Dale
Posts:1767
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| 12/23/2022 04:04 PM |
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Mens race was good. Solid racing up until the last lap-and-a-half but good race for 3rd. The podium had a combined 8 world championships standing there.
The women's race... not much was said about 4th place but that's the real story. Zoe Bäckstedt just turned 18 and was at or near the front most of the race. I watched her destroy the 17/18 year old field last January in Fayetteville, AR for the world championship. She's someone to watch.
Cold here as it is in much of the US so the day was spent doing stuff at home while carrying around my computer watching a race live from a little town in Belgium. |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 12/23/2022 04:44 PM |
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Men's race was good indeed.
Missed the women's. Bäckstedt is a beast but the race was won by a different beast and potential future GT winner, that is the intended trajectory for Shirin anyway. Bäckstedt won't be a factor there as she doesn't climb very well, she's more VDP style. |
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Dale
Posts:1767
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| 12/24/2022 12:31 PM |
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| No question Zoe has her fathers genetics, she'll win by sprints not by HC climbs |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 12/24/2022 03:19 PM |
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| VDP put the skewers on himself with an extra hard training ride today Lol. |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 12/26/2022 09:59 AM |
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| Revenge is sweet |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 12/27/2022 12:21 PM |
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| Zolder, wow wow wow wow. |
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Dale
Posts:1767
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| 12/27/2022 01:01 PM |
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In the battle to clobber each other the rest of the field keeps getting smeared.
Something like the African proverb "When elephants fight, the grass gets trampled." |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 12/27/2022 03:12 PM |
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Van Aerts quote was priceless “for a few minutes I was under the impression I beat him myself “
That was battle number 250 between the two. 251 coming up tomorrow. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 12/28/2022 09:06 AM |
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Bummed for Wout it came down to MVP popping his shoe out of his pedal….but I think he had him by launching his sprint first. They were close to the line and trying to come around him in such a short distance was going to be tough, I think.
At least that is what I am telling myself.
Wout 2-1 over the holiday weekend…Round 4 today!! |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 12/28/2022 06:24 PM |
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Holy crap…what a race today for the men. The Big 3 off the front and battling it out. Looked like MVP had, but Pidcock clawed him back because Wout was spent…somehow Wout manages to counter and looks like he has the race, only to have MVP bring him back. Pidcock, who had been dropped, comes back AGAIN and gets a gap…..Wout goes after him and MVP pops for good. Wout and Pidcock to the line and Pidcock fumbles a bit coming into the final stairs and Wout takes the win n
Just an epic race!!! |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 12/28/2022 07:17 PM |
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| As Wout said “this can’t be healthy “ |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 12/30/2022 05:33 PM |
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Another great race today. Maybe the best cyclocross racing week ever (as some commentators have said) although same commentators were also saying that in 2018 (before they started focusing on road) the main protagonists were technically better than they ride now; they’re solving things more based on power than technique.
I’d been noticing this with VDP in particular. Couple times been yelling “ come on man you know how to ride this better”. That offcamber the other day for instance. Ugly execution kept putting his foot down like a chomp haha. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 12/31/2022 09:35 AM |
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Maybe the best cyclocross racing week ever
Would have to agree…technical skills aside. The pure competitive aspect this week has been brilliant.
Conversely, most of the women’s races have been snoozefests unfortunately. |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Dale
Posts:1767
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| 01/01/2023 02:57 PM |
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+1 to the above comments. VdP is used to bludgeoning the race with brute power. I was surprised at the number of dabs on the off-camber section and he still kept using that line when Wout and Tom showed him the better line several times.
And what's with the tail whip gone awry that dumped the WC stripes into and over the barrier?
And Shirin van Anrooij is just making the rest of the field look like juniors. It does make the woman's races rather dull |
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longslowdistance
Posts:2886
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| 01/01/2023 09:48 PM |
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Love the passion of these posts and the recent racing quality. Just had the chance to watch a couple in replay. Great stuff, wow wow wow as someone posted above!
Here's a request of cross broadcasters: please show us more of the whole race, not just the leader as he or she navigates the course ahead of the competition. Need some additional guidance? see NASCAR video. Kinda similar as those races are on short closed courses. Sure they only turn left, but there are nuances that skilled commentators explain, and that works.
Just a request |
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