Things Bike: December 2010

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

CX GvA-Troffee Baal, Saturday 1.1.11

GvA-Trofee
BAAL

GvA-Troffee Baal (GP Sven Nys)
8:30am EST, Saturday, January 1, 2011

Channel 3 Live Stream (with Flemish commentary and forum dialogue box)
Channel 7 Live Stream
Channel 8 Live Stream
Channel 9 Live Stream

NOTE: Live Stream is fickle. Channel 3 is best if you can get it, but there are times when the screen is blank, while it comes in fine on other channels. If one doesn't work, switch to another until you get a channel that shows the stream.

GvA Trofee Standings
1. Kevin Pauwels 106
2. Sven Nys 102
3. Zdenek Stybar (Tsj) 89
4. Bart Wellens 81
5. Niels Albert 80
6. Klaas Vantornout 76
7. Bart Aernouts 71
8. Gerben de Knegt (Ned) 49
9. Tom Meeusen 48
10. Enrico Franzoi (Ita) 47

Let's see if Nys can break his run of bad luck as he draws close to the finish line. Broken pedals, broken chains, bikes pulled out from under him--it's all very dramatic, but it would be nice to see a sprint finish rather than these mechanically driven or error prone outcomes.

Let's also cheer on Jonathan Page. He finally clawed his way into the top ten today at Azencross Loenhout.

It's great to have Stybar back in the running. Two third place finishes after a stint away has him beaming with joy up on the podium.

Monday, December 27, 2010

CX GvA-Troffee Loenhout, Wednesday 12.29.10

GvA-Troffee Loenhout
8:45am EST, Wednesday, December 29th
Channel 3 Live Stream

Standings
1. Kevin Pauwels 87
2. Sven Nys 77
3. Zdenek Stybar 70
4. Bart Wellens 65
5. Klaas Vantornout 62
6. Bart Aernouts 60
7. Niels Albert 55
8. Gerben de Knegt 49
9. Rob Peters 44
10. Enrico Franzoi 44

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Superprestige Diegem CX Monday, Dec 27

Tune in Monday, December 27 at 10:55am EST for the 6th Superprestige race of the season in Diegem, Belgium.

Race Live Stream Channel 3
or
Race Live Stream Vt4

Unlike the World Cup, a race organized by national teams, the Superprestige is a trade team series.

Interesting Trivia

This series, begun in 1983, was won three times by Radomir Simunek, Sr., in 1991, 1992, and 1995. Sadly, Radomir Simunek, Jr. broke his collarbone yesterday in WC Zolder.

Sven Nys has, so far, 51 victories in the Superprestige series, far more than any other racer. The next closest was Roland Liboton, with 21 wins.

Nys won the series 9 times, beginning in 1999. The next closest was Hennie Stamsnijder, who won the series 4 times, the last time in 1989.

It was in the last Superprestige race in Gieten, Netherlands that Nys's pedal came off in his sprint with Meeusen.

In the 2006-2007 season, Niels Albert came in 1st overall and Zdenek Stybar 2nd -- in the Under 23 series. Nys won 1st overall in the Elite series.

In the 2009-2010 season, Zdenek Stybar came in 1st overall, Niels Albert 2nd and Sven Nys 3rd -- in the Elite series.

Niels Albert won the Under 23 series three times in a row in '05, '06, and '07. He also won the Junior series in '04.

Lars Boom won the Junior series in '03.

Zolder CX: Why Cyclocross is Great

The snowy conditions were similar to Kalmthout, though the race shook out in an entirely different way. These were a couple of the best CX races I've seen so far this season, with the utmost in technical challenge, and with heart pumping excitement right down to the final moments. These races are what make CX such an amazing sport.

It was touted as a race tailor-made for the likes of Sven Nys, and noted as a poor venue for Niels Albert. Albert wasn't listening and Nys had a bad day, but most of all the wildcard of Lars Boom turned it into a major duel of strength, stamina, savvy, and technical skill.

Boom isn't even doing that many CX races this year and could be excused for not having that little extra that's needed to race at the very top of the standings as he once did. Add to that, early in the race, the chain on his bike was happier off the sprockets than on. Three times it dropped off and gave Albert all he needed to pull away and solo for the rest of the race toward victory. Worse, for some reason, Boom didn't change bikes when the chain problem initially arose and he stumbled around the course as if that bike was a lucky charm that he was unwilling to part with. This was nearly his undoing, but fortunately he finally dipped into the pits and swapped it out for a chain happy mount.

