Race Thread

[theyoungest]

Really gutted for Fem, as I think her mental state is still really bad. I hope she is able to get to a place in life where she's okay, regardless of whether that includes cycling.

Supposedly she's still recovering from illness, but I have the feeling the team is protecting her. I don't want to dabble in amateur psychology but obviously there's some kind of mental block going on.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Worth noting that French women' placings put them ahead of Dutch women in the top-10, and all young-ish.

Hopefully a good sign for the near future.......a mix of nations in the Top 10 is what we want to see. I would like to see a few Swiss in there as well (but CX in Switzerland seems to be for XC rejects), and with the current young North Americans it could be a lot more interesting going forward.

 

[RedheadDane]

It's so confusing Vas isn't the Hungarian Champion...
Is that even allowed?

 

[JR1012]

Bad start for Vas. Switching bike after the start.

 

[jono]

Hopefully a good sign for the near future.......a mix of nations in the Top 10 is what we want to see. I would like to see a few Swiss in there as well (but CX in Switzerland seems to be for XC rejects), and with the current young North Americans it could be a lot more interesting going forward.

The Holmgrens and Rafaelle Carrier should be regular fixtures in the top 15s, but I don't know how much cross they will be racing.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Oh Tibault!

 

[jmdirt]

Solid start to the CX season for TN!

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

Oh Tibault!

Yeah, it was like the gods kept flicking him today. It was kind of amusing, even though I cheer for him, normally.

But Joris winning is always my preference.

 

[logeardaddy]

CX in Switzerland seems to be for XC rejects

And XC is for those who can't make the ski team.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

A lot of bad news on the injury front this weekend that hasn't been discussed yet:
- Iserbyt is experiencing the same symptoms as he had before his iliac artery surgery again. He was supposed to return in eight days from now in Niel, instead there are rumours about him not racing at all this season and Mettepenningen refused to rule out it being a career-ender
- Alvarado was supposed to start her season in Tabor, that has been postponed indefinitely
- Also no timeframe for Worst's return

 

[stonerider]

Yeah, it was like the gods kept flicking him today. It was kind of amusing, even though I cheer for him, normally.

But Joris winning is always my preference.

I feel like Nys' problems are totally mental. He does lose focus too easily.

 

[Davesta]

I feel like Nys' problems are totally mental. He does lose focus too easily.

I suspect yesterday was due to fatigue from Saturday’s race - he was making uncharacteristically sloppy errors and was clearly easily irritated by them & whatever bike issues he had.
It was noticeable that Mason also had a lacklustre day - despite a decent start, he quickly went backwards and never featured, finishing 3mins down.

 

[CXXC]

I liked the Lokeren circuit,fast but still technical . Interesting that the pits were slower - to myself that's how it should be ,pitting excessively should have consequences.I can be frustrated when a rider pitting seems to make up places in the pits?

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Alicia Franck out until January with mononucleosis. Feels like a pretty bad season in terms of major health issues so far.

 

[Hugh Januss]

A lot of bad news on the injury front this weekend that hasn't been discussed yet:
- Iserbyt is experiencing the same symptoms as he had before his iliac artery surgery again. He was supposed to return in eight days from now in Niel, instead there are rumours about him not racing at all this season and Mettepenningen refused to rule out it being a career-ender
- Alvarado was supposed to start her season in Tabor, that has been postponed indefinitely
- Also no timeframe for Worst's return

Does anyone know what's ailing Van Empel? After dropping out on Saturday at the first time passing the pit she was a DNS on Sunday. I didn't hear any mention regarding her absence on the Sunday coverage.

 

[RedheadDane]

Guess that answers that question:

Spirende stjerne skifter nationalitet til dansk: - God beslutning for min fremtid

Har Danmark fået sig en ny cross-stjerne?

www.feltet.dk

(Love how they try to make it seem impressive that he finished just behind Nys... leaving out that Nys had an absolutely horrible day...)

 

[CXXC]

Does anyone know what's ailing Van Empel? After dropping out on Saturday at the first time passing the pit she was a DNS on Sunday. I didn't hear any mention regarding her absence on the Sunday coverage.

It has been mentioned upthread , I don't think she is in a good place mentally .
I have seen recent races where van Empel appears to be going well, pits then just fades away?

 

[Sciatic]

It has been mentioned upthread , I don't think she is in a good place mentally .
I have seen recent races where van Empel appears to be going well, pits then just fades away?

Yeah, she lost places so quickly on Sat I assumed it had to be a flat or a gearing problem . . . until she got off and shook her head in the pits.

 

[jono]

Guess that answers that question:

Spirende stjerne skifter nationalitet til dansk: - God beslutning for min fremtid

Har Danmark fået sig en ny cross-stjerne?

www.feltet.dk

(Love how they try to make it seem impressive that he finished just behind Nys... leaving out that Nys had an absolutely horrible day...)

Don't we all do these same sort of rationalizations with our own race results?

 

[Wyndbrook]

Don't we all do these same sort of rationalizations with our own race results?

Absolutely I used to.

But actually it was a very good result for Groenendaal, some very decent riders just behind him. Horny, Kamp, Orts, Ferdinande and Tom Meeusen.

 

[RedheadDane]

Don't we all do these same sort of rationalizations with our own race results?

I've never raced...

(Racing against myself/the wind to not get late for work doesn't count.)