Fem is looking human (Impress by ceilin bike handling skills tho)

wout took his time - prob. tired from yesterday race.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBXubHL-g9I

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The entire event (IM) is like "death by 1000 cuts" and the best race is minimizing all those cuts and losing less blood than the other guy. - Dev

My holiday gift is that I have been pretty much off all week. Have gotten up, hopped on trainer, and watched a great two races every morning.

I have really enjoyed each Women's race, with great battles and different winners. Ceylin continues to look and ride fantastic. Today was nice sans all the big hitters (except for the Incredible Hulk). Iserbyt took a needed day off today. I love his fight.

Good blast from the past today. Poor Iserbyt getting bullied by Piddles at the end yesterday. I hope Iserbyt gets at least one triumph over his part-timing arch-nemesis.

Tomorrow ought to be interesting, with MvdP on a few days in a row and the other two bigs dawgs more rested.

Wow, did anyone view MVP spitting on the spectators on the last lap of this mornings WC race. He just raised my level of dislike, and to hear the BBC commentator and Jeremy Powers in his support. UCI will likely investigate the incident and should sanction him.

Cry baby https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouPejyxfHYg, pushing teen age girls around, spiting on spectators, the guy has management issues.

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Marc Sasso

Live and on replay. Mathieu commented on it after the race, but my Dutch is not good.

I don't have a big problem with it, as it was obviously a specific pair of drunk fans that MvdP had the issue with. I'm sure the UCI will fine him or something, but once in a while the drunks need to be put in their place. Remember Sven running into the crowd?


You sound like you don't like Mathieu. I hope he doesn't lose sleep over that.

Meanwhile, fantastic women's race! Continual drama, and it looks like we'll have a tight 4-way battle through the rest of the year.

Too bad that Piddles and WvA got mechanicaled out of this last one. Mason has now "caused" starting sprint pile-ups in the last two races. The today's wasn't anywhere near as bad as yesterday's when he pulled his foot and like 20 guys went down. Well anywhere near as bad except for Piddles' bike.

didn't see that one, but I've heard more than one rider talk about the love/hate relationship they have with Belgian fans. great to have huge numbers of paying fans - makes for great money and exposure. but there really are a lot of obnoxious drunks at those races and they can really become a circus.

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https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

Pretty f up what he did IMO

I hope the UCI come down hard on him. The fans maybe crazy but nobody was spitting on him so he crossed a line that is not usually crossed in sports.

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The entire event (IM) is like "death by 1000 cuts" and the best race is minimizing all those cuts and losing less blood than the other guy. - Dev

Yeah, not pro. Hope he can figure out how to stay more level headed.

Meanwhile, Vida takes the 17-18 jr women’s race. Maybe the next Clara in the making?

not seeing a LOT from Clara so hopefully someone better :)

Girls race today was super good today!

Ceiline ALMOST made an epic come back!

btw: at what point Ineos pull the plug on Tom? how many more crashes? for what? they have high hopes on him for the tours so risking an injury during CX races seems short sighted to me.

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The entire event (IM) is like "death by 1000 cuts" and the best race is minimizing all those cuts and losing less blood than the other guy. - Dev

And then there was Wellens' martial arts practice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRQR-9bKV9Q.

He’s had some terrible CX luck this season, that’s for sure.

It will be the spectator's loss if they come down hard on him. There are expectations on both sides for fan and athlete behaviour.

100% but athletes can't take matters into their own hands - multiple ways to go about it. Now the booing is going to get louder and more annoying cause they know they are in his head so it is a lose lose for the athlete.

btw: Terrible new for the Dennis family :'(

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/rohan-dennis-charged-with-causing-the-death-of-wife-melissa-hoskins-after-car-incident/

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The entire event (IM) is like "death by 1000 cuts" and the best race is minimizing all those cuts and losing less blood than the other guy. - Dev

I've read that it wasn't just booing, but a group of 'fans' who were filling empty beer cups with urine and throwing it. apparently it can be seen from some angles on the race coverage?

if that were the case ... I'd allow MVdP's reaction!

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https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

Awful.

