- Feb 16, 2010
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For me Fem's finest Hour:
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Fem would do best with a smaller contract with a CX team without the expectation of also doing road racing. I suspect the contract she signed with Visma was too big to just be a CX racer. The internal pressure to also perform on the road got to her. She may not like all the travel involved with road racing as well and that adds pressure to some racers who would prefer to stay closer to home.
Fantastic racing. Alvarado ran better and raced overall more smoothly but couldn't match Brand's power.
I've said similar elsewhere, but about XCO racers moving to the road; road racing is not for everyone, it's not the promised land many people claim it is. The pressure to perform is on another level compared to off-road racing, where it's a little more relaxed (whilst still serious/ professional).
Benidorum 2024, before his disastrous year. (Google ain't that hard) The disrespect shown Wout is absurd. Guy has two horrific crashes in one year, and you act like anybody else is still unaffected by it. If MVDP had the same crashes, he doesn't win anything last year either.
I dont know if Wout will ever be the rider he was, before 2024, but to pretend that before that, he was just an "also ran" is ridiculous.
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My annual 'issue' with CX....power overcomes skills/ technique more often than not......too many courses favour power. (Saying that, Brand's skills have improved massively over the years).
Benidorm was an interesting one, but eventually van der Poel lost his head to head with a pole, as well as to Wout and two other riders. His only loss of the last 2+ seasons.
Frankly I think the lack of priority Wout places on his cross season is the main reason the gap has gone out to Mathieu. The engine is still there.
VDP little mistake which allows the two to get back, good because that was looking all over already.
Van Aert physiologically pretty good I think on eyetest, just lacking rhythm.
Van Aert physiologically pretty good I think on eyetest, just lacking rhythm.
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- Jul 9, 2009
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The question was would anybody be within a half a minute of Van der Poel. Wout has never been further off than that on this course.
Edit. Never say never.
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- Jul 9, 2009
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Announcer finally figured out that Van Aert had a flat front tire.
Wout definitely shaking out the cobwebs. That battle with Nys is thrilling, as predicted...
EDIT: Getting beat by Ronhaar, and Joris, and del Grosso...pretty weak sauce.
EDIT: Getting beat by Ronhaar, and Joris, and del Grosso...pretty weak sauce.
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You would need to have some awfully big gaps in skill to overcome the power differences. It's not like Brand rides like a donkey skill-wise, but she has a reserve of power from her years on the road that is not matched by anyone in the current field. Power will always be decisive in a cycling discipline.
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Unless MVDP gets hurt or alters his schedule for some other reason, he will win the World Cup overall.
- Jul 9, 2009
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I have that same problem with Grand Tours.
Top North Americans were Tyler Clark (Canada, 37th) and Rafaelle Carrier (Canada, 25th). Carrier was also the youngest rider in the top 30.
- Feb 24, 2015
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I was amazed to see how good Brand actually look on the bike. A couple of years ago she looked like the average master rider but now she sits well, passes the technical sections with determination and makes only few mistakes. She really must have put amounts of time and effort into becoming a real cross rider. She has earned her victories.
MVDP not convincing as previous years but still a solid performance winning an eighth time in Antwerpen. Happy to see a strong comeback by Ronhaar and not a bad performance by Wout.
Antwerpen is one of my favorite courses to watch. Very nice racing!
He looked like he was on a training ride.
Wout seemed totally fine with his form at this point, so he'll be 2nd step pretty soon. That MvdP however, will not be beaten at P-R, at least by Wout, barring some mechanical or crash by Mathieu...Pog...well, any race he's in is winnable for him.
Tip o' the hat to del Grosso. Great ride!
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Man, Strohmeyer went from promising to WTF? in the span of 3 weeks. He did finish as last person on the lead lap, which is admirable considering Mathieu was lapping people by the 4th lap.
If I'm Wout van Aert, I'm not happy about getting passed in the last lap by Ronhaar, Vandeputte, and del Grosso. The flat was 3 laps earlier and Wout had had two laps to sit in before that point. Perhaps he was saving his bullets knowing the podium was likely out of reach.
I thought that was pretty convincing. He shipped about 20-25 seconds on the 7th lap with his flat, but was in control the entire time without having to extend himself.
In my opinion, off-road racing shouldn't just be who has the most power........
I know the Pinkbike community (yes I know) often moan about superior fitness beating skills in XCO - even Jenny has commented about XCO courses not being technical enough.
- Feb 16, 2010
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As she hinted pre-race Brand trained this year to face up to a race-fit Van Empel
and when that didn't happen - she was streets a head.
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