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Final Superprestige race of the season... LIVE


Don't cry. If you cry, I will cry too, and I don't think I'd be able to stop.

It's the final Superprestige race of the season. Whaaaaaaaaaaa!

Dansel tells us all about it. And he points us to livestreams, too. Good lad, that Dansel.

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Picture taken by Balint Hamvas (cyclephotos.co.uk), used with permission

ps - after this race VT4 is doing an hour-long best of the Superprestige thingy, and after that they've got a Superprestige show. There is weird talk on the internet that they had the big names doing things like dressing up mannequins while riding on segways. Seriously.

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Comments

Daphny won!

But Bosmans didn’t. Lame.

But neither did Lars VDH!

Surprising

Bah. He's tired, poor kid.
So, the big question of the day is whether VT4 will continue to broadcast the hour long thingie

I hope so… Because I really want as much cross as I can get today since there is no race tomorrow.

Plus, more Zonhoven is always better
I asked
They should have pity on us stuck outside the mother country
Look at bunnyhopping Tommy last year

I do like that kid

White helmet race!!
Nys talking about winning his eleventh superprestige

and then his twelfth and thirteenth!

I don't care if I'm alone

I absolutely love that Tommeke Meeusen has a cap that says ‘Tommeke’ underneath his helmet. Niels’ helmet looks odd.

goeie morgen
'middag
morning for me

night shift for me

eeek

morning then

coffee

is the cure

Words to live by.
Hi, everyone. Looks cold there today, brrrrrr.

I’ve really enjoyed the Live CX threads this season, a big THANK YOU to you all, especially tgsgirl (so kind of you to help us CX Newbies.)

Seconded, a big thanks guys!
+1

GvA and SP should hire gs as global PR Manager

Or at least send her one of those spiffy Ridley CX bikes!
I am hoping that bike lands on my desk.
I'm not allowed to ride bikes

so maybe if you ask super nicely

please.

(I can be sweet for a few minuttes, but it goes against my nature)

Now we only need the SP dudes

to give me a bike

Please tell them that
Also, warmest it's been all week

but still well under freezing. Cold, cold, cold this past week.

Indeed

I’m psyched the road season is here but this has been good winter fun.

Tommeke! I always hope he's in the lead group

Mostly so I can watch him bunny-hop the most absurd barriers.

Helllooo

But crummy streams today, both VT4 and the pirates. May have to resort to hopping on the trainer instead.

Yeah, super crummy.
this pink bike, I don't know.
it hasn't been terribly lucky for Stybs
frankly, I would do a bike throw with it.

Just waiting for the right moment.

So, to recap

Nys is four points ahead of Pauwels. The winner gets 15 points, the guy in second 14, third 13 and so on.
Nys will probably give a rats ass about winning the race, he just wants the overall.
Albert just said he gives a rats ass about winning the race, he just wants to go drink tonight at the post-race show.

1. Sven Nys 91
2. Kevin Pauwels 87
3. Zdenek Stybar (Tsj) 77
4. Bart Aernouts 68
5. Tom Meeusen 65
6. Klaas Vantornout 64
7. Niels Albert 57
8. Radomir Simunek (Tsj) 52

Damnit, Jonathan Page, I don't see you near the front

Fix this.

That's a lot of sand there
Nys uphill, yeah!

It’s odd seeing Stybs in his Czech champ jersey

Nys only one to make it up without feet on the ground
PS - does anyone (not you Geert)

recognize the voice of our co-commentator today?

I do

:)

If I knew your were here

I would’ve excluded you too ;)

pfff

duvel will sell the name

SITUATION

Peeters
Sven VT
Klaas VT
Simunek
Nys
Pauwels

Vanthourenhout-fest today
Domestique duty for both
Baeaestaaeaaeaens' saddle broke off
gah

Bastaens saddle broke off

Vincent Bastaens - who was supposed to work for Nys today -

is having a wee, tiny problem with his bike. His saddle broke off.

buns of steel?
BUNNYHOPPER

Go Sven!

It's been a lot faster for these barriers

Esp because it gives you more momentum into the sand. Pauwels is going to be vulnerable here later…

Stybs crashes in the sand

where is Albertina?

And he involves K-Pow

Hehe

Styby down playing in the sand
Nys on the attack!
Morning, all.

Cold here, too—we had a 5K training race in 16F with lots of nice, refreshing wind thrown in. Bah, winter.

Home now with hot coffee and raspberry Danish. Life is better.

Raspberry Danish

sounds so very win

It’s time somebody said it:

Is Radomir Simunek currently the Czech Republic’s best ’crosser?

btw, I know that Radomir Simunek is probably the best ever Czech crosser, but I’m talking about THIS Radomir Simunek, not THAT one.

Besides, the other one's dead
I'd still try to stay ahead of him

Styby seems to have him covered on the falling over thing today, thus meaning that our usual Czech crash is covered, and Radomir can ride on without fear.

I think it may be time for a fanport screaming out that message.
SITUATION

Simunek, Nys and Klaas VT
…. 10s
Peloton-ish

We shall be riding 9 laps today
Nys hops and destroys the sand

Bingo bango

from tiiter

wielerman Renaat Schotte
Berden big in Japan, winner cyclocross #Tokyo twitpic.com/8icz4h

Berden keeps morphing into his idol, Myerson

except faster.