 

i don't care what the fans were doing, seeing the WC spit into the crowd was not a good look. add to that the reckless tdf leadouts, degenkolb body check, and the aussie hotel incident, and i'm finding him harder and harder to admire as a person, much as i do admire his cycling.

Any pro footballer gets booed and insulted while taking corner kicks when playing visitor, you are not going to see them spitting to the crowds. MvdP should be fined and/or suspended.

To be fair, I am basing my opinion on the fact that MvdP did not report the urine throwing, now if that actually happened, then yeah...that is a bit much from the crowds.

And what do you mean by "sad day for the Dennis family" ? Are you taking about the kids? It sounds as if the guy is being charged for his wife's death. Not a huge fan of Dennis, as he came across as a very difficult and entitled guy (e.g. badmouthing Ineos after they hired him after his Bahrain disaster)...but this is insane.

Where are you seeing the murder charge?

The description in the articles I've read were ambiguous.

Bummer way to end our positive cycling thread for the year.

I edited to remove it, as someone shared the article and added it, but it seems as if all articles "dangerous driving" as the formal charge so far. There was also a mention of an argument, but I can't find it anymore. Investigation is ongoing and I suspect lawyers are involved.

Reminds of a bad old bad dad joke: On our 10th wedding anniversary my wife wanted to surprise me with a brand new SUV. Thankfully, I saw her coming just in time and quickly stepped out of the way.

Or, MvdP just did a great service to his fellow racers, being one of the few in a position to do so.

Fans aren't just booing, they're spitting and yelling some sad shit. (Sad enough that Mathieu refused to repeat it.) No idea if the urine thing is true, but certainly fans have been known to hurl half empty beers. Hence empties on the course.

Unlike the football fans cited above, I don't think crossers often (ever?) get ejected from the race grounds. The tv cameras don't show the worst of the abuse, but we hear about it routinely.

In the past ever time a star gets involved at least a little more attention is paid, and the fans themselves do more to police this behavior. The truly sad thing is that's the only option, as the racers have no other recourse. The organizers and the UCI aren't going to do anything.

Remember Sven climbing into the crowd? He had lost it, and I truly believed he was going to punch that fan. After a very brief, awkward pause, another fan pushed Sven out of the way and punched the guy himself, probably sparing Sven a world of trouble.

MvdP won't mind paying the $2. Let's hope the fans step up this time, too.

There are better ways of getting involved than spitting, though. I'm definitely not on buzz' anti-MdVP train, but agree that this was an immature act.

Also the other Hulst drama was Pidcock headbutting a Swedish junior club rider like way back in 80th. The video isn't a great look for Pidcock. I understand being pissed about the broken bike, but I hope he eventually apologized to that kid who clearly had no idea what was going on.

lol... I literally just got off a call with a training client who was in the race, and we were talking about the lessons one could - and should - take from seeing how Pidcock rode through the field. Suffice to say they don't exactly align with your assessment of Pidcock's comportment, nor does the reality of what things actually look like in the parts of top level CX that don't typically make it to the TV coverage.

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I'm not sure there is much in top level CX that *doesn't* make it to TV coverage. There are cameras at every corner always running, and even interesting stuff that happens away from the lead bunch is captured for replay. Case in point Pidcock making the pass around 80th position.

But I don't think I'd disagree with your client overall. Pidcock is a brilliant offroad racer. Arguably the best in the world at finding his way through traffic, and anyone could learn a ton by watching him advance through the field. The headbutt and body lean into the turn was fine when it was Luca Schwarzbaeur in the the last turn of an XC WC race. If you're Luca you've got to either carry more speed around the outside or block the inside line and force someone to try to pass outside. But I hold that it was just an angry move when 3 minutes back of Mathieu on lap 2. Not sure why he'd want to initiate it except when it's tactically relevant, like with Schwarzbaeur.

The below is just fine. Unnecessary given Pidock had already won the race by carrying more momenum through the preceding turn, and the bodycheck was just sending a little message to Iserbyt about who has primacy in their near-decade long rivlary. But still it's a move among peers.

What I don't like about the move with the club kid, is that if the club kid had defended his position how WvA might have, and pins Pidcock against the corner post on that turn, that kid is in deep shit for putting a superstar at risk. So save the move for your peers, like WvA, Iserbyt, Schwarzbauer.