Race Thread

[jono]

Diegem is always a special race under the lights.

Great win for Del Grosso to finish an fantastic month for him, he was super smooth in that sand section and that ended up deciding the race.

Wyseure with a very good second place.

Nys has to improve on sand, currently its clearly his weakness on cross.

Superb recovery from Vanthourenhout, after the crash on the startline.

It's interesting comparing the strengths and weaknesses of del Grosso and Nys. Nys is clearly the punchier rider for climbs. Del Grosso is not just better than Nys on sand, he is one of the best there (see del Grosso vs Sweeck at Koksijde 2024).

Based on pedigree I'd be inclined to say Nys is the better technical rider apart from sand, but it's not clear-cut. I'd be tempted to compare these rivals to Wout (TDG, better at steadier efforts) and Mathieu (Nys, punchier and technical) but I don't think it works out that neatly. But regarding the Wout-TDG comparison, I do suspect Visma are kicking themselves for not signing del Grosso when they had the chance.

During the Christmas period (beginning with Namur) their results are 1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 14 and 23 (Nys) and 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 14 (del Grosso) which is about as even as it gets.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Visma have only themselves to blame; extremely short sighted to be forcing young riders into dropping a discipline to concentrate fully on the road.

 

[theyoungest]

Visma have only themselves to blame; extremely short sighted to be forcing young riders into dropping a discipline to concentrate fully on the road.

I'm not sure that's even the reason, Del Grosso used to be known as somewhat of a difficult kid. Alpecin is a much better fit for him, for multiple reasons. He's really a mini-MVDP. Not a Van Aert or Vingegaard whom you can mold into a perfect pro.

I think that's a nice contrast between him and Nys: the enfant terrible vs. the chosen one.

 

[pastronef]

Lander Lockx already on a Rose bike despite still in 2025. Unibet still has a Cannondale contract until tomorrow

 

[awavey]

Pieterse gets her first win this season and Schreiber the first podium.

yay Puck

 

[logeardaddy]

Smart move by TDG to unclip on the hill, so he could have enough of a gap to easily get around the bodies in the sand.

 

[jono]

Lander Lockx already on a Rose bike despite still in 2025. Unibet still has a Cannondale contract until tomorrow

CX just doesn't fit neatly within the team/sponsor changes at the end of the year. For one, you have the mechanics and riders having to get used to new bikes during the busiest period of the season. And then those riders that aren't officially transfering on 1 January will show up in a new jersey anyway because half of the sponsors changed. For example, will Baal be the unofficial jersey unveiling for Alpecin-Premier Tech?

 

[Hugh Januss]

Those Roodhoofts really need to have all their teams on the same team...

Too many sponsors who want to have top billing but can only afford a couple of riders.

 

[Sciatic]

And Vas gets 4th (and Clauzel 11th), and I get some much needed points for the CX game.

BTW, what was that going at the sand-pit waving his jacket around doing?
Apart from being drunk?

Five different nationalities in the first 6 places--we don't see that very often!

 

[memyselfandI]

I'm not sure that's even the reason, Del Grosso used to be known as somewhat of a difficult kid. Alpecin is a much better fit for him, for multiple reasons. He's really a mini-MVDP. Not a Van Aert or Vingegaard whom you can mold into a perfect pro.

I think that's a nice contrast between him and Nys: the enfant terrible vs. the chosen one.

I'm not sure if Nys is the chosen one, if that's what you meant? To me he looks way too hasty too often, is on edge with no reason. He's technically as good as top 10 these guys are, but still he's lost top spots with various mistakes, that have been very rare in case of DG and MVDP.

And yet commentators keep ranting all the time how skilled Nys is? Yes he is very skilled and he makes a lot of mistakes. Does it mean he's very skilled?

Punchiness for the short steep climbs one ability he has, but it's just a fraction of a complete master of all, like MVDP. For me it looks like DG is heading more to that direction. For fairness sake, it must be said that from pure physics standpoint, things look and happen bit different, with a smaller and bigger athlete..Reminds me and my son when we both were training and racing and he was exactly size of Nys and I was size of VDP)

 

[theyoungest]

I'm not sure if Nys is the chosen one, if that's what you meant? To me he looks way too hasty too often, is on edge with no reason. He's technically as good as top 10 these guys are, but still he's lost top spots with various mistakes, that have been very rare in case of DG and MVDP.

