Race Thread

[Bolder]

There’s definitely technique to riding mud. As opposed to obstacles etc.

it looked to me that mvdp went out way too hard while Wout eased into the race and found the places where he could gain time. Snowballed from there...

 

[Bolder]

Toon coming back

Going to be close...

 

[Bolder]

Going to be close...

Maybe not. Interesting race nonetheless.

 

[Zams]

Today is a test of who has the most power; no skill or technique really needed. And as such, I don't find it very interesting - it's hardly a spectacle.

Riding in a mud is not only about power, you kinda need skill or technique as well

 

[RedheadDane]

I'm guessing that Canadian 'Van Den Ham' guy has some Belgian/Dutch ancestry somewhere. Now, the big question is; has he - and his family - committed the worst crime in the world, and changed the pronounciation to a more English-sounding one?

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Riding in a mud is not only about power, you kinda need skill or technique as well

Skill? Where......?? You either go in the mud or you don't.

It's just a slog in the mud; the Welsh National at Chepstow may have been cancelled, but this was a good substitute. A race for mud lovers with the field strung out miles from the finish. (only UK horse racing fans will get the analogy)

 

[jmdirt]

Speaking of tire pressure, since that was a talking point a couple of races ago: do these guys have bikes with differents setups (pressure-wise) ready or is there a way for them to communicate with their teams during the race to tell them to up the pressure before they switch bikes?

I'm watching on Eurosport right now without commentary, and I gotta say even though I love seeing cross with huge crowds, it is kinda cool to hear brakes squealing and the riders breathing hard when running up those hills

They might have two or three ideas what might work well from their warm up laps and have a few options in the pits. All they have to do is yell at someone along the course who relays that info to the pit.

 

[Bolder]

Skill? Where......?? You either go in the mud or you don't.

It's just a slog in the mud; the Welsh National at Chepstow may have been cancelled, but this was a good substitute. A race for mud lovers with the field strung out miles from the finish. (only UK horse racing fans will get the analogy)

Just like some horses are good mudders...same with riders...

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Was Iserbyt a footballer?! No arm/shoulder/clavicle injury requires that reaction. Yes, it hurts, but you can walk.

Well someone did ride over his arm and may have been winded from the fall. If it was just a tumble and he landed on his arm with no external pressures, I'm sure he'd have jumped straight back up and tried to chase Van Der Haar, Sweeck and Soete down.

Edit: just watched today's race and they said it was a dislocated elbow. Lying on the ground is justified in think.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Skill? Where......?? You either go in the mud or you don't.

It's just a slog in the mud; the Welsh National at Chepstow may have been cancelled, but this was a good substitute. A race for mud lovers with the field strung out miles from the finish. (only UK horse racing fans will get the analogy)

lol

Too bad Ganna didn't ride today then

 

[jmdirt]

Well someone did ride over his arm and may have been winded from the fall. If it was just a tumble and he landed on his arm with no external pressures, I'm sure he'd have jumped straight back up and tried to chase Van Der Haar, Sweeck and Soete down.

Edit: just watched today's race and they said it was a dislocated elbow. Lying on the ground is justified in think.

You need your elbow to walk?

 

[lemon cheese cake]

You need your elbow to walk?

Well you need to be able to get up, and obviously he couldnt put pressure on his arm to do so.

 

[Flamin]

Agree with Axel. Technique was very negligible on this course, as every pro rider has the basic technical skills that were necessary here. So yeah, this was mostly all about power and endurance, which is also what I heard basically everybody say.

 

[jmdirt]

Well you need to be able to get up, and obviously he couldnt put pressure on his arm to do so.

He only has one arm?

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Agree with Axel. Technique was very negligible on this course, as every pro rider has the basic technical skills that were necessary here. So yeah, this was mostly all about power and endurance, which is also what I heard basically everybody say.

Amazing how many guys crashed or fell, for a course that doesn't require skill. Van der Poel crashed during recon, van Aert crashed in the race, Aerts crashed in the race, van Kessel crashed in the race... Yet, no skill required.

 

[Bolder]

You need your elbow to walk?

You’ve clearly not dislocated a shoulder or elbow. It’s a paralyzing type of pain, not like anything else. On the plus side if that’s the problem he should be able to start rehab immediately.

 

[Volderke]

Finding the right lines, knowing when to run and when to walk, tricky downhills with deep mud = TECHNIQUE.

 

[RedheadDane]

Agree with Axel. Technique was very negligible on this course, as every pro rider has the basic technical skills that were necessary here. So yeah, this was mostly all about power and endurance, which is also what I heard basically everybody say.

Not that there's anything wrong with that...

