CX Season 2022/23.......

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Comments

  • daniel_b
    daniel_b Posts: 11,972
    seanoconn said:

    daniel_b said:

    I managed to miss the point where Pidcock suddenly dropped back, did he have an off?

    Had a great start but might of overestimated his condition and couldn’t really respond when MVdP upped the pace.
    Ah thanks, I saw him flying off the front, but no mistake /off then as far as we're aware.

    Would have been good to see the 3 of them battling for the win.

    Cracking race, looked visually to be very fast.
    Felt F70 05 (Turbo)
    Marin Palisades Trail 91 and 06
    Scott CR1 SL 12
    Cannondale Synapse Adventure 15 & 16 Di2
    Scott Foil 18
  • orraloon
    orraloon Posts: 13,227
    Cracking races Grommit, both women's and men's. 👍
  • pinno
    pinno Posts: 52,301
    What was that about Iserbyt thinking of throwing in the towel?
    I wonder if when he complained about the rock this was in the back of his mind or that the WC was slipping through his hands, who knows?
    He was slightly more magnanimous in his post race interview. Maybe the sports psychologists had assisted/intervened.
    seanoconn - gruagach craic!
  • andyrac
    andyrac Posts: 1,197
    Iserbyt has had a back injury since the Albstadt MTB World Cup, and re-injured it earlier in the CX season - so was thinking of cutting the season short.

    30+ race seasons year after year has got to have an effect; which is why we're seeing more riders be selective in which series/races they do.
    All Road/ Gravel: tbcWinter: tbcMTB: tbcRoad: tbc"Look at the time...." "he's fallen like an old lady on a cruise ship..."
  • orraloon
    orraloon Posts: 13,227
    40k crowd! Good race that between the Big 2.
  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 19,431

    “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!
  • daniel_b
    daniel_b Posts: 11,972
    Great race, well worth watching on catch up.

    I thought it would go the other way until about halfway through, and then thought the result would be as it ended up.

    Highly entertaining.

    Thank goodness there were 2 of them there at the same level, just 1 and it would have been tedious.
    Felt F70 05 (Turbo)
    Marin Palisades Trail 91 and 06
    Scott CR1 SL 12
    Cannondale Synapse Adventure 15 & 16 Di2
    Scott Foil 18
  • m.r.m.
    m.r.m. Posts: 3,473
    edited February 2023
    Definitely worth watching. Along with Benidorm one of the best races of the season.

    Loved the drone cam, it just needs much better resolution. Ideally 4k or at least 1080p.
    PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 2023
  • seanoconn
    seanoconn Posts: 11,665
    MVdP was on it today. After 5 Laps he was confident WVA couldn’t really hurt him and was happy enough to take it down to the sprint.

    Feel for Wout as there’s so little between them but he didn’t do enough to try to win the race.

    Great season of CX racing thoroughly enjoyed.
    Pinno, מלך אידיוט וחרא מכונאי
  • epc06
    epc06 Posts: 216
    MvdP says it’s in his top 3 wins of all time.
    He looked unusually emotional on the podium so I suspect it’s true.
    Begs the question what would his best 3 wins ever would be ? (assume he wasn’t just talking about CX)
    Amstel Gold and his taking of yellow at the tour were pretty epic, as was strade bianche.
    2 x Flanders also means some heavy weight wins are not in his top 3
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,253
    daniel_b said:



    Highly entertaining.

    Thank goodness there were 2 of them there at the same level, just 1 and it would have been tedious.

    Was it entertaining though? I know it's hard to tell from the sofa, but there didn't seem to be attacks or jeopardy. I didn't even see bike changes. It was a two man breakaway no more than a few metres apart leading to a sprint.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • m.r.m.
    m.r.m. Posts: 3,473
    MvdP attacked WVA repeatedly. The course was just too fast for them to stick. WVA attacked MvdP once.
    Most if not all CX races with these 2 tend to have a bit of a lull in the middle since they start hard, only they can follow (with Pidcock if he is there), then they just ride laps ahead of everyone else and then try a winning move starting 2 laps from the end.
    Today was a very good version of that, like Benidorm was as well.
    PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 2023
  • pinno
    pinno Posts: 52,301
    seanoconn said:

    MVdP was on it today. After 5 Laps he was confident WVA couldn’t really hurt him and was happy enough to take it down to the sprint.

