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CX World Champs: Elite men LIVE


The riders are ready. 61000 people are ready in the sandpit of Koksijde. We're ready. Let's go!

Where will they be racing? On sand!

Who will be racing? Startlist

Where can I watch? Sportz-livez or Cyclingfans

When does it start? At 15:00 CET. Sporza have prerace from 13:30

0 recs  |  648 comments

Comments

Has Lance won yet?
None of the stream links on sport-livez seem to work right now

Should they? I suck at time zones and it’s 4:30am, so ;\

Pre-race show is on

Interviewer asks Albert’s manager why he (the manager) spent 10 minutes on the loo. Interesting stuff.

Yeah, not that that I'm interested in (or would understand) that

I’d just like to get the stream (no pun intended) working asap

the Sporza link is working for me.
Me too :)

Now

When the race starts it might go to georestricted.
? It was fine for the women's race
Oh good. Who won?
Not sure if serious

who’d’ya think? :p

I am serious but by that answer it was Vos?
Much talk about Koksijde 1994

with Herijgers and Groenendaal in the studio. The Pat On The Shoulder.

Good times

Have you seen the documentary about that one? De Groenen seemed very bitter. Sad to see that.

the guy who won has long arms!
Paul Herijgers

He is co-commentator for most CX races on Sporza. In the studio now. Host Vannieuwkerke just promised a surprise.

It looks like they are all being emotional.
Ah yes, the Hungarian dude who lent him a hand on one of the finishing straights
This is entertaining even though I can't understand it.
The Hungarian guy is a cycling coach now

At Koksijde ’94, he was doubled first by Groenendaal, who apparently shoved him out of the way, then when entering the finish lane Herijgers got up to him, shouted: “Attack!” And he obliged, brought Herijgers back up to Groenendaal against the wind. Last bit to the camera, drinking a Leffe: “This is what the Belgian people already did for me. Now what will you do for me, Paul Herijgers? Will you invite me to come watch a race in Belgium? Or else here is my bank account number.” (al in good jest)

Awww.... so it was a heart warming story.
OH MY. She has spent too much time tanning.
Of course... while Sven is out training on Mallorca

She’s getting fried on the beach.

Ha

(it looked completely fake / sunbed)

Isabelle Nys is ORANGE!! WOOHOO! GO HOLLAND!
Good morning....

I am awake… I think…Anyone has an aspirine?

Oh darn it. I thought this thing started at 5am. I could've slept another hour.
Half hour
cyclingfans says it starts at 6am. Is it wrong?
Yes! It starts at 3pm.
Oh

It says 29/01 UCI World Championships Cyclocross – Elite for Men (14:30h CET)

at the top of the stream I’m watching

The race itself starts at 15:00 CET
Wow
British Cycling @BCreports

quick sum finds that Vos’s ave speed today was approx 21.6 kph, yesterday’s under-23 men’s winner averaged 25.1 kph.
Wow big diff, or wow small diff?

Pretty big, I think, but Vos did have to lay down all the tracks through the sand, every lap, every sand section.

big difference
do they grrom the track after each race?
groom
No

but riders walking destroy the tracks.

Vos said she didn't feel super today.

And obviously she wasn’t under any pressure at all. I think she could go faster, probably not as fast as the best U23 guys though.

do the women do more circuits?
Fewer

both do 40 minutes (+finish the lap).

Jesus

If she wasn’t on her best today and still won that dominantly….well do I really even need to finish the sentence?

She's simply a class above the rest, we knew that already.
She was technically very bad

average speed could have been higher with a better technique. I

The funniest thing about the race was that while Vos was a million miles out ahead, Richard Fries, the commentator

was talking about how rubbish she is on sand, how it’s her least favourite type of race, how she’s technically rubbish on it, etc etc etc. We just laughed, as she was SO far ahead!

(but she did seem to be making a few little mistakes – like slipping every now and again. Not that it mattered, it seems like a Vos-slip comes from her pushing it 100% ALL THE TIME! which makes me happy!)

God, that dude was annoying

COMPTON COMPTON COMPTON COMPTON COMPTON

I know!

and Trebon, Trebon, Trebon in the men’s!

She crashed a lot actually

she always tried to ride when running would have been faster. With a better technique she’d have won by more than 2 minutes.

