Race Thread

[jono]

no no no no
wtf
I was looking forward to tomorrow

I understand the sentiment, but Benidorm is not a course where I'd expect MVDP to dominate or even finish on a gap. In his 2 appearances he has won in a 2 up sprint and finished 5th.

 

[Hugh Januss]

And we're supposed to believe that MVDP is thinking about skipping an entire CX season? He can't even skip one race.

In this era of training camps and long breaks from racing for preparation I kind of like the explanation. Racers should want to race!

 

[Wyndbrook]

Yeah, Thibau vs. Tibor would have been a nice battle on that course. Now we already know the winner.

And we're supposed to believe that MVDP is thinking about skipping an entire CX season? He can't even skip one race.

Maybe this is the one race in future he keeps on his schedule, round of golf in the morning and rocks up to race in the afternoon.

 

[Pantani_lives]

MvdP's last defeat in cyclo-cross was in Benidorm 2024, when he crashed twice. Let's see if he can stay undefeated for two whole years.

 

[Barkintheeye]

A bit of nostalgia. Sven Nys GP 2006, about 10 years ago. A race where most of today’s best racers participated and some of yesterday’s hard hitters;

View: https://youtu.be/mH3coPmHvXY?si=A0gM0-k8zccr5J3h


Quite fun to watch. So many good races since then.

 

[JR1012]

Course preview:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70mQ6F-HYz4

Definitely not as dry and fast than last year.

 

[jono]

Moving the start-finish to the paved climb makes it even more likely that MVDP happily rides with the group for the entire race. No need to attack in any of the other sections when he knows he can nuke everyone in the finish.

Boring, but fast, group riding on the menu.

Edit: just watched the preview. Not the dust bowl of previous seasons. The first half of the course has a few wet sections, but will otherwise be basically smooth hardpack by the time the men's elites get to racing. Ironically, the more typical CX conditions on the grassy sections in the second half of the lap will make it worse for those who prefer an 'exciting race' (read: MVDP not winning).