Race Thread

[pmcg76]

Delighted to see Alvardo back competing for the win today. If she can keep that form she may hit it right for the Worlds.

On the commentary front, Hatch is a relative noob to cross and was a bit unsure of all the riders yesterday(like mixing Lechner with Norbert as stated)), but I thought he was much better today and is better overall than Marty, likewise I think Noble was a lot better and engaged today as a co-commentator. I think Hatch and Powers together could work as well.

 

[Wyndbrook]

Delighted to see Alvardo back competing for the win today. If she can keep that form she may hit it right for the Worlds.

On the commentary front, Hatch is a relative noob to cross and was a bit unsure of all the riders yesterday(like mixing Lechner with Norbert as stated)), but I thought he was much better today and is better overall than Marty, likewise I think Noble was a lot better and engaged today as a co-commentator. I think Hatch and Powers together could work as well.

Yes, I thought they were better today, without Ian Field yesterday could have been difficult.
Hatch seemed to have not watched any races this season based on his struggling to identify some riders.
Bit more enthusiasm today, perhaps Rob Warner would be interested in showing them how to do it.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Despite what others say:
For me Marty Macdonald is an asset to anglo CX commentary
At GCN he's been a mainstay through the years while GCN had to build its audience.
And it seems to have built around him
- even Tiz now finds it easy to provide streams.
His enthusiasm and style and interswapping banter with JP helped convert me:
so that mud & lycra go together in the bleak winter months.

 

[Mick Dundee]

Brand looking human today…. So far.
Puck Pieterse flying!
I’m liking this course.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

The 80% rule needs to be revised, especially on courses like this one with narrow finishes.

80% in a fast course may be enough, but on a heavy day with long laps it's not, it should be 70% or around when the predicted lap times are slower than on ideal conditions.

I had never actually spotted the 80% sign at the side of the track before, but it was immediately before the turn onto the final road section, ie with about 95% of the lap done.

Might it be that whoever was responsible for placing that sign was responsible for the result yesterday.

 

[KZD]

Brand looking human today…. So far.
Puck Pieterse flying!
I’m liking this course.

Brand ended up winning but at least we saw a fight until the end. Let's see if the same happens in the men with Van Aert.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Wout mechanical
to make it interesting

 

[Axel Hangleck]

A dropped chain? I do wonder why more Shimano teams don't run GRX 1x on some courses.....That's what it for.

I wonder if Venturini is on a BMC with Campagnolo, as his team normally run.....

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Self imposed handicapping system.

 

[KZD]

He is 44 seconds behind, it will be difficult to recover with so much traffic in this narrow twisty course.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Yes it will be difficult

 

[Mick Dundee]

Brand ended up winning but at least we saw a fight until the end. Let's see if the same happens in the men with Van Aert.

Yeah, some things in life are definite, death, taxes and Brand winning it would seem.
If Wout recovers from this it’ll be ridiculous.

 

[Bonimenier]

Good battle between Pidcock and Iserbyt.

There are more suitable courses to have a mechanical in the 1st round to make it interesting.

 

[glassmoon]

Glad to see Pidders tuning in for the WCH... we could have a proper fight/race at least after the MVdP health issues...

 

[Mick Dundee]

Yey… Pidders!

 

[lemon cheese cake]

A dropped chain? I do wonder why more Shimano teams don't run GRX 1x on some courses.....That's what it for.

I wonder if Venturini is on a BMC with Campagnolo, as his team normally run.....

Venturini was still running Shimano on what looked like a blanked out, french coloured Ridley.

You don't tend to see many dropped chains on shimano which i'd say is possibly down to the shear amount of development years that they've put into first of all the Duraace R9100 Di2 groupsets, and now the R9200 Di2 that WvA was running. Sram seems to always have been a bit more clunky with the front mechs and seem to have had more problems even with the single rings. I think when he was on Sram, WvA did have a small run of a few issues with it, both 1x and 2x so maybe feels more comfortable with the 2x setup.

