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World Championships preview thread

Jan 8, 2022
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I think:

ME: Tom Pidcock (it is a shame that Mathieu and Wout won't go)

WE: Lucinda Brand (She won Fayetteville worldcup and She is the number1 of the world so I think she will defend her title)

WU23: Pieterse or van Empel or maybe van Anrooij... (I hope van Empel can defend it but she wasn't so good in Fayetteville...)
 
Having rewatched last year’s WC in Ostende - all categories several times (I really do like cyclocross) - the Fayetteville course just doesn’t command any excitement. Then again the riders count for most of the show but with so many proficient profiles missing it just feels a little lukewarm. A more challenging course at least mixes things up.

WE: Hope Vos takes it. I like her attitude. Can be a good battle with Brand and possibly Alvarado.

ME: LvdH. Probably Iserbyt will nip it but I hope for Lars. Piddles? Absolutely, he has more potential but has had a worrying tendency to fade lately. If he gets it right he will win by some margin.

WU23: PP vs FvE.
MU23: Wouldn’t know
 


With the greatest of respect, she will need the Dutch to go down with food poisoning/ Covid and a biblical downpour to win. She still hasn't won a World Cup race, and has only the odd podium this season, ironically at the same course. Winning the Koppenburgcross was a great achievement, but is a completely different course.
It would be a massive surprise if she could compete at the sharp end on a fast course, there is nothing we've seen that suggests she can. However, it is the Worlds, and sometimes they produce surprises....
 
Having rewatched last year’s WC in Ostende - all categories several times (I really do like cyclocross) - the Fayetteville course just doesn’t command any excitement. Then again the riders count for most of the show but with so many proficient profiles missing it just feels a little lukewarm. A more challenging course at least mixes things up.

WE: Hope Vos takes it. I like her attitude. Can be a good battle with Brand and possibly Alvarado.

ME: LvdH. Probably Iserbyt will nip it but I hope for Lars. Piddles? Absolutely, he has more potential but has had a worrying tendency to fade lately. If he gets it right he will win by some margin.

WU23: PP vs FvE.
MU23: Wouldn’t know


With the greatest of respect, she will need the Dutch to go down with food poisoning/ Covid and a biblical downpour to win. She still hasn't won a World Cup race, and has only the odd podium this season, ironically at the same course. Winning the Koppenburgcross was a great achievement, but is a completely different course.
It would be a massive surprise if she could compete at the sharp end on a fast course, there is nothing we've seen that suggests she can. However, it is the Worlds, and sometimes they produce surprises....
To be fair the article title and thrust of the article is that a win is “achievable” but not that she has it in the proverbial bag, or that she is favored to win. Seems typical to play up the home-country hero angle, especially for Anglo riders. And she did finish 4th at worlds last year.
But she does seem (from the races I’ve watched) to do far better on heavy, power courses, and from what I’ve read that’s not what she’ll find in Fayetteville
 
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To be fair the article title and thrust of the article is that a win is “achievable” but not that she has it in the proverbial bag, or that she is favored to win. Seems typical to play up the home-country hero angle, especially for Anglo riders. And she did finish 4th at worlds last year.
But she does seem (from the races I’ve watched) to do far better on heavy, power courses, and from what I’ve read that’s not what she’ll find in Fayetteville
She can't spin her legs fast enough to keep up with the Dutch women on a fast, dry course.
 
The travel from Belgium to Fayetteville, Arkansas took more than 24 hours, including seven hours of waiting for a delayed plane in Chicago.

The course will be hard, dry, and not technical. Road cyclists have an advantage. A sprint is very possible.

I wonder whether Americans will show up to watch this. I'm not excited like other years. The absence of the two biggest names is a blow.
 
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Having rewatched last year’s WC in Ostende - all categories several times (I really do like cyclocross) - the Fayetteville course just doesn’t command any excitement. Then again the riders count for most of the show but with so many proficient profiles missing it just feels a little lukewarm. A more challenging course at least mixes things up.

WE: Hope Vos takes it. I like her attitude. Can be a good battle with Brand and possibly Alvarado.

ME: LvdH. Probably Iserbyt will nip it but I hope for Lars. Piddles? Absolutely, he has more potential but has had a worrying tendency to fade lately. If he gets it right he will win by some margin.

WU23: PP vs FvE.
MU23: Wouldn’t know
Yeah, there are so many more courses in the usa that have alot more character than this does. The regular ones on the american circuit spring to mind, but even some of the national champs courses have had better racing and better courses than this. On the positive, at least it's not the same course they used back in 2019 as a test event for the venue. That was a fast almost 'grass crit' on the saturday followed by heavy overnight rain that continued through the races and ended in a lot of running and pushing a slow cadence through deep mud. I dont think there was a hard standing surface on the finish straight, so riders ran across the finish.