I know, but it was funny, because she was still so good!
Yeah

but from the way the guy was talking you’d think she was in 81st place or something

haha, yes, like she was useless and needs to try harder!
I just saw dancing garbage
Interesting. Groenendaal doesn't believe Stybar will succeed on the road.

“He’s a crosser. Boom has been developed as a road rider, that’s a difference.”

He also doesn’t believe Boom can return to cross like Van der Poel did in the past.

And he said he thinks Styby will be back in CX after some time
Stybar is pink women's panties

Albertina!!!!!
True fact - after the race, I could tell where Albertina had been watching

by the little circle of bright pink feathers from her boa, laying in the sand

Oh, you should have gotten a picture of that
I really should have - but my fingers had fallen off (along with my toes & nose - DAMN, it was cold!)
W... T... F???
And it had a big number 1 written in a precarious place

Groenendaal and Vanthourenhout in the studio were immediately dismissive; no longer a contender for them. For the cycly-cross race, I mean. Otherwise, who knows. NTTAWWT.

Pauwels has the best supporter in the world.
Meter Fientje (Pauwels' grandma)... fantastic report that was.
Here we go, one Leffe Blond

looks like 2-3 liters.

I can’t believe I am currently drinking skim milk.

are you locked up in a basement somewhere?
something like that :(

still, I am looking forward to seeing my 1st Cross World Championships

Did you enjoy it?

I mean, in that glass…

Hehe

Was great. Just pulled a random glass from the cupboard.

Wow, who's the nervous dude in the Stybar camp?
Can't remmember the last time I watched a cross race

College only gives me time for reports. Couldn’t miss this one though.

Stybar winning would be beautiful

Glad you are joining us!
Sven winning would only be his second world title...

I didn’t realize that. The best crosser of the 2000s, only one rainbow jersey?

Yep

A lot has been made of it, not able to handle the pressure, etc.

Uh-oh, only 63 riders on the start, one forfeit

The rider from Turkey doesn’t start. (start list linked in the post)

damn.

an outsider to the podium.

Same as usual cross?

One Hour race?

so lapped riders are not pullled today?

that seems a bad idea

Yes they are, like always

They don’t even have to be lapped, according to the “80% rule”.

why he spend 10 minutes in the toilet?
It wasn't true, he was quick to point out

Apparently there was a line.

RIchard looks fit
I think he trains with his pupils.
John Gadret's wife I think?

….from my high school French

Yes. But she's a Nys supporter.
I don't think John will be giving him his wheel, though
Gadret not racing is he?
he's on the start list
He's racing.
OK

cool

Are there a fair number of ProTour riders in the field

Him, and Štybar…any others?

Steve Chainel is on FdJ

Italian Franzoi was on Liquigas a few years ago, now Miche

I remember Chainel from last year's Milan-Sanremo

Didn’t know he was a ’crosser

Zahner (BMC) did really well today

Came in tenth, much to the amusement of the cowbell-ringing Swiss contingent

did you see the guys with the ENORMOUS cowbells?

they made the Swiss kid wear them – they were nearly as big as him!

I have a picture of that kid even
yeah, see the photo post
18 GADRET John
Gadret FTW.
thats a miracle
would love that

he’s class

Two (un)lucky numbers

7 & 13

Actually

13 is supposed to be Sven’s lucky number (didn’t quite work out that way today)

Yep

because it was the number he wore when becoming U23 world champ.

Reply to my Stybar cap in the pink panties on Twitter:
Caroline @tgsgirl

@ZoeRochelle @Albertinapdc would like the world to know that no, he did not borrow them from her.
good morning all

choppy vid feed… yikes

Is that Jeremy Powers and

Ryan Trebon in row 2? Go USA

YES!
I didn't know

Trebon qualified so high

holeshot predictions?
HI, everyone. Got here just in time! Go Stybar!
First crash!

That was quick

a rider getting five 5secs of racing.
Poor Spaniard

(Basque, probably?)

99% sure it was a Basque.
It was

Albertina didn’t like it when we mocked that (but we did anyway)

And the stream froze :(
Is this Albert? wow, not messing with his usual start today
Good start by Albert

amazingly

Powers in 6th
hope he has a great race
Might have been Page
Page wasn't in the second row at the start
Chainel blocking!
All the big 4 right up there, good for the race
my vid feed is awful
I changed to the second link on Sport-livez
The image on ch6 is slightly inferior

but the stream seems to be more stable for me…

Albert wtf?

