Why do Spanish crossers stink?

[Moose McKnuckles]

I mean, really. They are awful. Why can't they get the good stuff? Why do only the roadies and the mountain bikers get the special sauce?

I call for an investigation into this stunning inequity.

 

[sniper]

I mean, really. They are awful. Why can't they get the good stuff? Why do only the roadies and the mountain bikers get the special sauce?

I call for an investigation into this stunning inequity.

Good question. Could it be money related? Is there more money circulating in mountainbiking than in cross? hm. Doubtful.
Anyway, crossing traditionally belongs to the Dutch and Belgians, right? Perhaps Spanish talent is just completely lacking in cross. And for the special sauce to bring results, you do need some athletic talent.

 

[khardung la]

Tradition first, and secondly 70% of Spain has no good terrain/conditions for cyclocross, although the whole country is great for MTB and road biking.

 

[Rip:30]

Tradition first, and secondly 70% of Spain has no good terrain/conditions for cyclocross, although the whole country is great for MTB and road biking.

Tradition seems likely, but no terrain??

I thought cross was just a bunch of roadies riding circles around city parks and school grounds? Well that's what it looks like to me here in the states. Perhaps you mean they have a paucity of mud? I find that hard to believe, but I've never been to Spain.

 

[dolophonic]

Because it's cross... there you go.

 

[erader]

Because it's cross... there you go.

there it is there.

erader

 

[Altitude]

All crossers stink.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

I thought cross was just a bunch of roadies riding circles around city parks and school grounds? Well that's what it looks like to me here in the states.

This insolence deserves at least a week ban. At least.

 

[veganrob]

Climate? You do have to have some crappy weather for CX. They do well in mtb however.

 

[forty four]

This insolence deserves at least a week ban. At least.

umm yeah cross rocks fun as ****. then again this may be my opinion because i got 2nd in my first cross race on a demo bike with sram i had never used. i was shifting all over the place covered in wet mud lol ill stick to shimano. but cross is cool and a lot of fun.

 

[Guidokcd]

Spaniards race cross? Who woulda thunk it?

 

[Hugh Januss]

I mean, really. They are awful. Why can't they get the good stuff? Why do only the roadies and the mountain bikers get the special sauce?

I call for an investigation into this stunning inequity.

Simply put.....the "program" that can steer the bike for you in adverse conditions, has not been developed yet. That is not to say that the top crossers are any cleaner than any other discipline, but if they are all on the same program then skills will make the difference, and the Belgians have them.

 

[khardung la]

Tradition seems likely, but no terrain??

I thought cross was just a bunch of roadies riding circles around city parks and school grounds? Well that's what it looks like to me here in the states. Perhaps you mean they have a paucity of mud? I find that hard to believe, but I've never been to Spain.

The southernmost two thirds of Spain have no muddy conditions. The terrain is most often stony and it does not rain much, so nprmally mud is not common. It is gorgeous for MTB though, and the quite nice weather and varied terrain makes it great for road cycling.

Cyclocross is more popular in regions like Cantabria, the Vasque country, Navarra and part of Catalonia. All in the northern third of the country.

 

[khardung la]

For those speaking spanish precisely today there is an article about the situation of cyclocross in Spain http://www.as.com/ciclismo/articulo/ciclocross-sobrevive-mountain-bike-europa/20101207dasdaicic_1/Tes

 

[Fester]

Nothing to do with doping or racial stereotypes, they had the first cross race in Portugal in over a decade, last weekend:

http://jornalciclismo.com/celestino-pinho-vence-ciclocrosse-de-lordelo

It's just not tradition. Road Racing (stage racing) is. I think the other types of cycling are carried along somewhat by road. And road racing is in a very bad way on the peninsula.

I suppose it's the same reason there is not so much rugby on the peninsula. You'd need a reservoir just to water the pitch.

 

[Barrus]

Nothing to do with doping or racial stereotypes, they had the first cross race in Portugal in over a decade, last weekend:

http://jornalciclismo.com/celestino-pinho-vence-ciclocrosse-de-lordelo

It's just not tradition. Road Racing (stage racing) is. I think the other types of cycling are carried along somewhat by road. And road racing is in a very bad way on the peninsula.

I suppose it's the same reason there is not so much rugby on the peninsula. You'd need a reservoir just to water the pitch.

That's Portugal, but there has been quite a few crosses in the northern part of Spain. Last weekend in the Basque country I believe, it was the 34th edition already of the cross at Igorre

 

[Cloxxki]

It may well be money, but y'all are missing the point.

National Unions have deals. The Belgians/Dutch just want to win at cross. Italy and Spain are fine by that, they come up with weak programs, although the odd fast lady from Italy is hard to slow down. It happens.
USA wanted to be left alone on the road, and as long as they were, no inspiring results. Armstrong out, US crossers in.
In return, the Dutch/Belgians only have supertalents surfacing in big road cares (Boom, Gilbert). Hard to control that, it happens.
Things are the way they are, because they just are that way.