Decent predictions although if she can ride how she did in Hamme, then van Anrooij also has a shot. I saw a stat saying Pieterse has beaten van Anrooij 13 times to 4 while beating van Empel 13 times to 6. Surprisingly (for me at least) it's a lot closer between van Anrooij and van Empel with van Anrooij edging 10 to 9 with on being Fayettevulle world cup.

I wouldn't know where to start with the u23 men as they all seem to blow hot and cold. You could probably list. You could probably say all 3 dutch riders, Kamp, Ronhaar and Hendrikx have a chance, as do Verstrynge, Wyseure, Vandeputte and of course Nys from Belgium. Mason from britain also has a chance.

The juniors are more clear cut, and I'd assume it would be David Haverdings as top favourite with other riders like euro champ Dockx and Smith just behind along with the likes of Corsus. Then the junior womens event is really just between Backstedt and Bentveld. This is of course if Backstedt is racing following having covid. If not, then its just Bentveld.
 
Yeah, there are so many more courses in the usa that have alot more character than this does. The regular ones on the american circuit spring to mind, but even some of the national champs courses have had better racing and better courses than this. On the positive, at least it's not the same course they used back in 2019 as a test event for the venue. That was a fast almost 'grass crit' on the saturday followed by heavy overnight rain that continued through the races and ended in a lot of running and pushing a slow cadence through deep mud. I dont think there was a hard standing surface on the finish straight, so riders ran across the finish.

Decent predictions although if she can ride how she did in Hamme, then van Anrooij also has a shot. I saw a stat saying Pieterse has beaten van Anrooij 13 times to 4 while beating van Empel 13 times to 6. Surprisingly (for me at least) it's a lot closer between van Anrooij and van Empel with van Anrooij edging 10 to 9 with on being Fayettevulle world cup.

I wouldn't know where to start with the u23 men as they all seem to blow hot and cold. You could probably list. You could probably say all 3 dutch riders, Kamp, Ronhaar and Hendrikx have a chance, as do Verstrynge, Wyseure, Vandeputte and of course Nys from Belgium. Mason from britain also has a chance.

The juniors are more clear cut, and I'd assume it would be David Haverdings as top favourite with other riders like euro champ Dockx and Smith just behind along with the likes of Corsus. Then the junior womens event is really just between Backstedt and Bentveld. This is of course if Backstedt is racing following having covid. If not, then its just Bentveld.
Pretty much agree with your predictions.
van Empel has possibly been getting the edge of Pieterse since Kosijde, it will be a good race between the three. Senior womens will have a different dynamic without these, and the absent Betsema and Worst.
U23 men could be the best race of the weekend, hopefully a real bunfight.
 
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Surprisingly at this late stage I,m struggling to locate upto date start lists.
Nothing on the UCI or race websites.
Would appreciate a link if possible.
.
Bare in mind this was published before some riders had to pull out, so although it states their names, the likes of Kay, Betsema, Worst aren't competing.


Judging by the videos Alpecin Fenix posted, the snow and freeze thaw that Maghalie Rochette's husband mentioned hasn't affected the course too much meaning its now pretty fast and dry. I'd assume if there is any wetness about it will just become slippery and slick, similar to the elite men's race in Waterloo possibly.

Edit: Looking at the Insta stories from others, it does seem to be cutting up slightly, so at the moment probably more of an intermediate tread (chevron style like a Grifo or Typhoon) than a faster file tread. That's my guess and would beb my choice but who knows. It might be just the corners where you want something grippy, so a file with knobbly sides like a a chicane or pipisquallo is better.
 
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Bare in mind this was published before some riders had to pull out, so although it states their names, the likes of Kay, Betsema, Worst aren't competing.


Judging by the videos Alpecin Fenix posted, the snow and freeze thaw that Maghalie Rochette's husband mentioned hasn't affected the course too much meaning its now pretty fast and dry. I'd assume if there is any wetness about it will just become slippery and slick, similar to the elite men's race in Waterloo possibly.

Edit: Looking at the Insta stories from others, it does seem to be cutting up slightly, so at the moment probably more of an intermediate tread (chevron style like a Grifo or Typhoon) than a faster file tread. That's my guess and would beb my choice but who knows. It might be just the corners where you want something grippy, so a file with knobbly sides like a a chicane or pipisquallo is better.
Many thanks, cross24 is normally my go to, not sure why not this time.