Where did this come from?

His first good start of the season!
and what a start!
I guess if you only do it once

do it at the Worlds!

he said afterwards
I knew all season long I can start very fast if I want to

That made me laugh

Oh, that's excellent!
Afternoon all

Missed the start a I went out to get a new mattress (and saved about £350, yay, woohoo etc). Have I missed much?

pretty much just getting started, still on first lap
Crash after about 2 secs

Other than that I’m not sure ;\

Sounds good to me.

Didn’t time it too badly after all. :-)

hello CX fans

just made it. I am soo excited.

Flyin' up that sand hill....the first time ;\
About 5x

the number of fans from Hoogerheide last week. I sitll owe PdC a write up from my visit.

You do! It has been noted!
Is Albert on one of his great days?

This is a big lead.
Or his misjudging his effort?

Pauwels will slowly come back.
big gap for Albert 13 sec
If he pulls this off

it will be monumental

Belgium versus the world
they are truly showing off
Belgium will implode shortly
Belgium is winning.
Is there anyone else in the race?
You're not kidding

That’s a hell of a lot of pale blue at the front of the race

Suck it, world!
Meeusen makes me laugh

He pulls some funny faces sometimes.

Actually, that's Albert not Meeusen.
Lol, all Belgians in the best 10.

What a sport ;)

Belgian Championships I see...
Nice of them to invite a few others to round out the field
Belgian Cavalry coming round the bend look impressive.
Albertina and tgsgirl said they are
in the big crowd on the hill on the outside of herijgers’ dune. It’s freezing.
pauwels just cruised that sand hill

everybody else jumped off therir bikes and ran

Styby out of this already?
top 5 all Belgium
shouldn't wear pink panties during the race. stops the bloodflow.
last guy in chase right now (thanks to his pink bike...easy to spot)
pink bike, i think
How many laps long is the race?
I thought the answer was 1 hour(ish)
Yes

but they determine the exact number of laps at or before lap 2.

They determine it _during_ the race?
Based on lap times on the day

to make no of laps as close to 60 minutes as possible

So they want a specific finishing time?

That’s interesting.

races longer than an hour cut into the beer time

THEY WANT 60 MINUTES

sorry.

I'm going to stick my neck out

Belgium have a chance here

a podium spot looks likely

They should get a Flemish and a Walloon team (and a Bruxelles team?)

so they could take the top 20 instead of just the top 10
spoken like a welshman
Willj is a Welshman?
father
Good enough.

I’m from Llangollen.

Iechyd da

You’ve just spoken two more Welsh words than I can.

I support independence for Götaland

You might be the only one
As long as they don't chase one another down, that is.

/snark

Wish they'd show more fo the riders not just the top 6-7
Most of those are Belgian too.
They show them when they fall over
Or get pissy with each other
"de roode panties" lol
I thought I imagined that.....
Nys 4th right

is that KVT in 3rd

I was going to cheer for Yoah...but just can't because of those tights.
But it makes him easier to pick out of the crowd
next time...black tights...just sayin
team issue I think
Muessen in 3rd
Nys could have been better here

from @podium_live

Page in 12th then Trebon around 17th. Then johnson 24, powers 29. Driscoll &jones fitter back #cxworlds
thank you!

Wonder if something happened to J-Pow?

me too. Don't know.
he's not belgian - just a guess
you are probably on to something
Top 7 (?) all Belgians~!
Attack of the clones

Good grief

English commentary from my friends Pete and Greg

http://www.justin.tv/crossworlds2012?utm_campaign=post_live&utm_source=live&utm_medium=url#/w/2531860992

If you’re interested ;)

not too right
dunno why the whole linky didn't linky

copy paste

Franco-German war of 2012 on the hill
Guys throwing bikes at each other!
Thor looking slow there
Is that the 40 year old American posing as a Viking?
Yes,

Sporza has a very funny little video of him here, learning to ride cx from paul herijgers, stybar also stops by.

Chris, When do the Podium Café red tights go on sale?

I'll take 2
Really?
no
oh
Disappointed?
red is my favorite color....