    Feel for Wout as there’s so little between them but he didn’t do enough to try to win the race.

    Great season of CX racing thoroughly enjoyed.

    There's still a few races left.
    seanoconn - gruagach craic!
  • pinno
    pinno Posts: 52,301
    Would a slower, muddier course suited WvA?
    I think so.

    They talked about the pigeon pie muncher designed course not suiting either rider more but those jumps were big and MvdP is faster over jumps, so I don't know.
    In the end, the jumps had little effect on the outcome.
    seanoconn - gruagach craic!
  • seanoconn
    seanoconn Posts: 11,665
    pinno said:

    seanoconn said:

    MVdP was on it today. After 5 Laps he was confident WVA couldn’t really hurt him and was happy enough to take it down to the sprint.

    Feel for Wout as there’s so little between them but he didn’t do enough to try to win the race.

    Great season of CX racing thoroughly enjoyed.

    There's still a few races left.
    It’s the end of my CX season 😂
    Pinno, מלך אידיוט וחרא מכונאי
  • Dorset_Boy
    Dorset_Boy Posts: 7,554
    pinno said:

    Would a slower, muddier course suited WvA?
    I think so.

    They talked about the pigeon pie muncher designed course not suiting either rider more but those jumps were big and MvdP is faster over jumps, so I don't know.
    In the end, the jumps had little effect on the outcome.

    Commentary early on suggested the opposite, that MvdP would have been even better on a muddier course.
    Thoroughly deserved win, he took the race to WvA, repeatedly attacking, and WvA could only ever follow, never attack.
    The speed differential over the jumps was big.
  • pinno
    pinno Posts: 52,301
    Hopefully this bodes well for the classics that MvdP and WvA are in good shape.
    seanoconn - gruagach craic!
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,547

    pinno said:

    Would a slower, muddier course suited WvA?
    I think so.

    They talked about the pigeon pie muncher designed course not suiting either rider more but those jumps were big and MvdP is faster over jumps, so I don't know.
    In the end, the jumps had little effect on the outcome.

    Commentary early on suggested the opposite, that MvdP would have been even better on a muddier course.
    Thoroughly deserved win, he took the race to WvA, repeatedly attacking, and WvA could only ever follow, never attack.
    The speed differential over the jumps was big.
    That's not true. WVA was consistently putting MVDP on the back foot through the woods. His attacks weren't as flamboyant as MVDP's, but he was definitely testing him out.
  • andyrac
    andyrac Posts: 1,197
    pinno said:

    Would a slower, muddier course suited WvA?
    I think so.

    They talked about the pigeon pie muncher designed course not suiting either rider more but those jumps were big and MvdP is faster over jumps, so I don't know.
    In the end, the jumps had little effect on the outcome.

    Adrie has designed that course for years, and nobody has been bothered about it; for the Worlds they tweaked it slightly and moved the hurdles.....And people thought there was something 'sinister'.
    Mathieu would probably prefer a really technical course, as he's a level above Wout; whereas Wout is better in deep mud with a lot of running. In all honesty, it was another pretty bland Worlds course - and next year is no different; Tabor.

    As for the other races; 5 of the 6 winners are on top Road/development teams; Women's Junior winner, the Canadian Holmgren is the exception, and does MTB in the summer.
    All Road/ Gravel: tbcWinter: tbcMTB: tbcRoad: tbc"Look at the time...." "he's fallen like an old lady on a cruise ship..."
  • daniel_b
    daniel_b Posts: 11,972
    edited February 2023
    RichN95. said:

    daniel_b said:



    Highly entertaining.

    Thank goodness there were 2 of them there at the same level, just 1 and it would have been tedious.