Pauwels in a grey zone with no wheels to suck on.
Bart Wellens - our co-commentator

thinks Nys has a mechanical

but he skips the pits
wait, who's the sunweb guy with Nys?

Simunek?

BKCP = Simunek

Sunweb = Vantornout, Pauwels

Oh, that's not Albert!

Now it becomes clear. Thanks.

Albert is our new world champ, remember

he’s in the rainbow jersey

Yah, but BKCP rainbows not that diff from BKCP normal.
We need to stop double-posting
We'll divide the race into areas of expertise

you answer questions about the Dutchies, ok?
:p

Albert in rainbows!

in the second group.

Simunek = BKCP (white and black)

The two Sunwebs are Klaas VT (the tallest one) and Kevin Pauwels

Pauwels close to get a lock on now.
Stybs!

That was a good ride in the sand.

The Sunwebs should really try to stop Nys from hopping those barriers

They need Simunek on their team. Get to the front, go ahead of Nys, shove Simunek over, problem solved.

Great weather (perhaps not for CX) in Belgium today.
Clear and sunny

but very, very cold. Though it’s something like -5°C now, it’s been -20°C earlier this week.

Yes

Was about -5ºC here as well, this morning, but wind made it feel much, much colder.

Stay cold and ice-skatey!
I had hoped for an Elfstedentocht
never say never

until spring

Shared 1930x on Facebook,

skating at the windmills of Kinderdijk: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=268033473269323

yours?

It’s amazing, looks like a scene from a fairytale.

No, not mine

sorry for confusion.

Just beautiful.
Your weather has been in the news here: stay warm and safe!
and drink lots of jenever to warm up

that’s my top tip

-5'C,but sunny works very well for me.
Nys can't let the front group get too big

Too big a chance of losing the classification if the race ends with a 10 man sprint

Dog on the course
Stupid, stupid people

don’t let the dogs out!

The woof, the woof

is on fire.

End of the fourth lap

all back together

Stybar first!
Atty boy, Styby!!
Unfortunately, it won't last
He's away with Nys

Whoot

Nys hopping again

Pauwels running, losing lots and lots of places

Nys pauwels 18 sec
Two roadracing guides advertised, one cover-model

Lance Phil of course

FINISH LINE

Nys and Stybar
_ +5
Albert, Meeusen, Simunek
_
+18 (to the front)
Pauwels, Klaas VT, Dieter VT, Sven VT

Stybar and Nys hoppin'
Monster sand section from Meeusen
and monster bump/hill section, too

he’s flying

Yowsers!

That was a faaaaaaaast ride by Tommeke!

Hello! Just got in from a snowy cross ride. What's the goss?
Something very odd has happened

Stybs is leading

Stybs and Nys, maybe 8-10sec up on Albert, Meeusen

pauwels imploding behind

Nice, as long as Nys blows up
He's aiming for Milan-Sanremo again
Cav says Goss is about the only guy in the peloton who can outsprint him.
You just woke up Seahorse
Tommeke getting AIR!

I was momentarily afraid of what I’d do once Nys retired. Who would I cheer for? But now I know. Tommeke is awesome.

+ 1000
Will you have to move now?
no way

the sweeks brothers are coming

+ bastaens

same naybourhood

naighborhood
Seriously?

What the ef is in the water over there?

it 's in the mud
i need fewer neighbors with wifi

or else a longer cable. Or is the feed stuttering for everyone?

It is for me too
It's stuttering badly for me
OK, I'll put my brain on "temportal integration" setting
feed, not you.
This channel is working very well (touch wood)

TRY HERE

I copied and pasted, then realized it was the same one I had.
FWIW sportz livez 3 is ok here...
Try another one at

http://sports-livez.com/
No. 3 works well, for the moment, but fairly low quality.

Every time I got to switch, it starts flowing smoothly again...
Come on Sven, Styby wants you to come through...grrr
Don't worry, Nys will let him win

Stybs for the day, Nys for the classification

I hope so. Well in fact, I hope he doesn't need a gift to win it!

So why didn’t mini Lars win today?

No idea

It’s been a long, long season for the kid.

He's only 20. I should stop expecting nothing whatsoever but the best.

But he still should have won ;)

There was sand.

Sand is mini Lars’ nemesis.

He managed to win in it at Koksijde, despite Bosmans being better at it. No excuses! Bah!

onlycausehewasmeanandevil
hmpf

They were both meanandevil
I said

hmpf

Bwahahaha
You asked for it

1. Niels Albert in 1u06’07"
2. Rob Peeters op 24"
3. Kevin Pauwels 30"
4. Tom Meeusen 34"
5. Bart Aernouts 35"
6. Klaas Vantornout 1’09"
7. Sven Nys 1’11"
8. Radomir Simunek (Tsj) 2’15"
9. Philipp Walsleben (Dui) 2’24"
10. Simon Zahner (Zwi) 2’31"
11. Steve Chainel (Fra) 2’37"
12. Francis Mourey (Fra) 2’48"
13. Zdenek Stybar (Tsj) 3’17"

The poor boy had a fever.
Sure, sure

sandbaggage

He was in bed. He said so on Twitter.

