Pro-cycling thread

Sand to fly-over transition looks brutal, should be a good weekend. What's the first road race that will be broadcast? GP La Marseillaise?

I want MVDP to win. More panache than WVA.

Same. Last night when I saw the preview of the course with the giant ramp to sand I was thinking to myself 'maybe he should do a 360 into it on the last lap'. oh well.
It's a power course, not technical so much, so there should be a nice battle...

Have to disagree about it not being a technical course. Sand is very technical to ride. You only have to look at what happens to any UK based GB squad rider at Koksijde. The grass looks twisty tech too, especially in the wet and they will be avoiding using mud tubs no matter what.

On the beach!

I was echoing what seemed to be the consensus among Sven Nys, Lars Boom and Niels Albert, and from what I saw in the preview last night and the video on the previous page I agree. Of course there are technical features, and sand is hard to ride, but on the whole it's not one where the technical riders have a definite edge

Just watching the course preview now and it's madness that they have to take into account the tide levels for a cross race. Looking forward to watching this weekend, pretty sure MVDP will win over WVA but I'll be well happy if Pidcock podiums.

Agreed, different sand to Koksijde. Or rather fewer features and more affected by moisture.

So finely poised. Rooting for MvdP. Am I the only one surprised at how WvA has found his cx legs for the first time in 3/4 years?!

Hoping Pigeon can hold the power. Has a knack of peaking, much like Evie. Great to have UK podium contenders in every race :)

Am I the only one surprised at how WvA has found his cx legs for the first time in 3/4 years?!

Last year he came in half way through the season, still recovering from a horrific crash, and managed to hang with the top 5 in the world. He's still second to MvdP on most courses this season, but I think Ostend closes the gap a bit. He seems much more content to fill the underdog position this year.

Given the sand, I'd be surprised if we see any British riders on the podium, best chance would be Thomas Mein in the men's U23.

Agreed. And the year before he had just started juggling his dual ambitions in earnest. But even before that in '17/18, Wout rarely seemed able to match Mathieu except on the running courses. His extra power this year is incredible.

It's a really interesting coming together of the two different styles - Van Aerts got this incredible sustained effort but Mathieu van der Poel still has the jump which no-one can match. Probably comes from training for a grand tour vs a Olympic XC race.

I don't think people give WvA credit for his technical ability either - he's not always flashy but he's consistent and riding lines others don't see, there's probably a reason he's getting the run of the luck this year and not getting so many mechanicals.

If WvA can hold onto MvdP wheel for half the race then I think he comes the favourite.

His extra power this year is incredible.

That's what riding the Tour does for you.

I thought it was the beetroot juice sold at Jumbo :p

Yeh, love Wout's diesel and his ability to claw back a minute deficit. So strong mentally as well. He looked really solid on the tech at Namur. It's been striking how many falls Mathieu has had this year. Appreciate he's often taking risky lines but I wonder if Wout's form is playing with his head.

At the beginning of the season I was all guns for MVDP. As it's worn on I've come to appreciate that more dogged, consistent pacing and style from WVA. So I'm kind of rooting for him.

Part of me wonders if MVDP would have had his "race-ending" punctures if he were less gung ho at some major course features.

Oops, mistaken reply :(

Bits of British cycling Twitter have been talking about a ‘secret’ national track champs at Manchester velodrome either underway or about to be, with a bubble of 80 riders in a hotel and a social media ban.

Twitter always in there first with the full story.
https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/british-cycling-holding-90-athlete-track-race-simulation-in-manchester-during-covid-19-lockdown/

Ha- Thanks to the Twitter App messed up timelines I was looking at a flurry of posts this morning that were from about 3 hours before that story went up last night. Which hasn’t shown up on my phone yet.
Back to the browser version.

So that's what goes on backstage at the Dubtap Mystery Theatre. The illusion is lost for ever.

Nowhere at all to watch the U23s then?

EDIT: It's on GCN, my bad, I checked too early

Watching it now . Dubbed crowd noise

Ramp + sand = massive cartwheels

Why do the Belgians ride in light blue? What's the story behind it?

Beach looks brutal, worse than I had imagined. Think it'll favour WvA's running prowess?

Agreed. Interested to see if tide times help or hinder MvdP

Dubbed crowd noise

Nice of them to translate woops and cheers