    Was it entertaining though? I know it's hard to tell from the sofa, but there didn't seem to be attacks or jeopardy. I didn't even see bike changes. It was a two man breakaway no more than a few metres apart leading to a sprint.
    It was for me, and my 9 year old daughter - couldn't take our eyes off it for a second, expecting one of them to put a massive dig in to try and gap/wear their opponent down.
    Granted it could have been even better if it was a 3 or 4 way tussle, but I can also see how a head to head is somehow a purer battle.
    Felt F70 05 (Turbo)
    Marin Palisades Trail 91 and 06
    Scott CR1 SL 12
    Cannondale Synapse Adventure 15 & 16 Di2
    Scott Foil 18
  • daniel_b
    daniel_b Posts: 11,972
    edited February 2023
    As an aside, I notice Evie Richards used to race CX, any chance she might come back to have another go, or is she 100% XC MTB now?
    Felt F70 05 (Turbo)
    Marin Palisades Trail 91 and 06
    Scott CR1 SL 12
    Cannondale Synapse Adventure 15 & 16 Di2
    Scott Foil 18
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,547
    daniel_b said:

    As an aside, I notice Evie Richards used to race CX, any chance she might come back to have another go, or is she 100% XC MTB now?

    I think she was planning to ride some European races this year, but illness struck at the wrong time. She'd ridden at least one local league race as preparation.
  • JimD666
    JimD666 Posts: 2,293
    I'm confused. Again.

    According to the UCI rules the max height of the boards is 40cm. The commentary kept describing them as being 40.9cm high. I'm having to assume that the commentary was wrong. Or was the course illegal. Technically at least.
  • andyrac
    andyrac Posts: 1,197
    edited February 2023
    daniel_b said:

    As an aside, I notice Evie Richards used to race CX, any chance she might come back to have another go, or is she 100% XC MTB now?

    She's been on a few podcasts ( a good one with G), and planned to ride some Belgian races over New Year; but got sick. She's done a few local/regional level in the UK. Her focus is on getting back the rainbow bands, and the 2024 Olympics, but hinted she'd like another proper go at CX.

    MTB was always her main discipline, but did CX for 'fun' and was rather good at it. In fact she's one of only 2 riders to win World Cups in CX, XCC & XCO.....
    All Road/ Gravel: tbcWinter: tbcMTB: tbcRoad: tbc"Look at the time...." "he's fallen like an old lady on a cruise ship..."
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,547
    JimD666 said:

    I'm confused. Again.

    According to the UCI rules the max height of the boards is 40cm. The commentary kept describing them as being 40.9cm high. I'm having to assume that the commentary was wrong. Or was the course illegal. Technically at least.

    As I understand it, 40.9 cm is within the maximum height of 40 cms.
  • JimD666
    JimD666 Posts: 2,293
    andyp said:

    JimD666 said:

    I'm confused. Again.

    According to the UCI rules the max height of the boards is 40cm. The commentary kept describing them as being 40.9cm high. I'm having to assume that the commentary was wrong. Or was the course illegal. Technically at least.

    As I understand it, 40.9 cm is within the maximum height of 40 cms.
    So the UCI are really carp at math?

    There's nothing I can see in the rule book about any tolerance at all. 5.1.0124 just states "a maximum of 40cm"

    Oh well just chalk it up to the awesome consistency of the UCI.
  • drhaggis
    drhaggis Posts: 1,150
    andyp said:

    JimD666 said:

    I'm confused. Again.

    According to the UCI rules the max height of the boards is 40cm. The commentary kept describing them as being 40.9cm high. I'm having to assume that the commentary was wrong. Or was the course illegal. Technically at least.

    As I understand it, 40.9 cm is within the maximum height of 40 cms.
    Oh, gosh, that's worse than the F1 technical regulations. I quote, literally (article 5.1.5):
    In calculating engine cubic capacity, the number Pi
    shall be 3.1416


    Actually, no, phuck that, there's no good reason to cap pi at anything less than single precision
  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 19,431
    “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!
  • seanoconn
    seanoconn Posts: 11,665


    https://youtu.be/DmsPcsIO-ww

    Watching this Sunday, I shouted to the wife, “A guy just popped his finger back into place!” 😃
    Pinno, מלך אידיוט וחרא מכונאי
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,547
    seanoconn said:



    https://youtu.be/DmsPcsIO-ww

    Watching this Sunday, I shouted to the wife, “A guy just popped his finger back into place!” 😃

    The thing that struck me at the time, was how matter-of-fact he was about it. "Oh look, I've dislocated my finger. I'll just pop it back in and jump back into the race."