Ok so first of the field today was weak, but still that looked a LOT more like the real Van der Poel.
-
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!
Myeah. He also said he felt better. But you can't really judge when Thijs Aerts finishes on the podium a bit over a minute down. I don't think we'll see anyone beat him this year, unless he has a mechanical. He's already improving day over day, and the only one that "might" have challenged him is only going to decline gradually from here on. Maybe in a year or two, Iserbyt and Pidcock can really challenge him, but it looks like his level was just good enough to beat the best of the rest in his first races.
Well, the Euro championships was entertaining at least
Jose Been raised a point on twitter about Belguim's dominance at all age levels in men's cyclocross, but Sanne Cant aside, they're uncompetitive in women's races. I haven't been into cyclocross long enough to know if this has always been the case, or why it might be so?
Of course, almost the exact opposite is true for the Dutch at the moment
Of course, almost the exact opposite is true for the Dutch at the moment
Dutch women have been strong for years in cx, and especially from the years Vos started doing CX. That kinda snowballed into a lot more women.
Cant however has been top for years but was also the first and only real top Belgian (in my opinion) they never had a history of doing well there before Cant.
Cant however has been top for years but was also the first and only real top Belgian (in my opinion) they never had a history of doing well there before Cant.
Well, Jolien Verschueren was very competitive as well, beating Cant quite often, but she got a malicious braintumor and has been out for the past 3 seasons i think. Now she's trying to come back, but she's at a level now that she is happy if she doesn't get lapped before the race ends. Verdonschot at one time gave the impression that maybe she could become a contender in the future, but chances of that ever happening have become... slim.
But like Dekker said, and this is really not that different from road racing, Belgian women simply have never had the same passion for cycling. Though, the Belgian men haven't always been this dominant either. There were always contenders, but not entire droves of in Belgium born riders (hehe, see what i did there) completing the entire top 10 like now. The fact that the Suiss, Italian, Czech, German, French... have become very rare in CX also has something to do with that obviously.
There were definately more foreign challengers than there are now. You had some Suisse riders, you had Czech riders (Stybar, Simunek etc), you had French (Mourey, Chainel), in the pasT Italian (Pontoni), German (Walsleben) they're now more or less gone, either to road or just gone gone.
I think sometimes you have Orts in the top 10 (Spain) or Boros (Czech) and then that's pretty much it.
I think sometimes you have Orts in the top 10 (Spain) or Boros (Czech) and then that's pretty much it.
Yeah, and if you go back a bit further, it was more balanced between nationalities. In the 70s and 80s.
https://cyclocross24.com/calendar/1995-1996/ME/
a random top 10 from that era:
https://cyclocross24.com/race/7594/
sure a lot of Belgians but not dominant at all indeed.
a random top 10 from that era:
https://cyclocross24.com/race/7594/
sure a lot of Belgians but not dominant at all indeed.
This was one or two years before Nys started raiding the season. And right before MTB became an olympic sport (1996)...
Like i said, if you look a bit further back:
UCI World Championships Lembeek 1986 - Results - Men Elite
Results UCI World Championships Lembeek cyclocross 1986 for Men Elite won by Albert Zweifel (1st) ahead of Pascal Richard (2nd) and Hennie Stamsnijder (3rd).
cyclocross24.com
UCI World Championships München 1985 - Results - Men Elite
Results UCI World Championships München cyclocross 1985 for Men Elite won by Klaus-Peter Thaler (1st) ahead of Adrie van der Poel (2nd) and Claude Michely (3rd).
cyclocross24.com
Uhm… bit of a question:
Does Corendon-Circus actually have a women's team, or is it basically the men's team, and Alvarado?
Does Corendon-Circus actually have a women's team, or is it basically the men's team, and Alvarado?
Watching Thibo Nys jump over the barriers is actually a bit of an embarrassment for the women. Today the barriers are not easy (uphill) but plenty of other races they are very easy and still none of the women try to jump over them. When you see Nys jump today, you realize there is still a huge gap with even the best women purely on a technical basis.
Because he was born in 2002? He only turned 17 last week iirc. What do you mean?
Well, I know the mathematical reason. It's just... we've been hearing about that kid for ages! Did he just have his breakthrough when he was 12, or something?
He's far behind in the World Cup standing. It's the first World Cup race he does this year.
He's the son of the most successfull CX rider in history (still). And the hype he's known is also due to the fact that he's from november, so he's always been one of the youngest riders in his age bracket. He's actually a more exciting prospect than his father was (which is saying something).
Are (some of) the riders wearing some sort of bike computer - for lack of a better word - on their arms? Would make sense; they change bikes quite often, and doesn't seem to have to time to even move a regular bike computer from one bike to another. However, they don't change arms.
This is what i was talking about. None of the pros took it this swiftly:
View: https://twitter.com/Puncheur_music/status/1195715972323303424
It’s tough to gauge where Mathieu stands after today’s race due to the recent passing of his grandfather.
With that being said, he still rode an incredible race having started in the 3rd row and not managing to get to the front early on.
As a result he had to fight his way back to the front on two separate occasions after he had to switch bikes when he first made contact with the trio.
What a race, kudos to Iserbyt for leaving it all on the field again today. The day will surely come. If not this season then the next. He’s younger than Mathieu so his engine is still developing.
Let’s hope for more races like this.
With that being said, he still rode an incredible race having started in the 3rd row and not managing to get to the front early on.
As a result he had to fight his way back to the front on two separate occasions after he had to switch bikes when he first made contact with the trio.
What a race, kudos to Iserbyt for leaving it all on the field again today. The day will surely come. If not this season then the next. He’s younger than Mathieu so his engine is still developing.
Let’s hope for more races like this.
Mathieu looked more spent, his shoulders were cramped, red face. At the finish, you would have thought it was a breeze for Iserbyt who looked a lot more comfortable... but lost.
TRENDING THREADS
-
-
Paris - Roubaix 2024, one day monument, April 7- Started by Dreginald
- Replies: 2K
-
-
Tour of the Alps 2024 (April 15 - 19)- Started by Devil's Elbow
- Replies: 359
-
-
Volta Ciclista a Catalunya 2024 (March 18-24)- Started by Devil's Elbow
- Replies: 2K
-
De Ronde van Vlaanderen (270.8 km), 2024 March 31 (Sunday)- Started by Netserk
- Replies: 1K
Latest posts
-
-
-
-
Liege Bastogne Liege-7 hour monument, Sunday, April 21, 2024- Latest: gregrowlerson
-
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram