General racing chitchat

[MrsHJ]

I thought that this might be the place for eg the Worlds.

I see that Remco won the classic San Sebastián. Be interesting to see if he can win another world road race. People seem to be not betting in a Pogacar but I think he has something to prove and it shouldn’t be too hot for him!

For the women I’m building up my knowledge now I have access to GCN+ but it would be cool to see Vollering doing the TdF and worlds.

[MrsHJ]

Well that was all very exciting. Lucky spectators who got to see a world class field in action repeatedly (not so lucky riders maybe). Looking at the podium difficult to say that these aren’t the top riders in this type of discipline in the world at the moment ie despite some debates about the route those on the podium would be those you might expect for a spring classic which seems the most likely outcome for this type of course.

[pjclinch]

Well that was all very exciting. Lucky spectators who got to see a world class field in action repeatedly (not so lucky riders maybe). Looking at the podium difficult to say that these aren’t the top riders in this type of discipline in the world at the moment ie despite some debates about the route those on the podium would be those you might expect for a spring classic which seems the most likely outcome for this type of course.

Had my wife not been doing a 'cross race in Kirkcaldy we'd have gone through.
Ned really got the Commentator's Curse thing, didn't he? though thankfully MvdP came out okay and was a worthy winner.

I think most of the grumbles were from people it didn't suit, but as you say, with that podium the cream rose to the top, as it should in a Worlds. Also, had it been ridiculous the basic course wouldn't have had multiple outings dating back to the 2014 Commonwealths (won by G and Lizzie Deignan, again the cream rising to the top).

Another silver for Wout... but he may not have been getting much sleep lately, and recent arrival Jerome will have a Worlds Coo out of it

Pete.

[Wipperman_95]

Wout's record of silver medals in various Worlds/Olympics is starting to look very Poulidor-esque....Quite ironic when a lot of them are behind the latter's grandson.

And he has another chance in the ITT later this week, where Remco is probably the favourite.

Meanwhile, MvdP attempts a 'hat trick' in the XCO race on Saturday, but will start last as he has no UCI ranking points, having not ridden the MTB since Tokyo 2021, and the infamous crash.

[MrsHJ]

Wout's record of silver medals in various Worlds/Olympics is starting to look very Poulidor-esque....Quite ironic when a lot of them are behind the latter's grandson.

And he has another chance in the ITT later this week, where Remco is probably the favourite.

Meanwhile, MvdP attempts a 'hat trick' in the XCO race on Saturday, but will start last as he has no UCI ranking points, having not ridden the MTB since Tokyo 2021, and the infamous crash.

So I agree but when you look at what he achieved in last years Tour de France maybe we aren’t measuring them consistently. MvdP tends to be very quiet and then knocks it out the park whereas WvA does a lot well. It might be interesting to see what would happen if Wout changed his programme and did a bit less and targetted a smaller number of top results. NB I hear he’s doing this years Tour of Britain instead of the Vuelta in support of Vingegaard. No doubt Sep Kuss will be doing the Vuelta and he’s another it would be interesting to see without being on domestique duties.

[foxyrider]

Is it not quite interesting that the mens mtb cross country events were podium heavy with road world tour riders? The MTB guys were rightly annoyed by the UCI's fiddling of start grid rules but perhaps they should be more worried at how 'easily' our Tom got from starting 35th to finishing with time in hand over all the 'specialists'?

And a shout out to all of our new World Champions, i'll not be mean, i'll include furreners in that, jolly good show from everyone!

Seems the only people who didn't enjoy Glasgow 2023 were the proprieters of a donut shop and a restaurant who i'm sure were actually just after some free publicity, its not like the event was a secret, they knew the roads would be closed!

[Postboxer]

Was great to see all the different disciplines together as one big festival of cycling. Some unbelievable skills on display.

[pal]

I agree! I went up to Glasgow to watch some track and road cycling, and ended up seeing all sorts of other things (cycle football, artistic cycling, trails biking...) -- it was a really great experience (not just seeing all the different styles of cycling, but also encountering all the different fandoms).

[Pendodave]

The artistic cycling is quite extraordinary. I commend it to anyone who hasn't seen it.

[mattheus]

The artistic cycling is quite extraordinary. I commend it to anyone who hasn't seen it.

Each to his own - but IMO it's nothing to do with cycling.

It's just circus tricks that happen to use (only) a bike. I'd rather go to the circus.

[VinceLedge]

We went to the Velodrome and watched a morning session, and the the 2 elite road races, great experience and atmosphere. We missed the MTB marathon that went within a mile of our house as t was the same day as the RR.
Overall a great event, although we only went to events as they were fairly local!
We did put in for volunteering but only one of us was offered a place so didn't do it!

[Mike Sales]

The artistic cycling is quite extraordinary. I commend it to anyone who hasn't seen it.

Each to his own - but IMO it's nothing to do with cycling.

It's just circus tricks that happen to use (only) a bike. I'd rather go to the circus.

This is a facsimile of a 1901 book. It has many photographs of ladies in long dresses doing tricks that I could not, including knitting whilst balancing a stationary bicycle.

[pjclinch]

Is it not quite interesting that the mens mtb cross country events were podium heavy with road world tour riders? The MTB guys were rightly annoyed by the UCI's fiddling of start grid rules but perhaps they should be more worried at how 'easily' our Tom got from starting 35th to finishing with time in hand over all the 'specialists'?

I think this is actually more of an issue in 'Cross than MTB, my guess is because that's less technical terrain than MTB. It's also the case that Pauline Ferrand-Prevot had a pretty patchy 'Cross season but is still clearly knocking it out of the park on the MTB, and I suspect that may be where the line between power/stamina and intricate off-road technique is playing a role.

There again, you could say the majority of roadies are looking a bit slack when the 'Cross boys (MvdP, WvA and TP) turn up for a road race!

Pete.

[mattheus]

The artistic cycling is quite extraordinary. I commend it to anyone who hasn't seen it.

Each to his own - but IMO it's nothing to do with cycling.

It's just circus tricks that happen to use (only) a bike. I'd rather go to the circus.

This is a facsimile of a 1901 book. It has many photographs of ladies in long dresses doing tricks that I could not, including knitting whilst balancing a stationary bicycle.
WIN_20230815_10_09_46_Pro.jpg

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=htt ... HQAAAAAQAw
(sorry for not trimming link!)

World Record for "Longest Duration Balancing a bicycle on the Chin". Minimum weight 12 kg / 26.5 lbs. www.davidrush4stem.com David Rush September 17, 2016. 2 minutes 36.66 seconds.

[Wipperman_95]

Is it not quite interesting that the mens mtb cross country events were podium heavy with road world tour riders? The MTB guys were rightly annoyed by the UCI's fiddling of start grid rules but perhaps they should be more worried at how 'easily' our Tom got from starting 35th to finishing with time in hand over all the 'specialists'?

I think this is actually more of an issue in 'Cross than MTB, my guess is because that's less technical terrain than MTB. It's also the case that Pauline Ferrand-Prevot had a pretty patchy 'Cross season but is still clearly knocking it out of the park on the MTB, and I suspect that may be where the line between power/stamina and intricate off-road technique is playing a role.

There again, you could say the majority of roadies are looking a bit slack when the 'Cross boys (MvdP, WvA and TP) turn up for a road race!

Pete.

There are two versions of PFP; the one you see in the season, who can compete, and occasionally win; then there is the World Champs version; lighter, and climbs almost effortlessly, and just rides away from everyone. We saw that last season, and ended up winning 4 World titles in about 2 months. Turned up for the CX races a month later, and looked like a different rider...There was an article on Pinkbike before last year's Worlds about peaking, and managing weight loss....

'Cross is more about pure power than anything else; you don't have to be brilliant technically, and still succeed; as the courses tend to be more flat, and less technical. If you're a lighter rider, you have very few courses where you can shine...
And very few riders can succeed in both disciplines - only a handful of current riders have won World Cups in both CX & XCO.