But those tights….??? hmmmmm

easy to see him so I like them
I just wonder if Gilbert knows that Kevin borrowed them today.
he does it for the fans
I've seen one Dutchie. When he hit the ground.
they were too busy on the podium in all the other races
I think Vos should race these guys so another country would have a shot
That was some beautiful sand riding by Niels
yes

i would have bailed out on the first wobble

the new World Champion

looks like the belgians are teaming up to draft in order to catch the belgians

Yes, but a Belgian may try to break up the paceline

allowing a Belgian to get away

Cue Rabobank team meeting
Incredible balance needed on the sand
Cyclocross Magazine:
Powers slowly moving up, Page and Trebon slowly falling back. Will they meet?
Štybar clinging to 8th position behind the Belgies
Charging forward
After all his pre-race excitement where is Chris?
Will Albert blow up or lap the field?
Wow Albert holding a nice lead
He is looking pretty relaxed

I think he’s just on a fantastic day

+1

smoother & faster every lap, it seems

more than 50% of the race left.
That's right...

Anything can still happen.

I hope for no mechs

but I have never seen Albert relinquish such a gap

oops pauwels hits fence
looking a little weak (for him)

notice he stopped on the last stroke of an earlier hill

This could start a whole new WC race prep...break wrist in mid-season for a nice rest...come back storming.
Yup, seems like a recipe that works fairly well

at least for Niels

Little stumble there for Pauwels by the guardrail
Pauwels is making lots of mistakes now..

…tired?

Why would he be tired?

;-)

Because I'm exhausted just watching this
yeah that sand ......
the start was brutal

220bpm

yeah...not so smooth
Cue the Hulk

in 3, 2, 1…

hulk is off the front today (9)
We'll see
Neils Albert Dune!
Hush your mouth!

At least for another few laps… You might jinx it.

cant see anyone making up 5 sec per lap on Albert
pauwels caught by nys?
Yoah leaking oil a bit
That crunching sound

is Roger De Vlaeminck grinding his teeth

Haha

Yes. Awesome :)

see, nobody gets the in jokes

when you’re not here.

I'll never leave my flat again

ok?

Just this once you are forgiven, since I suppose it was quite a special occasion.

Although you did jinx your boy Sven. That’s our only counter to your overall smugness right now.

Oh, poor Sven :(
Nys makes the catch
Sven's going to have to do all the work if he's gonna close that gap
Well, he's got a few laps to git'r'done
Albert on his A-day

=beast.

Go, go, go!

Is there any concept of riding collaboratively in 'cross like there is in road?

Would the two Belgians in second position do so, or does the ludicrous strength of the Belgian team make them less than partners even now?

Guess not, they're separating
At this point they eat their own
That's because there's nothing else to eat out there
Helen Wyman tried eating sand earlier.
and they are obeying the rules regarding helping other teams ; )
Drafting is less important in cross

and almost insignificant on a technical course like this,
so they don’t have a big advantage even if they work together

They basically try to destroy each other, continually
@podium_live

Trebon up to 15, page 19 #cxworlds
Nys on his own...
not quite. Pauwels in his dream position now
Not good enough to work

Not dead enough to let him go

Pauwels dead in the sand.
Halfway.
the race or your Leffes?
Gosh, I hope he's saved some for post race party!
Both

One Leffe left. But I’ll open a Chouffe.

They should award the Belgian Championship here and then Best of the Rest.
Sven is the most fit 35 yr old I've ever seen, regardless of how this turns out
Nys killing off KP
KP's keeping Sven in front for motorvations
Even for a Belgian fan

this has to be a boring race.

It's not like they have arranged the winner previously

“Sky at GB champs style”

:30 sec

gah~!

Over

maybe not exciting … but impressively impressive

32" lead!

Is he gonna go wire-to-wire?

What's the conversation like?
Nys lost a further 5 secs that lap
so what happened to Gadret? Saving it for the Giro?
I'm still trying to

convince him to run against Sarkozy in the upcoming French election

no cance of winning with Cantona in the running.
oooh

true, France needs a Royalist party with Eric

well, a positive is we will see the WC jersey in races this year and the belgian one...
well, it looks like Styby prefers pink panties anyway.
Wow

So much for upgrading the Dutch national anthem recording.