Somehow, Boom was able to reconnect with Albert each time he got dropped. But pulling away was another thing. The two slipped and slid around the course together until the penultimate lap, when Boom's power was just too much for Albert. Boom once again built a sizable lead as Albert began to fatigue and make one small mistake after another.

Meanwhile, the race for the last step on the podium was shaking out in strange and unusual ways. For a while it looked like a race of pairs. Boom-Albert, Nys-Simunek, and Wellens-De Knegt, as Pauwels drifted from the front of the pack into the ether and Klaas Vantornout continued developing his skills at unintentional dismounting and stumbling in the first turn of the race removing him from contention right away.

De Knegt connected with Nys-Simunek as Wellens dangled not far behind in what appeared to be his usual position somewhere fifth or beyond. Then Simunek slid and went down in a horrible crash that appeared to sideline him with major bodily damage (collarbone, perhaps?) as De Knegt slipped past Nys who was fending off the Czech's tumbling bike. It was hard to understand what followed as the cameras went back to the front of the race, then returned to this battle to reveal a De Knegt-Wellens rivalry with Nys in the atypical position of lone dangler. Either Simunek's bike did some physical damage to Nys or the crash he'd just observed took the fighting spirit out of him.

Wellens' rare position as a podium contender in recent times gave him the impetus to dig deep and pull away from De Knegt. He turned the final corner with a comfortable buffer for third place.

It looked like the race was decided with Boom's lead going into the teens and climbing, but in the last lap Albert found the rail on an uneven course that seemed to favor the skills of a surfer on choppy seas as Boom began to either ease up or begin to poop out. The difference narrowed to three seconds with half a lap to go and all of a sudden the race was back on and it looked like it would be decided in a sprint.

Boom still had one last reserve of acceleration and sensing the danger, stretched the three seconds back into the teens by the time he hit the finishing straight. It was the only time during the whole race when he was able to relax and savor his efforts.

Think about it, without Boom, Albert would have taken off solo and the race wouldn't have had nearly the excitement or story that this race had. What this shows more than anything is Lars Boom's power, skills and talent. It certainly indicates his ability as a major contender in the Spring Classics, either this year or in years to come.

Friday, December 24, 2010

Zolder Cyclocross Dec 26, 2010

Zolder CX World Cup #6
Heusden-Zolder, Belgium
Tune in at 8:50am EST, Sunday, December 26th
http://sports-livez.com/channel/ch-3.php

Last year was a crash ridden hard packed sand and mud race with a win by Kevin Pauwels. Jonathan Page was in contention for a top 5 finish, but crashed near the end and crossed the line in 14th. Top 3 placings went to Pauwels, Albert and Nys in a hard fought battle throughout.

With all the snow hitting northern Europe this week it may be a repeat of last week's snowy skirmish at Kalmthout. Included in this year's race is Lars Boom, and Stybar is back on the start list (will he start, and if so, will he ride the whole race?) after his recent knee issues. It should be another entertaining event with the best of the best scrapping away.

Start List (a few selected riders)
USA
Ryan Trebon
Jonathan Page
Brian Matter
Ryan Knapp
Mark Lalonde
Sean Babcock
Ryan Iddings
Mitchell Hoke

Netherlands
Lars Boom
Gerben de Knegt

Czech Republic
Zdnek Stybar
Radomir Simunek

Belgium
Sven Nys
Niels Albert
Bart Wellens
Bart Aernouts
Tom Meeusen
Kevin Pauwels
Klaas Vantornout

Current World Cup Standings
1. Niels Albert 350
2. Kevin Pauwels 301
3. Sven Nys 299
4. Francis Mourey 290
5. Bart Aernouts 243
6. Zdenek Stybar 230
7. Bart Wellens 229
8. Klaas Vantornout 229
9. Gerben de Knegt 210
10. Philipp Walsleben 207

Women
Though the women's race is not live streamed anywhere that I can find, Katie Compton is back from a decisive win in last week's Kalmthout race.

The full roster for USA women is:
Katie Compton
Susan Butler
Meredith Miller
Maureen Bruno Roy
Christine Vardaros

Happy Holidays everyone.