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Fly out a week ahead and practice the course > rock up and race.
The tiny Dutch boy wasn’t a victim of a difficult course. Looks like his front wheel slid out or tram-lined in a rut. Just a mistake as it didn’t happen to many others. Wasn’t the Swiss winner of the junior mens not a regular cross rider? The commentators kept saying he just had good power and had been on a UAE camp.
Anyone got a number on the amount of crashes per race yday vs the average slopfest in a boat yard?
snoops-
Wasn’t the Swiss winner of the junior mens not a regular cross rider?
https://cyclocross24.com/rider/jan-christen/
Losing your front wheel in a rut is a mistake, obviously, but most road riders would shit the bed if they had to take a downhill rutted corner at the speed required yesterday. There is a skill element in cyclocross that is hugely under appreciated by casual observers of the sport. I've lost count of the number of times I've seen talented road riders turn up at a race, with expectations that they'll do well, only to have their arse handed to them on a plate because they don't have the bike handling skills to keep up with more experienced riders.
andyp
Bullshit.
Honestly, you lot think this course was so easy, but the best cross races in the world were having problems with it - i.e. in the men's junior race the pre-race favourite crashed and lost all hope of a podium, in the u23 women's race the pre-race favourite got caught out by one of the ramps and lost any chance of the win - so any WT pro who just happened to rock up and race wouldn't have stood a chance.