Opinions on the same country team reeling in their own mate at gravel worlds in the women’s race?
Racing is racing but that was a d move in my opinion. They sweep the podium if they let her go.
I think I read some where that Ten Dam said it was more or less impossible to impose a race plan for the gravel race and the women just defaulted to their “every woman for herself, no tactics whatsoever” that they tend to do.
Simmons’ ride was great. There are other guys I’d rather see flying the colors, but he went full Crime Dog. With Ferris in the race, Whaddaya gonna do?
Re Pog, UAE, etc. I think it is a much different peloton than in the Sky Froomie days. Lots of GT tour guys went off grid to places like Tenerife where there was little to no coms and hard to sneak up on the dopers who came back stripped down and flying. Not seeing that now. And each of the WT teams have management from those days where the “industry standards” were much different. Doesn’t mean they’re still living it. UAE has the biggest checkbook by far. That’s why they win like they do. Individuals will probably still get popped here and there but it’s not systemic.
The Who is battling it out in my head right now. Won’t get fooled again….. meet the new boss same as the old boss?
He has three this season, and I would think that the stars and stripes jersey would make what one of them was pretty obvious?
Also had one at Catalunya and one at TdSuisse
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Yeah, nationals for sure 
I guess I was thinking of World Tour races, but yes you are right, that should not be discounted.
I think it’s easy to overlook just how damn hard it is to actually win World Tour races. Simmons has managed the feat twice this season, which - iirc - is only one less than Matthew Brennan.
I think Brennan has taken another 1 or 2 WT wins than that this year, but otherwise I agree. Winning is tough at this level. Still, I wonder about his racing acumen at times. He has a ton of talent, that is for sure.
I was off by one, it looks like Brennan had WT wins at Catalunya (2), Romandie, and Pologne. Everything else was lower level.
Saw that comment, but will counter that the Belgian men appeared to have their shit together. Frankly I don’t see how it’s any different than a road race.
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Netherlands had 22 riders in the women’s race. 21% of the field (yikes!). That alone makes it pretty darn different from a road race.
Good point. Although wrt to tactics, there were more than 30 Belgian men, and I didn’t see any of them taking pulls with Pidcock.
I like the idea of this race but it is a bit wonky still.
I think the issue was substantially compounded for Netherlands in the women’s race due to the fact that they not only had 20% of the field on their team, they also had the top 5 or so favorites on the squad. “Anyone from another country” was probably laying really favorable odds.
It is a great idea for a race, but the execution is a bit of a s**t show. The “world bike path championship” line that was going around seems very much on target. And if they’re going to make this an elite championship they really need to limit the team sizes, just like they do at the “real” world championship events. Letting the out and out favorite team line up with that percentage of the field isn’t something that should ever happen at the level of the sport they’re pretending to here.
Having said that, I actually think team Netherlands deserves credit for doing it the right way. With such an overwhelming advantage, they could literally have simply blockaded the road and sent riders off the front to an easy win. In that situation just saying “have at it, ladies. May the best rider win” is the best answer.
Yeah, why they don’t have nation limits is odd. While the UCI loves rules, this feels like a free-for-all without any real structure. Or basically, just a money grab.
only watched some women’s race highlights - it sure seemed like Wiebes had an sd worx teammate pull back the solo van anrooij in order to sprint (while towing the Italian). To me that is lame (but so is allowing one country that many entries to worlds race - completely agree with fredly there). I guess I see Van Anrooij’s perspective more easily than Wiebes’s.
on the type of gravel terrain/surface front: I wonder how much the conditions between the different Euro gravel races vary (compared to the US conditions)? I bet Ten Dam would have A LOT of experience with course differences. My limited east coast of US gravel experiences (never graveled out west - where should I target first?!?) - conditions vary A LOT and even vary with when new gravel is applied and moisture/time of year (between hardpack dirt/ lots of chunky gravel/ lots of exposed large rocks on longer covered by enough dirt or gravel). Vermont uses classes (I-IV) for their gravel. I’d have to think having a few high level racers who race predominantly gravel in charge of the course would come up with a more preferred course.
the design of the race definitely feels pretty ‘cart before the horse’ - but pretty on brand for the uci. how long until omloop?
I’m pretty sure they’re doing gravel worlds in Australia next year, so hopefully that’s more of a proper gravel race as opposed to the “roads and bikes paths” we’ve seen so far. The UCI are no strangers to cash grabs, and I think the lack of real thought into this (parcours and team structure) indicates it’s not really something they’re taking all that seriously. They really should put some folks who know what they’re doing in charge and tighten up the rules a little.
I rode with Tegan and also chatted with her at the après-velo at L’Etape Femmes. She is undoubtedly one of the nicest people I’ve ever met cycling in my whole life.
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Imagine a triathlon comedy relay team of Tegan (bike), Laura Green (Run), and … hmmm?
Are there any funny swimmers?
I’m not aware, sorry
It is in AU, but that’s a long way to travel. Can’t imagine you’ll get a lot of WT riders heading there like we just saw. I get that it’s fair for AU riders but seems dumb in the overall scheme of things, and the 90%+ who would fill the pro and ag fields.
If Magnier can continue his prowess into spring one-days, SQS will quickly forget about Remco. He and Merlier will be a strong combo on Northern Classics.
The good news about racing in Oz: the Dutch women won’t dominate the startlst again
The bad news: the field could be >50% Aussies
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