Cyclocross - CX and SSCX races and training

Cant I just identify as nowadays?

Some great chat this can't wait to see where it goes 👍

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWvZYv9c06g

This is quite brilliant if anyone hasn't seen it yet

This mixed relay is quite fun. I’d say 2 laps each rider though. Handovers should be hand-sling within a 30m (ish) marked section of the home straight.

Edit, now I’ve watch that test event it’s clear it’s just going to be a pure speed test. Only one even remotely technical feature with the banked turn. Not great for the WC course. They sticking in any barriers for the main races?

I enjoyed the mixed relay quite a bit! Loads of overtaking and fun to figure out the strategies, good to see Italy winning, hopefully that draws more attention to the sport there.

Agree the course is not technical enough for the WC, at least it was muddy back in October

I’ve not been able to follow the season much this year. How come WVA and MVDP aren’t racing? Not on their schedules or did something go wrong for them?

WVA came to the season late and won 6 in a row and was utterly dominant when he raced. He’s ended is season early to recover / train for the spring classics

MVDP came back for two races just before Christmas, flared up a back injury and pulled out of racing for the foreseeable

Ah cheers. Shame about MVDP, is that the injury he got at the Olympics?

apparently not but I'm sure that crash won't have helped.

For me at least, not having them around for most of the season has actually made the racing better. There's been some great battles this year - Zonhoven for example this year was amazing - and Wout was so utterly dominant it was only interesting for a few races. He won 9 of the 10 races he started (on average by over a minute), and the one he didn't win was due to a mechanical. I am excited to see if he can carry that form into the spring classics but a whole CX season of that would have dragged a bit!

Lucinda brand has had a similar dominance of the women's field (https://cyclocross24.com/rider/lucinda-brand/) and, for me at least, women's racing hasn't been quite so exciting this year as it was last year. Always nice to see Denise Betsema not winning though I guess.

god the fayetville course is dull. all the GCN hyping up makes it even worse. It properly is the cyclocross course equivalent of a Walmart bike

Agreed. They keep talking about how good it is, but I just don't see where the excitement is going to come from. Happy for the next couple of days to prove me wrong of course.

The riders hopefully

I enjoyed that u23 men's race, as @gofasterstipes says, the riders make the race. Who doesn't love a bit of arguing between team mates mid-race?

Yeah that was great. Looked like the Dutch had lost the race on the second lap when Kemp was demonstrating with Ronhaar or whatever. Have to agree about the course but it did make for tense racing. Seen at least 2 rolled tubs too!

Would be great to see a ding dong battle between Vos and Brand but I reckon Vos will smash it.

The Puck vs Fem show will be good tomorrow!

Just saw the women's elite. What a boring course. Might have been OK if it was muddy but with gaps like that it's basically a grass track road course.

Are the womens / u23 races available on catch-up anywhere? Can’t see them on bbc or Eurosport (don’t have gcn)

Both women's races from yesterday are on iPlayer:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/b0071xh4/cycling

They didn't show the u23 men's race unfortunately.

With the dull course and the relay on Friday, I'm convinced that this year is actually a test event for the viability of some kind of new short course gravel racing discipline

Super thanks… no idea why I could t find it before

So. Pieterse or Van Empel? Place your bets...

Jesus what a sh.. course . Travel across the world for a gravel track. Wipsnade zoo minus the animals.

The course is fast and not dense with technical features but (apart from junior women) every race has had a tense finish.

'Hank' from GCN is unbearable!

Van Der Har for the win