep two days earlier. Outside chance for Pidcock, who might also start taking the next step in his evolution rather than his form. And i'm guessing, in a few weeks Mathieu will hit top form and this will all be moot.

 

[glassmoon]

It is not even his (MVP) final form

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Luckily he can still have slip ups, like Koppenberg last year, or the World Ch in Yorkshire this year.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Luckily he can still have slip ups, like Koppenberg last year, or the World Ch in Yorkshire this year.

I don't think anybody is really waiting for him to tank or crash or get mechanicals. We (at least i think i speak for most people) just want to see an interesting battle. But i'm afraid there is only one guy out there that can provide that, and for that to be the case, he also has to be in top shape. Or we can watch replays of 3 and 4 years ago

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

yeah that was amazing, I recently rewatched namen from a couple of years ago (real duel between the two) and also Spa where WvA beat Mathieu in an uphill sprint... man those were some races.

 

[Ricco']

Spa where WvA beat Mathieu in an uphill sprint...

From which year is it?

That 2016/2017 season was really something... Gieten, Namen, Antwerpen, Krawatencross, Bieles too, those were some awesome races.

 

[tobydawq]

Does anybody know if there is an overview somewhere of the dates of all major cross races of the season (the ones shown on Belgian television)? I think it's unreasonably difficult to find that and UCI's calendar includes all kinds of lower-level races which makes it almost useless.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Does anybody know if there is an overview somewhere of the dates of all major cross races of the season (the ones shown on Belgian television)? I think it's unreasonably difficult to find that and UCI's calendar includes all kinds of lower-level races which makes it almost useless.

See the previous page. I replied to someone asking the same question.

 

[glassmoon]

what an idiotic coverage. show us title battle ffs.

 

[tobydawq]

Very fun race, but yes, the coverage was less than stellar.

It's hard to see Iserbyt beating van der Poel outright, but at least van der Poel is being a bit more challenged this year. Last season was very boring.

Cool to see Orts in the top 10.

 

[KZD]

Van der Poel did a good race but Iserbyt showed that he still didn't lose his shape despite making a few mistakes.
I predict good battles between these two for the rest of the season.

 

[Mavic]

This is a better view of how things stand currently. Iserbyt in optima forma vs van der Poel working towards optima forma. This is the time to strike for Iserbyt. Once van der Poel is in top form they won't be getting this close anymore.

Today was much better in terms of viewing enjoyment. Would have loved to see a sprint-a-deux at the end but van der Poel just too strong for Eli to close the gap.

 

[Mavic]

Van der Poel did a good race but Iserbyt showed that he still didn't lose his shape despite making a few mistakes.
I predict good battles between these two for the rest of the season.

Probably not for the rest of the season. For the moment, yes. I hope I'm wrong, of course. I just don't see anyone troubling Mathieu once he hits top form unfortunately.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Yeah the gap is really close today. But there's 2 things at play here

1) Obviously Iserbyt made a step. I think he's close to WvA last year level (not WvA prime level, which was the years before)

2) MvdP is simply not in top shape. He can ride hard pace all race same as last year, but not the killer 1/2 laps that make the difference.

I think the last lap is same as his 'pace' laps last year. But the extreme killer acceleration or preposterous lap is missing. The laps where he made the difference last year. This is why MvdP himself isn't "happy" with the feeling so far. He misses that 5% extra.
If top shape WvA would be here it would be a problem. Top shape Iserbyt is close, but not close enough

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Belgian mixing it up was a slight factor too.
Such abundant team mates are a rare sight.
A bit like sparrows mobbing a falcon.
MvdP had his style cramped at several point
and then had to play safe.. until later.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I'm happy. Close race, tense battle, best man won. Best we can hope for.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Yeah the gap is really close today. But there's 2 things at play here

1) Obviously Iserbyt made a step. I think he's close to WvA last year level (not WvA prime level, which was the years before)

2) MvdP is simply not in top shape. He can ride hard pace all race same as last year, but not the killer 1/2 laps that make the difference.

I think the last lap is same as his 'pace' laps last year. But the extreme killer acceleration or preposterous lap is missing. The laps where he made the difference last year. This is why MvdP himself isn't "happy" with the feeling so far. He misses that 5% extra.
If top shape WvA would be here it would be a problem. Top shape Iserbyt is close, but not close enough

If top shape (2016) van Aert were here, he would have won today with a minute and a half. Top shape van der Poel obviously as well. It's clear Mathieu isn't on the same level as last year (not even close). Indeed, that excruciating acceleration isn't there yet. If the Belgians would like to win one or two races this year, the time is now. In a week or two it will all be too late.