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W

Wyndbrook

Oct 4, 2020
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Van Der Poel is undoubtly the best ever based on his titles, win rate and longevity.
I would not get too hung up on wins by age and strength of opposition. The were significantly less world cups contested historically, infact less races in the last century. VDP has a much better record than Nys, but he remember in competive era he raced against Wellens, Stybar, Albert, Pontoni, De Clercq, Verckeven among others, not a bad bunch.
 
T

theyoungest

Jan 11, 2010
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Wyndbrook said:
Van Der Poel is undoubtly the best ever based on his titles, win rate and longevity.
I would not get too hung up on wins by age and strength of opposition. The were significantly less world cups contested historically, infact less races in the last century. VDP has a much better record than Nys, but he remember in competive era he raced against Wellens, Stybar, Albert, Pontoni, De Clercq, Verckeven among others, not a bad bunch.
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There were fewer world cups, but as Sven Nys rightly indicated, MVDP isn't racing them all so that about evens it out. Regarding the opposition, that's always difficult to compare, but there probably wasn't someone of Van Aert's talent among them.

I don't remember every cross with Sven Nys effectively being the competition racing for second, which is what is happening now with MVDP. He wasn't nearly as dominant.
 
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Spine Concept

Spine Concept

Apr 28, 2010
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Sciatic said:
I agree except for one thing . . . the use of the GOAT acronym, for which I would support a word ban ;) It's of course not a problem how you use it here, but its overuse is ubiquitous. And like a genuine goat, using GOAT tends to prod, poke, and provoke. :)
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GOAT only “prods” when it’s arguable. In MvdP’s case it’s basically a description, not an opinion. :p;)
 
CXXC

CXXC

Oct 16, 2025
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Wyndbrook said:
My UK Discovery + upcoming events has the worlds mixed relay listed for friday.
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So many sports have introduced a mixed relay into championships, however while I'm excited about the upcoming CX WC's I won't be watching the mixed relay.
Do other members consider it to be good event?
 
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Hugh Januss

Hugh Januss

Jul 9, 2009
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Wyndbrook said:
Van Der Poel is undoubtly the best ever based on his titles, win rate and longevity.
I would not get too hung up on wins by age and strength of opposition. The were significantly less world cups contested historically, infact less races in the last century. VDP has a much better record than Nys, but he remember in competive era he raced against Wellens, Stybar, Albert, Pontoni, De Clercq, Verckeven among others, not a bad bunch.
Click to expand...
I seem to recall when 19-20 year old Van Aert and Van der Poel first raced Elite they were pretty quickly dominating all of those guys. Van der Poel is the GOAT but if he had taken up tennis instead Van Aert would have been the GOAT most likely.
 
T

theyoungest

Jan 11, 2010
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CXXC said:
So many sports have introduced a mixed relay into championships, however while I'm excited about the upcoming CX WC's I won't be watching the mixed relay.
Do other members consider it to be good event?
Click to expand...
It's fun because unlike in other sports, where they usually have man - woman - man - woman, in cyclocross the teams themselves can decide which category rides when. At least the last time I watched, I don't know if that's still the case. But then you get a race with lots of plot twists, where teams that seem out of it but have a male cyclist left for the final lap suddenly make up lots of ground.
 
W

Wyndbrook

Oct 4, 2020
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Sciatic said:
I agree except for one thing . . . the use of the GOAT acronym, for which I would support a word ban ;) It's of course not a problem how you use it here, but its overuse is ubiquitous. And like a genuine goat, using GOAT tends to prod, poke, and provoke. :)
Click to expand...
Most definitely dont want goats, they pee on your feet if up close, and if its a male its impossible to get rid of the smell.
 
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S

Sciatic

Mar 4, 2011
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Armchair Cyclist said:
My antipathy to relays has been expounded at length in previous threads.
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At least relays are races you can watch and see a winner. It's the "Team" events that are not in a rely that bug me. Especially when they replay actual races. For instance, it's criminal that in the upcoming Winter Olympics, they dropped the Combined event (downhill & slalom), which is one of the good test of the best all-around skier, and replaced it with the Team Combined medal. It's redundant because if you want to give out a team medal, they could just take the placements of the skiers in the individual alpine medal events (like in a track meet). In addition, the very best skiers may not all participate in the team event.
 
J

jono

Jan 31, 2021
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Does any other Olympic sport make it possible for an athlete to win two medals for competing once (ie: for individual performance and aggregate score with teammates)?

I don't mind the CX relays. The format is at least somewhat interesting and somewhat strategic (choosing order of riders); at one lap it shouldn't be taking anything way from their individual event performance,;and if it is broadcasted or streamed, fans get a bit of a preview of the course.
 
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Barkintheeye

Barkintheeye

Feb 24, 2015
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The relay is fun to watch as it shows how large the differences are between riders and teams. Belgium surprisingly weak.
 
J

jono

Jan 31, 2021
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My uninformed picks for the weekend:

Junior races: no idea

MU23: Winner - Aubin Sparfel. Podium: D. Haverdings, Y. Corsus. Tbh, I haven't watched a single U23 race this season

WU23: Winner - Celia Gery. Podium: V. Chladonova, R. Carrier. Probably some wishful thinking wrt the latter.

Men's elite: Winner - duh. Podium: T. del Grosso, N. Vandeputte. Another Alpecin sweep.

Women's elite: Winner - Puck Pieterse. Podium: L. Brand, C. Alvarado
 
Barkintheeye

Barkintheeye

Feb 24, 2015
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Weather forecast for tomorrow is light rain. If it happens it is really going to change the course and make for a very interesting and difficult day for the Elite riders

Ps. Verstrynge seems to have decided to end his CX season early not to overreach and have a too long season. Don’t know if there’s more to it?
 
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W

Wyndbrook

Oct 4, 2020
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Barkintheeye said:
Weather forecast for tomorrow is light rain. If it happens it is really going to change the course and make for a very interesting and difficult day for the Elite riders

Ps. Verstrynge seems to have decided to end his CX season early not to overreach and have a too long season. Don’t know if there’s more to it?
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Because he can climb Verstryne is considered to have potential GT options and is prepping for summer.
 
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