fml
Who grabs a handful of chainring like that?
trying to stop the cranks turning by themselves?!!?
tyre/rim wedged against BB, probably sticks out past chainring, cos deepdish.
she said it was something like a chain issue… that shot looks a lot like her wheel came out so maybe a skewer? but a suspicious mind might say that when she found out the bike had been found she knew it was all over.
the younger classes are essentially elite. womens and mens elites were won by U23s, U23 was won by a first year U23 in both cases as well.
i read that Lars thought he’d shifted that front ring only to find he was still in the big ring for the remount at the top of that sandhill (which smoked his legs for the next section). Di2 fail? or brain fail? i doubt it would have mattered as wout had planned to go all in there (Niels was saying he’d run to that spot on the course to give Wout the signal/instruction/reminder).
Also, LOLs at Niels and his mechanic having to ride home to Lille (~50km) after the race as part of a bet about Wout winning the WC. Wout said he’d save them some snacks form the party (not that Niels needs any snacks in his current shape).
From Stevil at AHTBM.
Anyway as Bama very astutely pointed out regarding the motor- if the U23 folks have it, then you know everyone has it because the kids most certainly don’t have access to the hot shiz first. The sad thing is that the UCI most likely made an example out of Van den Driessche because she was a small but extremely visible fish, simply to send a message to the community at large (and more obvioulsy, professional teams). Popping a pro man at the Giro would be too much of a scandal. Pull the rug out of under a U23 woman? Much less collateral damage.
From my armchair (and a couple of re-watches) it looks like Lars lagged a bit to dismount after Wout hopped off which gave Wout an ever so slight lead and by the time Lars made it to the top of the hill Wout was gunning it away and Lars didn’t have the legs to pursue.
Watched the whole Men’s elite replay last night after watching the other races over the days prior. Some amazing racing across the weekend!
Amazing descent by Lars to get to the front before the run up.
Wout’s recovery from the bizarre foot incident with Mathieu van der Poel to catch and win was super impressive.
Most important message from the Men’s under 23 - always know how many laps there are to go. Another impressive recovery but just not enough juice to win the sprint.
I back this opinion.
http://www.australiancxmagazine.com.au/opinion-how-is-cyclocross-in-australia-managed/
I plan to be in “Niels Shape” in time for cross season.
[video=youtube_share;2WnoiBr1WHc]http://youtu.be/2WnoiBr1WHc[/video]
ENDORSED.
If you don’t know, now you do…
Interesting article. The social media beef with MTBA sort of flies over my head, but I do find it very strange that MTBA would choose dates right of the bat without even a location. I understand that this is done through a bid/eoi process, but why wouldn’t MTBA contact the local organisations which have successfully organised CX races in their backyard and see if they’re keen to host national rounds?
Also somebody commented on the article that their own CX state event in Vic clashes with one of this year’s round, which pretty much sucks.
its more than a social media beef, this is just one of the first very public mentions of it.
if you know how MTBA handled last years NCXS then their approach this year makes a lot of sense. their belief in their own power to control everything is one large part of the issue, especially since they are charging a lot for that and have little to no actual understanding of the events in question and provide very little for the service (and often less than promised). i’ll make mention that so far i’ve seen that post shared or commented on by almost every major CX race organiser in australia.
from what i’m hearing CA’s financial troubles may pale in comparison to MTBAs, and amongst the people they have pissed off are to career accountants.
but… enough of political issues. let’s go back to discussing how great that weekend of CX was!
Every aussie on the lead lap (except LJ 
)! Nick Frickin Smith finishing a couple of spots behind super-aitken! CARO MANI PODIUMS! (that last one was a highlight for me… she is really nice and has been working hard for years since moving to the US)
Feel the Mill-Burn.
Excellent article. Gonna miss seeing the Kanni-baal on the course.
http://velonews.competitor.com/sven-nys-the-final-finish-line