As I said the Belgians who mocked me in my pinkness at Koksijde, you won’t be laughing when he wins the Ronde! Ha!

Ha. Funny.

Him and Farrar, right?

Him in Farrar in bed?

This is how internet rumors start.

that and slash stories
Who's in the middle???
I'd better not enter into this ;)
No, perish the thought.
No gifts today.

Fight to the line.

lead's turned huge!
GAP

26s for Meeusen, Pauwels, Simunek and someone else. Over and out for K-Pow.

Sven crash!

Oh no :(

more like a gentle sprawl.
I love the pink bike.
Nys on the limit?
So Niels has just given up for the year has he?
He said before the race

that he didn’t like this kind of race, too fast. And that he’s most looking forward to the post race show in the casino tonight.

Um, what? Where is my invite to that?!
You didn't get yours either??

It’s a conspiracy!!

but one might have taken that

with a bag of sand

he sounded honest

and in the mood for booze

How can you tell when they're NOT in the mood for booze???
for a guy who's not into it,

he’s pretty into it.

good for him.

pile down the beers.

Laatste ronde!
Is pink bike going to win?
Pinkie fingers crossed!
Please win Styby. For me. Pleeeeaaaaase!
sven goooooo gooooooo goooo
Looks like Lars VDH rode for Stan Godrie today and let him win. Awww, isn't that sweet?!
No killer instinct, that boy.
And he's won, like, how many races this year? ;)

I like a kid with mad skills AND generosity!

doesn't look like anyone's giving anyone anything, here
racing to the line. true winner today.
Stybar will be irked if Sven takes this
Stybar is loads faster
Sprintage!
Very professional, the way they handled that sprint.

Nys made it look like he actually wanted to beat Styby in that sprint. Great actor!

Bah
YEEEESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!

Happyface!

Me too :)
Well isn't that good?

Let’s shake hands and have a Leffe.

I like Svennys, but that pink bike is so...so...

Barbie.

Effing awesome?

If you don’t want him to have it, I’ll take it.

I do want him to have it.

That’s why I had to root for him over Nys.

A teammate has one.

I want it badly.

I may have some pink spraypaint around here somewhere...
If only it was Albertina sized....
ELEVEN SUPERPRESTIGE OVERALLS

Eleven! Do you believe that?

and looking like he could make it an even dozen.

I keep waiting for him to slow down to the point where he doesn’t dominate. But if this is a ride into the sunset, it’s a long one!

Pretty good race. Congrats to Styby. to close out the season on a high.
Stybs needs a haircut
Oh my, he does! :-/

Also, why did the cameraman cut away before he removed his second baselayer? Lame. Must be male.

That show looks very weird
There's Fieldy!
And there is a Jonathan Page!

He’s not completely invisible. Just not fast enough. Sadface.

Interviews after the break

if anyone wants ’em

Yes, please. And thank you again!!
My feed died with half a lap to go

I had a heart attack. Thank goodness for multiple channels.

Okay, I'm off to the shower.

Have a great day, everyone!

My gosh, I'm freezing. Can someone bring me a hot water bottle please?
So, very slightly better water in tournout than in

thourenhout? (Got mocked for mixing the two towns up while in BE.)

err Torhout and turnhout mayby ?
eh, whichever ones' historical spelling corresponds to the names.

Think we were looking at a historical map in a museum in Bruges, no clue what era.

I like how Tommeke keeps looking at the other two to see what to do

where do I put this bottle? oh, we’re shaking this dude’s hand now?

Superprestige

Nys 105
Pauwels 99
Stybs 92
Meeusen 78
Klaas VT 74

I want jenever
I have jenever
Pour me some
Two vouchers I believe it was
That is SO mean spirited!
It's not just crisis in Greece my dear.
Sven

I was really nervous, cause I too feel it’s the end of the season. And with this extreme weather it’s been hard to train, and then such a fast race… I had a bad premonition. But I made the race hard, and then a really strong Stybar caught on and I just had to hang on, hang on; but I felt he was better.

Oh.

No more interviews, sorry. They all have to jet off to the casino.

So this casino business, do we get to see this??
I do

I asked VT4 if you would, but they didn’t answer. Still, first there is a Superprestige recap thing.

I need to eat some lunch. What time does the Casino begin, on the off chance there might be a stream?
18 CET I think?

I won’t be here, but I’ve got it programmed

Gah! It's on but I've missed a whole hour! :(
Bahahahaha! They're playing bike football!

A rider and their coach on each team!

Awww, Stybs in his OPQS suit with the elbow patches! And he gets pink flowers :)
And now Sven has 'killed' Kevin with a laser gun..this is wacky!
Glad I recorded it :)
Sven's outfit is not weird! He looks pretty cool actually
The music they're playing in the season recap right now reminds me of the Jaws theme

Like “Watch out Niels, Sven is chasing you…”

I recognised some Sherlock before

from the movie

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