Race Thread

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theyoungest

Jan 11, 2010
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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.
 
Samu Cuenca

Samu Cuenca

Sep 26, 2020
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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.
 
KZD

KZD

Feb 21, 2019
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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.
 
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Hugh Januss

Hugh Januss

Jul 9, 2009
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KZD said:
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.
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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.
 
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T

theyoungest

Jan 11, 2010
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jono said:
Some saying that Nys wasn't on mud tires so the rain in the last two laps derailed him a little bit.
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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.
 
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theyoungest

Jan 11, 2010
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Hugh Januss said:
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.
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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.
 
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Bolder

Jun 25, 2015
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theyoungest said:
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.
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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.
 
S

Sciatic

Mar 4, 2011
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theyoungest said:
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.
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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

EddyMazzoleni

Apr 26, 2023
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Bolder said:
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.
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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.
 
J

jono

Jan 31, 2021
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EddyMazzoleni said:
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.
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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.

Sciatic said:
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.
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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.
 
S

Sciatic

Mar 4, 2011
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jono said:
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.
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Thanks, it's helpful to get that perspective. Definitely would be a great course to watch in person!
 
Barkintheeye

Barkintheeye

Feb 24, 2015
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Hugh Januss said:
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.
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That's a bit tough on one of the most talented kids on a bike of his generation but it's slowly becoming a truth that on key sections Del Grosso has the upper hand on Nys, just like MVDP always had on WVA.
 
J

jmdirt

Dec 6, 2013
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Sciatic said:
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.
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This is a great loop IMO.

EDIT: You SEA guys still have images of Knapp belaying up that crazy run up at SEA Tac! : :p
 
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