 

[Flamin]

Amazing how many guys crashed or fell, for a course that doesn't require skill. Van der Poel crashed during recon, van Aert crashed in the race, Aerts crashed in the race, van Kessel crashed in the race... Yet, no skill required.

Amazing where you read that I said NO skill is required. I said it's negligible because it was such a super hard course. Basically what Van der Haar, MVDP, Nys,... said as well.

Crashing is part of cyclocross. Riders seek the limits in corners, what lines to take etc. to go as fast as possible. If crashing is a sign of (a lack of) technique, MVDP must not be that good technically, since he actually crashes quite often.

 

[RedheadDane]

Meanwhile, not too shabby by Aru over in Italy:

Fabio Aru returns to his roots in cyclo-cross races | Cyclingnews

Of course it probably helped a little that all the main names were busy in some Belgian mud.

 

[Jagartrott]

MVDP was complaining about the course afterwards, but I'm guessing this is mostly because he doesn't like finishing nearly 3 minutes down on his eternal rival. This kind of parcours is also part of cross. We've had plenty of dry winters in a row, so actually really muddy courses with a lot of lumbering have been rare in recent times. It's not stylish, I know, but it's definitely cross.

 

[Ricco']

MVDP was complaining about the course afterwards, but I'm guessing this is mostly because he doesn't like finishing nearly 3 minutes down on his eternal rival. This kind of parcours is also part of cross. We've had plenty of dry winters in a row, so actually really muddy courses with a lot of lumbering have been rare in recent times. It's not stylish, I know, but it's definitely cross.

I agree with this and Mathieu was probably just sour after getting his ass beated and handed to him on a plate by Van Aert, but I think we all would say the same of the course not being World Cup worthy if he didn't had the "luck" of Storm Bella passing by this weekend and if would be a grassy flat cross in the middle of October, for instance.

But for me, this are the kind of courses I like. A bit like Dubendorf, an uninspiring parcours when dry, but an absolute epic when raining.

 

[postmanhat]

I sort of agree with MVDP, as without the mud, it looked like a very average course. As it was though, I loved it and found it fascinating to watch how the riders (largely failed) to handle the conditions. And for me it took more skill (albeit different) than bombing around Zolder or other fast courses

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I sort of agree with MVDP, as without the mud, it looked like a very average course. As it was though, I loved it and found it fascinating to watch how the riders (largely failed) to handle the conditions. And for me it took more skill (albeit different) than bombing around Zolder or other fast courses

Yes, i agree. The weather made it good, it would have been rather inspirationless without it.

MVDP was complaining about the course afterwards, but I'm guessing this is mostly because he doesn't like finishing nearly 3 minutes down on his eternal rival. This kind of parcours is also part of cross. We've had plenty of dry winters in a row, so actually really muddy courses with a lot of lumbering have been rare in recent times. It's not stylish, I know, but it's definitely cross.

We've had some very mild winters in recent times, which certainly helped van der Poel dominate the way he did. The times he's been beaten or has been rivaled, usually have been on hard courses. That's not to say he's bad at those, but he suddenly becomes "human" when he can't go through corners 5km/h faster than everybody else and can't rely on his short accelerations and recovery.

Amazing where you read that I said NO skill is required. I said it's negligible because it was such a super hard course. Basically what Van der Haar, MVDP, Nys,... said as well.

Crashing is part of cyclocross. Riders seek the limits in corners, what lines to take etc. to go as fast as possible. If crashing is a sign of (a lack of) technique, MVDP must not be that good technically, since he actually crashes quite often.

You said very negligible. But it seems you meant "standard cross technique". And yes, like most sports, the goal is to become first, which means gaining time in every possible way. The fact that they crash, means there is risk, and if there is risk, you need... technique.

 

[Barkintheeye]

Hats off to Van Aert. A pure display of raw power. Surely it takes some technique to be able to ride at least the majority of the course but all of the elite riders have that technical ability.

I think that it was an acceptable choice to let the race go but it would have been bad if it was a Championship race. That I would not have liked. A World Cup event... ok. In the end it was probably more entertaining like this than if the course had been dust dry as it actually looked really uninspiring. Some places are just not ideal for CX - like Silvelle and the UEC 2019 for example. That time the organisers got lucky as the weather dried up and they also could adjust the course for the pros to make it rideable. The master’s races were horrible with 60-70 percent running in complete WW1 mud.

The course in Ostende World Championships 2021 looks to be something to behold. Varied track that could get muddy up to that ideal point where it gets epic but not ridiculous, some sand, stairs and bridges and some interesting off-cambers. Will it come down to a quick and technical battle between MVDP and WVA it should be epic.