 

[khardung la]

It may well be money, but y'all are missing the point.

National Unions have deals. The Belgians/Dutch just want to win at cross. Italy and Spain are fine by that, they come up with weak programs, although the odd fast lady from Italy is hard to slow down. It happens.
USA wanted to be left alone on the road, and as long as they were, no inspiring results. Armstrong out, US crossers in.
In return, the Dutch/Belgians only have supertalents surfacing in big road cares (Boom, Gilbert). Hard to control that, it happens.
Things are the way they are, because they just are that way.

Ok, but then also think that a teenager from Castilla la Mancha, Extremadura or Murcia may never find a suitable place for cyclocross in 100 km around. No mud but very often stones, they prefer to use their MTB or road cycle. I am spanish and never tried cyclocross, it is like an exotic sport to me. If I would be, let's say, from Cantabria (north of Spain), probably I would have tried it because probably a friend would have introduced me to the sport.

 

[downhilltothegrill]

there it is there.

erader

because that makes sense and all....

 

[veganrob]

It may well be money, but y'all are missing the point.

National Unions have deals. The Belgians/Dutch just want to win at cross. Italy and Spain are fine by that, they come up with weak programs, although the odd fast lady from Italy is hard to slow down. It happens.
USA wanted to be left alone on the road, and as long as they were, no inspiring results. Armstrong out, US crossers in.
In return, the Dutch/Belgians only have supertalents surfacing in big road cares (Boom, Gilbert). Hard to control that, it happens.
Things are the way they are, because they just are that way.

Wow. When you spell it out so clearly it makes total sense.

 

[Rip:30]

This insolence deserves at least a week ban. At least.

I just think it's funny to see the local roadies here thinking they are being all off-road hard core in these cross races. Having been both a roadie at one point and a life long mtnbiker, cross just doesn't make sense to me.

 

[Rip:30]

The southernmost two thirds of Spain have no muddy conditions. The terrain is most often stony and it does not rain much, so nprmally mud is not common. It is gorgeous for MTB though, and the quite nice weather and varied terrain makes it great for road cycling.

Cyclocross is more popular in regions like Cantabria, the Vasque country, Navarra and part of Catalonia. All in the northern third of the country.

Yeah, that makes sense thinking back to when I've watched the Vuelta.

But I mean is mud really a prerequisite for cross? Here in Colorado, it's not often muddy in on the front range, and cross seems to be thriving. But then again a thriving bike race in the states is not a thriving bike race in Europe.

 

[khardung la]

Yeah, that makes sense thinking back to when I've watched the Vuelta.

But I mean is mud really a prerequisite for cross? Here in Colorado, it's not often muddy in on the front range, and cross seems to be thriving. But then again a thriving bike race in the states is not a thriving bike race in Europe.

Mud is probably not a pre-requisite, but rough or even rocky ground is not a good thing for a cyclocross bike. For that a MTB is much more suited.

Anyway from my point of view mud is desirable, if not why racing cyclocross?

 

[L'arriviste]

Having been both a roadie at one point and a life long mtnbiker, cross just doesn't make sense to me.

Come and have a look at Flanders and the erstwhile coalfields of northern France in the recesses of winter when the mud is thick and the skies are a strange shade of brown that only the painter Ruisdaal could capture.

It's a peculiar kind of beauty, I'll grant you, but it's beautiful nonetheless. In this terrain - a crazed quilt of slagheaps, bergs, flooded fields and broken cobbles - cyclo-cross makes perfect sense.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Tradition seems likely, but no terrain??

I thought cross was just a bunch of roadies riding circles around city parks and school grounds? Well that's what it looks like to me here in the states. Perhaps you mean they have a paucity of mud? I find that hard to believe, but I've never been to Spain.

Climate? You do have to have some crappy weather for CX. They do well in mtb however.

The Basque country is well known for its rain. The 'cross race in Igorre, though not the most exciting I've ever seen by a long shot, was an absolute mudfest. They have lots of hills and gradients, and lots of rain. 'Cross works there.

However, the problem is that even in that most 'cross-suited area of the country, the road is still king. You do get the occasional Spanish 'crosser, and some are even half-decent, but they aren't prepared to travel all the way up to the Low Countries to do it when there's more money and prestige in road and MTB back home.

As a result, most of the notable Spanish names who've done 'cross I can mention are roadies; whether that be for the hell of it (Aitor Galdos was in the 'cross race at Igorre, and David Arroyo has some 'cross experience, though not a great deal, and perhaps that helped him to be in the front five group in the mud stage of the Giro) or because nowhere else wants to take them (Constantino Zaballa did participate in quite a lot of cross for a while but that's been scaled back considerably now that Puerto memories are fading and he's no longer persona non grata for many road races).