And yet commentators keep ranting all the time how skilled Nys is? Yes he is very skilled and he makes a lot of mistakes. Does it mean he's very skilled?

Punchiness for the short steep climbs one ability he has, but it's just a fraction of a complete master of all, like MVDP. For me it looks like DG is heading more to that direction. For fairness sake, it must be said that from pure physics standpoint, things look and happen bit different, with a smaller and bigger athlete..Reminds me and my son when we both were training and racing and he was exactly size of Nys and I was size of VDP)

Nys has been a celebrity pretty much all his life, a real life soap following his every move, he's the chouchou of the Flemish public. That's what I mean with the "chosen one". But you're right, he does tend to make mistakes on crucial moments which suggests he's on the limit more than Del Grosso, who looks exactly the same whether he's suffering or taking it easy. Physically their attributes are a little different: Del Grosso will probably develop into a rider for the cobbled classics whereas Nys is more of an Ardennes type rider.

 

[Gwbert]

Watching them in the sand last night it felt like Nys was struggling in the sand like Pidcock used to as he is just a lighter rider. But hitting the post was definitely a mistake though 😀

 

[Davesta]

This is a useful summary of the team changes taking place tomorrow.
Can’t wait to hear the commentators pronouncing the new Baloise Lions name 😅

Cyclocross teams and riders 2025-26 | Rijden

Rijden’s guide to the cyclocross riders and teams you can expect to watch on TV during the 2025-26 cyclocross season.

rijden.uk

 

[Hugh Januss]

Watching them in the sand last night it felt like Nys was struggling in the sand like Pidcock used to as he is just a lighter rider. But hitting the post was definitely a mistake though 😀

I think it was a function of where you had to ride to be on the fastest line through the sand. Del Grosso came within millimeters of having the same thing happen to him on the last lap. That said it's not the only time that Nys has crashed under pressure in the finale of a race this year.

 

[Hugh Januss]

This is a useful summary of the team changes taking place tomorrow.
Can’t wait to hear the commentators pronouncing the new Baloise Lions name 😅

Cyclocross teams and riders 2025-26 | Rijden

Rijden’s guide to the cyclocross riders and teams you can expect to watch on TV during the 2025-26 cyclocross season.

rijden.uk

I bet they go with Baloise Lions, if they tried to get the whole name in they would still be narrating the start at the end of the first lap.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Mountainbikester Jolanda Neff (even) terug in de cross: "Iets anders doen, geeft terug motivatie"

Jolanda Neff keert na zeven jaar terug in de veldrit met sterke resultaten. Lees hoe crossen haar nieuwe motivatie en kans op succes biedt. Volg haar verhaal!

www.wielerflits.nl

Then you might ask: why have you been away all this time?
"The past few winters, I never managed to organize a cyclocross campaign properly with my teams. Now that I'm with Cannondale, I have the option to do it again. It's great that I have their support."

Doesn't say a great deal about her previous team, does it? But we know from other forums that the Trek XC team hasn't been a happy camp.

 

[jono]

This is a useful summary of the team changes taking place tomorrow.
Can’t wait to hear the commentators pronouncing the new Baloise Lions name 😅

Cyclocross teams and riders 2025-26 | Rijden

Rijden’s guide to the cyclocross riders and teams you can expect to watch on TV during the 2025-26 cyclocross season.

rijden.uk

A few question marks remain to be answered tomorrow for some smaller riders and teams, but the big one is what jersey will the Alpecin/Fenix riders be wearing tomorrow? They haven't announced their 2026 kits but they'll need something with Premier Tech on it.

 

[awavey]

I bet they go with Baloise Lions, if they tried to get the whole name in they would still be narrating the start at the end of the first lap.

well yes it like theyre Baloise Lions and becoming Baloise..dum de dum de dum de dum de dum...Lions. so yep theyre still Baloise Lions