Yeah, De Knegt truly disappoints ;)

Ryan Trebon

https://twitter.com/#!/BrianDallas9/status/163630690108317698/photo/1

is stybar out of the top 10 now?
They haven't shown any non-Belgies for a while now
Saving himself for Het Whatsit...
Who knows

It’s illegal to show non-Belgians. Unless they crash.

I theorize he was abducted by a pink booted fan....
Nah, I think she has the willpower to wait until the race is over
"think" - key word
He's probably still in 8th position

Where, though, is the question

Nys and KP racing for second now
3-4 laps to go?
4 at next crossing
So

Albert doesn’t have this quite yet

Pauwels second wind?
So Nys and Pauwels will say after...

“Well, I was the strongest today, but could not chase down a teammate…”

Meeusen the first non-Brabander in the race?

that was great, a Bar fan-banner

Think I just saw Pigeons!
blond hanging over the rails?
Yep. Smiling for the camera.
though looked like her.
No screen shots??

Y’all are letting me down here. ;-)

No idea how to do that.
click print screen - might work if quick enough
Too quick for me - I was only halfway to Prt Sc when the shot changed.
Next time, have your finger hovering over the key!!

Albertina? Um the beer has affected her looks.

Camera moved too quickly to look for Albertina’s pink hat for confirmation.

tell me when we ar close and I'll try to get it
Not me, on the men's!

We couldn’t get close to the rails.

(I was wearing a silly hat and plaits!)

I just saw a Dutch guy!

Who’d have thought you’d get a Dutch guy at a CX race…?

From Neil Browne on twitter:
@neilroad: The Belgians are ruining this sport #cxworlds
must be a typo - surely he meant, "The Belgians are this sport"
No. It a joke because Pat McQuaid asked Vos earlier if she was ruining the sport.
grumble - he asked that
That wasn't Pat, just one of his minions.
ANYONE had the nerve to ask her that????
I still say the guy's English sorta sucked

I give ’im the benefit of the doubt

corrected. Not Pat, one of his minions.
What was Vos' reaction? Besides winning ANOTHER championship?
It doesn't come easy, I work very hard all year, it was very tough today
A more polite version of

“fuck you, I train hard and racing is still a huge effort”

Enrico Carpani, always does the UCI flash interview
37 seconds - gap increasing
38" to chase 1, 45-ish" to chase 2

And nobody in sight behind when chase 2 crossed.

Well, if a Belgian

had come across the line 8th as well as the top 7
I would have begun to get suspicious

I was wondering if 7 was the total team size
7 max

7 Belgians in the race, 1st-7th

First non-Belgie 1'33" down

Jebus

I think the altitude is affecting the foreigners

Not used to race at sealevel?

Too high for the Dutch, too low for the rest?

air too thick for those Dutchies who were born

on the second floor of a hospital

sea level's a bitch
They should let the slower riders hop the fence to make the 2nd half more interesting
agree - help your teammate - Tackle a Belgian.
Yes tackling

CX meets rugby

SUAREZ FERNANDEZ Isaac

sighting….. 3mins down

Go Belgium!

How are we doing?

Fine

All the people who think they’re seeing seven Belgians aren’t as drunk as they suspect.

What do they do with this place

when it’s not a CX course? All that sand…

Shopping mall
Best place to go anywhere in the Benelux if you want to buy some sand.
High quality sand. Many types available.
It's an airfield or something along those lines, isn't it?

There’s a couple of preserved historic aircraft just north of the track – a Hawker Hunter and a helicopter of some species or another, I believe.

Yes. Was a prerace thing about it.
Missed that bit

but will see if I can find it online later. I like to know a bit of local history.

Was military airfield, now sea rescue helicopters.
Did this ever make it to Dutch telly?

Warning Broerie – nineties attack!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUlbMsp_VqQ

Winching up the hook!
Maybe

if it was on VRT, yes, but I never saw it, sorry.

It's a nature reserve, according to the signs!
(I hope the nature likes beer...)
(the dunes, I mean!)
Here comes Sven!
Just in from run--how many laps to go?
3 at next crossing
Lol, Wuyts saying Holland has the future in this sport.

Yeah right. They don’t even get funding anymore.

We have Rabobank
And must we be really upset about the nun funding thing?

yes, nun funding in a traditionally protestant country is wrong

Well, it makes sense. No results.
Gotta invest to reap reward
Yes, but apparently they did invest.

