Race Thread

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Well his new 'house' clearly seems better than his old one, DSM.

Sweeck beating Van der Haar again and great race by Felipe Orts in sixth.
It's definitely a good place for him it seems. Considering Sven Nys said this year was a developmental year and next year would be where he's really going for it, he might be hitting his stride early. His first wc back in Maasmechelen was surprising for me where he rode towards the front until his puncture, but finishing fourth in Namur after probably riding the least chaotic and under the radar race where he was almost last the first time through the pits was even more so. Today was just confirmation he's found his stride and is showing as a former u23 champ should.
 
Also those saying it's an uninspiring course, I was there today and couldn't really see where those big banks that were in the national champs previously would've been. I agree it's nice to see more challenging courses like Namur, Koppenberg and Overijse, but having a very technical track like this was has broken up those courses with lots of elevation from all following after each other. I think one of the main organisers was Richard Groenendaal so i'd say it's not as if someone got a map and drew a squiggly line around the venue.
 
Also those saying it's an uninspiring course, I was there today and couldn't really see where those big banks that were in the national champs previously would've been.

I think the race was held in a different spot than the last edition. This year it was on the northwestern side of the lake while I think in 2013 it was in the southwestern side (in a place labeled as Woohah! Festival in Google Maps).

veldrijden-parcours-1200x789.png
 
Its no coincidence that this result happened in a very technical course. This new generation of riders is not only very strong physically but also superior technically to their predecessors.

Absolutely great to see that technique is paying off. Some years ago Brand was beating everyone on pure power. That’s ok now and then - for example on a very muddy course with lots of running - but I don’t like to watch it every race. Much more enticing to see skilled riders breaking away on technical sections and doing things that seem almost impossible like MVDP et al. The young generation brings everything to the table and it makes every race interesting.

Furthermore I think the women’s races are determined more by skill than actual power - in comparison with the men’s races where skill is very equal but sustainable power differs a lot (only a few are able to sustain a whole race eg Iserbyt, Sweek, Vanthourenhout, Van der Haar) - and that makes race outcome less certain and more exciting. Time for the Belgian squad to promote some young talents.
 
I think the race was held in a different spot than the last edition. This year it was on the northwestern side of the lake while I think in 2013 it was in the southwestern side (in a place labeled as Woohah! Festival in Google Maps).

veldrijden-parcours-1200x789.png
Yeah I guess you can sort of see those areas from above on the map. That large square area of compacted sand by the Woohah Festival had all the teams and riders.
 
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Absolutely great to see that technique is paying off. Some years ago Brand was beating everyone on pure power. That’s okay now and then - for example on a very muddy course with lots of running - but I don’t like to watch it every race. Much more enticing to see skilled riders breaking away on technical sections and doing things that seem almost impossible like MVDP et al. The young generation brings everything to the table and it makes every race interesting.

Yes, absolutely. It's an off-road discipline, skills & technique should be a factor in races. I do think course design could also be better; we see too many with straights that favour pure power.
The women's podium yesterday was a mix of skills; Van Anrooij who is a Road/CX rider, Van Empel who will likely be a Road rider with CX/MTB outings, and Pieterse, who is an off-road CX/MTB rider.
 
I thought I saw yesterday that he was also doing Kortrijk, Hulst and Boom, but I guess they changed it.

Van der Poel is still in Spain and from what I've seen he seems to be mostly training on the road with his road bike. If he is going to Hulst, and since he will return from Spain on saturday, he won't have much time to do specific cross work, but maybe he doesn't need it.
 
I thought I saw yesterday that he was also doing Kortrijk, Hulst and Boom, but I guess they changed it.

Van der Poel is still in Spain and from what I've seen he seems to be mostly training on the road with his road bike. If he is going to Hulst, and since he will return from Spain on saturday, he won't have much time to do specific cross work, but maybe he doesn't need it.
I think he's over with the team now rather than his own thing and is doing the Zwift academy finals. I'd assume if it's like past years over 4 or 5 days, then it'll finish before the weekend and he can go home afterwards to ride round a forest a few times.
 

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