Race Thread

[TourOfSardinia]

Classy move by Bentveld

 

[RedheadDane]

The Dutch victory party tonight is gonna be lit!

 

[theyoungest]

Chladonova the strongest, Bentveld the best technically. The winning move on the descent where Pieterse crashed yesterday... that takes some metaphorical balls.

There's no doubt that Chladonova is the bigger talent, but she needs some more actual climbs to make the difference.

 

[jono]

Some of those races had fairly weak fields, but this performance is of course far from her actual level.

She finished today behind 4-5 American riders that she beat in nearly every race this season. Carrier skipped one of the races last weekend she had been slated to start and was poor in the other. It happens sometimes.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Nice race. I was expecting Chladoňová to lose out right from the start, and her descending didn't help her out in the last laps either, but Bentveld also rode very well.

Gery was probably not going to feature in that battle anyway after she looked to be suffering following her early lead, but crashing certainty didn't help.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Two underwhelming winners for me..........but it happens.

 

[saunaking]

I dare anyone to try a drinking game where you drink when Nys looks back

 

[JR1012]

And he is gone in lap 2.

 

[tobydawq]

Why is he not jumping the jumps?

To honour Lars van der Haar in his last WC?

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Why is he not jumping the jumps?

To honour Lars van der Haar in his last WC?

I haven't seen him pop his shoulder back into place either. Del Grosso's back is acting up though.

 

[KZD]

8th world title for Van der Poel, now he is the undisputed CX GOAT.

Very interesting fight for second, Del Grosso suffered but then in the last lap Nys made another mistake in the steep climb and Del Grosso got a gap to finish second in his debut elite WC.

Great race from Fontana finishing fifth beaten on the line by Niewenhuis for fourth.

 

[jono]

Some saying that Nys wasn't on mud tires so the rain in the last two laps derailed him a little bit.

 

[Hugh Januss]

8th world title for Van der Poel, now he is the undisputed CX GOAT.

Very interesting fight for second, Del Grosso suffered but then in the last lap Nys made another mistake in the steep climb and Del Grosso got a gap to finish second in his debut elite WC.

Great race from Fontana finishing fifth beaten on the line by Niewenhuis for fourth.

Del Grosso just looks smoother than Nys, he never looks like he's trying to go fast. Nys on the other hand always looks like he's in a hurry to get to his next crash.

 

[theyoungest]

Some saying that Nys wasn't on mud tires so the rain in the last two laps derailed him a little bit.

Sven Nys was saying live on tv that Thibau was planning to change tires in the final lap. Obviously didn't do it.

But what won Tibor the silver medal was the fact that he was the best on that climb, he's been the best on it all weekend. Even better than Mathieu.

 

[theyoungest]

Del Grosso just looks smoother than Nys, he never looks like he's trying to go fast. Nys on the other hand always looks like he's in a hurry to get to his next crash.

It's really clear how Del Grosso always keeps a huge gap when he's following Nys, whereas Nys is safe to ride on Del Grosso's wheel because the latter hardly makes any mistakes. Which in a way is an advantage for Nys.

 

[Bolder]

Sven Nys was saying live on tv that Thibau was planning to change tires in the final lap. Obviously didn't do it.

But what won Tibor the silver medal was the fact that he was the best on that climb, he's been the best on it all weekend. Even better than Mathieu.

Yep, he's lighter than Nys and Vdp, too so he's great on steep stuff. Nys makes way too many mistakes. Del Grosso looked like he was done but nys let him back in.

 

[jono]

Certainly doesn't sound like MVDP has closed the door on cyclocross quite yet:

https://twitter.com/x/status/2017998607975076243

View: https://x.com/cyclocross24/status/2017998607975076243

 

[Sciatic]

That was clearly the best race so far. Won by a 16-year-old.

Hopefully the course won't dry out too much before the men's race. This is what this course needs: a bit of mud, a bit of sliding in each corner, the descents a bit more tricky. Then it becomes a really great course.

From a neophyte's perspective, I thought the course (from a viewing perspective) was pretty one-dimensional. The things that are often the difference makers on many courses--longer running sections, actual climbing (I'm not including humping up those two ramps), off-camber sidehills, sand. Not that any of these would change the overall winner in the elite races. Of course, other cross World's courses have dominated by one element (e.g., sand), and road World's can also be one-dimensional.

 

[EddyMazzoleni]

Yep, he's lighter than Nys and Vdp, too so he's great on steep stuff. Nys makes way too many mistakes. Del Grosso looked like he was done but nys let him back in.

Del Grosso is definitively heavier than Nys, an probably than MvdP too. He is about the same size as WVA. What made the two Dutch better on that climb was more seated power.

 

[jono]

Del Grosso is definitively heavier than Nys, an probably than MvdP too. He is about the same size as WVA. What made the two Dutch better on that climb was more seated power.

I don't think online sources for this are to be entirely trusted, but I found Nys at 64kg, del Grosso at 70kg, and van der Poel at 75kg. Del Grosso is the same height as van Aert, but significantly lighter and visibly the skinniest rider (legs and torso) on the podium today. Agreed about seated power. Also gear selection.

From a neophyte's perspective, I thought the course (from a viewing perspective) was pretty one-dimensional. The things that are often the difference makers on many courses--longer running sections, actual climbing (I'm not including humping up those two ramps), off-camber sidehills, sand. Not that any of these would change the overall winner in the elite races. Of course, other cross World's courses have dominated by one element (e.g., sand), and road World's can also be one-dimensional.

Oostende was a sand fest, Fayetteville had a gimmicky long stair climb, but otherwise most of the worlds courses of the last decade had no defining technical feature, notable climbing, or significant running.

I think the usual Hulst course is better, but this one was surely more interesting (and better designed for the on-site spectators) than Lievin or Tabor, the last two hosts.

 

[Sciatic]

Oostende was a sand fest, Fayetteville had a gimmicky long stair climb, but otherwise most of the worlds courses of the last decade had no defining technical feature, notable climbing, or significant running.

I think the usual Hulst course is better, but this one was surely more interesting (and better designed for the on-site spectators) than Lievin or Tabor, the last two hosts.

Thanks, it's helpful to get that perspective. Definitely would be a great course to watch in person!