Didn’t help.

There's that

but current junior/U23/women (because: non-pro!) success could be taken as indication that it did work.

"I see no Nederlander in the top 10"
3 to go

For the leader.

Time going out

another 7" that lap. Albert… wow.

44 sec.s behind for 2 and 3
44" to chase 1, 50" to chase 2

Lead is only increasing

Hmm

If Albert would just slow down a bit
they could all hold hands across the line

Albert wants to prove that this season would have been heer

Barring the injury.

Nys elbowing KP for more work
so he can attack from behind
Stybar - "an off day"
if I am wearing panties

definitely an off day

Yeah, me too.
Nobody in sight

behind Neils across the first dune!

Nys isn't on his best day either.

Boring stuff.

yeah, Albert is ruining the sport.

not many bike changes today. not enough mud?

I was typing the same thing...
No need.
I suppose that if you're using dry lubricant, the sand falls straight off

unlike mud. If you used a wet lubricant, it’d make grinding paste. Hence, I assume this is definitely more of a chain wax sort of race.

ah, so on certain days there are long discussions on what grease to use? interesting

Nah

everything gets power-washed twice a lap on muddy courses.

now we have a puloton
Does Belgium have a government yet?
Yes, our prime minister was standing in the crowds

(he really was)

nice - congrats!

I think.

Elio was there?

Didn’t see him. Didn’t see the king either.

Together with zotte Vandelanotte

Elio was saying a lot of stuff I didn’t understand, but it seemed like he was trying very hard

That's usually the case with im :)
Wow, Albert

did anyone foresee this?

I had an inkling.

But didn’t think it would be this…

It's not a great shock

He’s done this once after coming back from his injury
He always seems to be on a fantastic day where he’s untouchable
or he’s off the pace, rarely average

I thought redlegs would do it
btw.. off topic..

But about dominance and boring upthread. We have a wheelchai tennisser in NEtherlands. Esther Vergeer.. She won 444 games… in a row

USA sighting 3 mins (?) back
This is just

fucking sick. Has anyone ever dominated a world championship of cycling like this? Maybe the Germans in Artistic Cycling?

The Americans

in all the sports that nobody else plays

You mean every sport that's popular in the US? ;)

The World Champion NFL playoffs is usually dominated by American teams

There actually is a

World championship of American football. Apparently 54 different nations have a national American football team.

I don't know about cycling, but my 5 year old dominated me in 'Candyland' the other day.
She ruined 'Candyland'
yeah

well, if it were Beerland you might dig a little deeper than she.

They could compromise and play Skittlebrauland.
She'd be in the barriers at the first turn
you just don't want it like she does
You can't let that happen

You need to teach them that life is hard.
Never let your children win.

Cheat if you have to.

Ok.. Not related..

But Bettini in Zurich(?) once destroyed the rest of the peloton

He attacked, chain dropped, put it back up, attacked again..

Won by 1.30 minutes or something.. Too bad I can find coverage

The road WC is also expected to be Belgian too
a single jump is too easy for the worlds
Reminds me of Gewiss Balan
First non Belgie almost two minutes down
Štybar 2'19" down in 9th position
Wait...

Is this the team training ride, and the WC is tomorrow?

Wow

The 8th rider – the first non-Belg, is more than a minute behind… the 7th belg.

z

Stybar 2 18 down …. wow

I am selling my pink hat on ebay.be
Not sure you'd get any takers.
my pink panties are for sale too
slightly used
Hopefully freshly laundered
I'm selling blue spray paint
Groenendaal already said when he saw him in the pink pants

he’s not gonna win today.

At this point, I'm very glad I watched the U23 race...

…that was fun.

Except for the very end there :)
Was the first lap or two more interesting?

Maybe we got spoiled by the U23.

No. Neils was out ahead right away.
Not too sorry I got in late, then.
Styby was with him for a while.

But blew up majorly (as he always does this season).

Albertina's boots put too much pressure on him.
Nys off the podium
What happened to him? I lost him in a sea of belgie
Pink speedos, baby powder on chains

what has happened to our sport?

44 seconds - gonna be close
Meuusen's riding out of his skin
is that Nys soft-pedaling?
can't win it. gave up.
No desire for silver or bronze?

