World cup XC 2018

jShort

2018 Fantasy Football Toilet Bowl Lead Technician
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Starts tomorrow. It's on at like 5AM I think, but you can catch the replay. Red bull tv app is free. And you can cast it to your tv.

It's better than watching the news tell you how it may snow again.
 

jShort

2018 Fantasy Football Toilet Bowl Lead Technician
Team MTBNJ Halter's
So, if a rapha athlete is on the podium a lot this year, will they be tempted to make MTB specific gear?? Thoughts @stb222 ?
 

stb222

Love Drunk
Jerk Squad
So, if a rapha athlete is on the podium a lot this year, will they be tempted to make MTB specific gear?? Thoughts @stb222 ?
Who knows, Pauline Ferraud or however you spell it did wel today and she is in Canyon/Rapha team.

Much of raphas recent additions seem to be adding more stuff that isn’t traditional road. Who knows if this will lead to the mtb side.
 

1speed

Incredibly profound yet fantastically flawed
That was a great race, but I don't understand how everyone is so excited about Van der Poel and not Sam Gaze. I saw a bunch of people talking about how amazing it was that Van der Poel came from 47th to third by the end of the second lap. It surprises me that anyone would be shocked by that. The guy is the best cross racer in the world - getting up to speed quickly off the start is kind of his thing. He was starting in the sixth row - three pedal strokes into the race he was probably already up to the third row, and was top ten before they finished the first lap (I distinctly recall he was right behind Kulhavy in 15th or something after the first climb.) So, yeah, that's a great start but ... of course he starts well: he's coming in to the first WC of the season in top form from CX where starts are very, very important. And the same people who are talking about him and his impressive fourth place aren't mentioning the fact that Sam Gaze only started in 30th spot himself and he actually was the only one to accomplish even staying with Nino (not to mention beating him!) in over a year on this stage.

Van der Poel showed the same weakness he had last year (which, admittedly, could be due to the fact that he's one of the only guys out there who's been racing all winter): he couldn't hold the pace in the middle of the race. And even with Gaze winning in the end, you always kind of felt like Nino was in control that whole day -- the way he backed off the pace just to play carrot for Marotte so he could put in an effort the moment Marotte bridged and put him away for good was brilliant. I seriously doubt he'd have done any differently with Van der Poel if he had to. On the other hand, I think Gaze beat Nino straight up - even with the pedal skip, I don't think Nino was going to outsprint him at that point - but the fact was he dictated that pace and found that Gaze was equal to it in the end. He won't make that mistake again - there were a few moments when it looked like Nino could have ridden away from him earlier and just played it too cautiously, and it cost him. He underestimated Gage. He didn't underestimate Van der Poel.

I think it's cool that there finally seems to be some guys able to challenge Nino now that Absalon is showing his age more, but I still think Nino will continue to be the dominant racer for a while yet. And this weekend showed that if there is a rival right now, it's Gage not Van der Poel. At least for the time being.
 

jShort

2018 Fantasy Football Toilet Bowl Lead Technician
Team MTBNJ Halter's
but I don't understand how everyone is so excited about Van der Poel and not Sam Gaze

Because everyone loves cross! :). It's not his primary discipline and it he's a crowd favorite.

All the headlines I've seen are about Gaze and actually more about Nino's streak ending. MVP is secondary.
 

jShort

2018 Fantasy Football Toilet Bowl Lead Technician
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Today's racing was actually pretty exciting. Both Men's and women's.

The short track on the Friday before definitely adds to it.

Free on redbull TV. Give it a shot
 

Jeffreywoliver

Well-Known Member
I’ve watched both the Stellenbosch and Nove Mesto WC rounds. Is it me or don’t both of these courses look easy, technically speaking. Ringwood and Mooch both seemed like harder courses. There was the pick-up sticks at Stellenbosch and that 20 yard section at Nove Mesto, but otherwise...The Albstadt race, on the other hand, seemed quite technical with the roots, drops and mud. Climbing aside, the course is what you make of it, but as far as technical riding goes they seemed pretty tame. I ain’t implying that I could hang. Just an observation.
 

NJ-XC-Justin

KY-DH-Freddy
This wasn't my favorite year but overall I still loved the races. And my son and i drove up to the mont saint anne race in August! It was a blast even if a Frenchman won again :) I got to meet troy brosnan, gee, and tons more racers. Next year it's world champs there so I'm going back to watch Luca Shaw win it all!
 
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