Certainly on a course like Hulst or Zolder where there are a lot of straights you'll be wanting the big chainring which is normally a 46t for cx whereas the the maximum GRX 1x chainring made by Shimano is a 42t which would probably mean you'd be spinning out sometimes unless you went to non sponsored equipment. Having said that there aren't many using GRX 1x in the mens race, I think Kerry Werner does, but I think he has in the past also used Wolf tooth products for a 44t or 46t ring.

In the womens races, I've noticed quite a few riders in the Roodhooft Brothers squads using GRX (van Alphen, van der Heijden and Pieterse spring to mind) but they still use a Duraace 2x 46/39t or 46/36t setup at the front.

 

[Barkintheeye]

From personal experience I know that there’s the risk of dropping the chain - typically inside of the smaller chain ring - when riding 2x in the front (Shimano). It doesn’t happen very often but when it happens it’s a nuisance that takes time to solve, between 20-40 seconds. The thing that generally makes this happen is when jumping off and if there’s a slight pulling back of the pedal with the foot still clipped in, i.e. the thing to absolutely avoid is backpedaling even the slightest.

I prefer double chain rings in the front but know that there’s an increased risk of chain drops and it getting stuck. Yet, it is possible to drop the chain on 1x drives too.

 

[oldcrank]

Yey… Pidders!

Now Pidders MBE!

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Now Pidders MBE!

Mountain Bike Empire !

 

[Mick Dundee]

Now Pidders MBE!

Double yey!

 

[Lequack]

In order for CX to grow even more, they needs to be more courses like yesterday's, with interesting features for the riders as well as viewers. Using the terrain to the fullest and not relying on artificial bumps and such. And with a nice scenery like the windmill, lake, etc. And less generic routes that are just a flat Belgian field, whose only feature is mud.
And of course more races outside of Netherlands and Belgium as well.

 

[Gwbert]

In order for CX to grow even more, they needs to be more courses like yesterday's, with interesting features for the riders as well as viewers. Using the terrain to the fullest and not relying on artificial bumps and such. And with a nice scenery like the windmill, lake, etc. And less generic routes that are just a flat Belgian field, whose only feature is mud.
And of course more races outside of Netherlands and Belgium as well.

I have only been watching cyclocross since last year (came into it from seeing mvdp/wva hit the road and wanted to see what cx was like). But Hulst was a great course with a bit of everything and some great camera angles. It being good racing also helped.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

In order for CX to grow even more, they needs to be more courses like yesterday's, with interesting features for the riders as well as viewers. Using the terrain to the fullest and not relying on artificial bumps and such. And with a nice scenery like the windmill, lake, etc. And less generic routes that are just a flat Belgian field, whose only feature is mud.
And of course more races outside of Netherlands and Belgium as well.

Absolutely!! While the sport needs to remember it's roots, it also needs to evolve/progress. More natural courses for the World Cups/Championships - and less manufactured mainly flat, muddy fields, which are fine for Ethias Cross/X20 series.

In the women's race we saw a contrast; the powerful Brand slowly reeling in the much younger but better technical rider Pieterse. I dare say, in another year or two, Puck will have the endurance to hold on.

 

[Ripper]

I have only been watching cyclocross since last year (came into it from seeing mvdp/wva hit the road and wanted to see what cx was like). But Hulst was a great course with a bit of everything and some great camera angles. It being good racing also helped.

One problem with Hulst that I would really like to see improved is that much of the course had really one line to take, so overtaking others was much more difficult. It's like an MTB race with too much singletrack.

Edit - this observation is based on watching snippets of the race!

 

[lemon cheese cake]

One problem with Hulst that I would really like to see improved is that much of the course had really one line to take, so overtaking others was much more difficult. It's like an MTB race with too much singletrack.

Edit - this observation is based on watching snippets of the race!

Definitely a fair observation, but I would say there is a decent amount of points where different lines can be taken. The steep drop and bank are good examples where in the past line selection has varied from rider to rider with some being faster at one than another, but there are other areas in the courss that can allow passing. I think some 'singletrack' sections may be because the line has been burned in over the weekend plus is there from past additions, but some areas like that first off camber could be improved to prevent bottle necks like on the first lap.