Seems a bit petulant.

don't think so, let other riders fight it out.
Petulant...

few words could be further from the truth for Sven imo

A *bit* petulant :p

Consider the world’s TT last year. Cancellara has no chance at gold as he nears the end, but he’s still bombing every corner. Cooks one, and that error drops him from silver to bronze. If he rides conservatively, he’s a cinch for silver. I don’t fault him at all for his strategy dropping him to bronze even when he had no chance at gold. He still rode like a champ.

You think what you think

I (who understands him when he talks) will think what I think…

So I'm incorrect about his motivations?

Glad to hear it.

He's one of the most sincere, honest athletes around, nobody else has that kind of integrity

For us, Flemish speaking people; there’s no doubt about that.
If for once, he cant find the motivation to battle for bronze, it’s very easy to forgive him without calling names.

Nijs back in 7th
who is that crying?
Roothooft. DS? of Albert
are they interviewing Niels brother?
think they said manager
Yes, Christophe Roodhooft.

Literally: Redhead.

Can he lap every non-Belg

so only 7 belgians finish?

Who are they interviewing?
I guess after the other 3 races, the Belgians have to win something.
Exactly -

I watch cyclocross to hear Flemish announcers and watch Belgians win.

Štybar's not even the first Czechie...
Wow - Nys will be last Beligian.
Albert, Peeters, Muessen, KP - right?
Si.. Aernouts, Nys/VTH
This season marks the decline of the Canibaal
well, not really

he was ridiculously dominant for December and early January…

redlegs still fighting for a podium
he will be a great champ
Go little Redlegs!!
I like the red leg warmers.
Gilbert wants them back - not amused.

looked like a lapped Frenchie in the bike change pit

Here we have the iconic picture of today...

…Albert riding past demoralized French rider walking in the pits.

Yeah

My thought was, what’s French for “fuck this bullshit” ?

Whatever it is, you could see it painted on that Frenchie’s face ;\

Trebon in 18th, all other Americans pulled from race

(from @livepodium)

shucks

I was hoping for a better showing than that.

Niels dominated

beautiful riding in the sand today

Domination
not a bit of mud on his face
And they call this a cross world championship?

fans should get water hoses

seriously disappointed that they removed the pool of sharks last minute
That was soooo no right.
Good news

Only 4 weeks until the real bike racing begins.

Game over

At least for the winner :)

Peeters follows 22 sec.s back
Pauwels takes bronze
redlegs into 3rd - great job for him (better than I thought)
K-Pauw

Gets third

Redlegs in third!
A clinic

an utter schooling of the rest of the cross wordl. sick.

sand riding school
Pity for Meeusen
Very impressive by Albert.

But Jesus Christ, how boring.

Yeah, I was hoping for an exciting race

but this one was really dissapointing. Even the battle for 2&3 wasn’t very exciting (compared to the womans race).
And usually there’s always a non-Belgian supris who does really welle, but because of the sand we had none of those today either.

Nys last belgian! Weird typing it that way.
Sven 7th

1:11 back.

Top-7 sweep complete

That was…not exactly suspenseful

Flawless Victory.
Yeah, it's ridiculous really.

All Belgians in before the rest.

Belgian hegemony
Time to make the pancakes.

See you later.

First Czech not stybar...
Simunek, lol.
First non-Belgian

Simonek 2:15 back

France dominating the second 10

now THAT's funny
First non Belgie 2'15" down
Mourey beat Stybar! Hooooooray!
Štybar in 13th, 3'16" down
Wubben best Dutchie.

15th.

Vereinige Staaten!

18de

Verenigde Staten ;)
Oh my spelling is completely awful :)
It is ;)

but you understand nearly everything right? Belgian parents?

ryan trebon in now
Solo Slim

I love Whist :)

Who are these guys?

I need numbers to tell names.

well, if the race had been exciting it would be harder to see the season end

Who’s the guy with the spanish national trench coat giving out the prizes

HEY GS

do you have Hotmail and can you use it right now? Mine doesn’t work

Hotmail?

What is this, the 90s?
(no, I don’t. so can’t help)

I figured you'd like a hot male
So that's the reason you still accept their services

explains a lot

Their services are letting me down, bah

It’s my spam stuff mailbox, but I’ve saved a lot of passwords there

And who wouldn't?

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