I dont see Piddcock doing any MTB next year - other than off seasons stuff.
As a fellow Brit, itās a shame to see a promising rider stepping away from XC, as like others have said, I canāt imagine Ineos letting him race XC.
Like I said, was just an opinion. Kinda a harsh remark you made in your last paragraphā¦how about you just try and not tell people what to do and how to think?
Phenomenal racing! Wow! Looks like the old boys still got it. Iām no Avancini fan but hats off to him, amazing results. I canāt imagine the reaction from Brazil. Good for him! A well deserved win.
Great racing but I was disappointed not to see Nino match Absalonās win records.
1 Like
I agree, Iām a big Nino fan. Iām beginning to wonder if heāll be able to do it now? Like Bart just commented, he doesnāt seem to have the race winning move, at least on this day.
Another kudos to Henrique though, he wanted that win so bad, itās nice seeing that sort of emotion, we can only imagine the amount of work he put in for this. Good for him.
1 Like
I thought the same as it will only get harder but Iām hoping he manages it. Even if he doesnāt heās set the bar really high with all the World Champs wins.
Itās a shame he was boxed in as I would have loved to have seen him in a better position and going bar to bar with Henrique.
It does make next weeks world champs interesting as thereās a few contenders.
Youāre right, that was a little harsh. I think fat-shaming the rider who actually won is pretty bad though, even if that wasnāt the intent.
Iām not trying to start a fight here as thatās unproductive, I just thought your opinion a little insensitive. I appreciate my comment was probably as bad so Iāll apologise and leave this thread alone.
1 Like
Just finished watching the replay - so have stayed off line for a while. What a race. Great move by Avacini on the last lap. Nino did mention that Vader also slowed down which allowed Avacini to overtake and then he cleverly rode the downhill slow.
I am always interested in bike choices - interesting to see Stigger making the hardtail work in the womenās race.
Was also surprised to see a Top Fuel in the mens race. Canāt tell if it is the older 100/100 or the newer slacker one (which I guess will be a fair amount heavier than a lot of the other bikes on the circuit).
I just finished the menās race and came to comment similar. Avancini rode a very smart race but Vader screwed Ninoās finish when he sat up and filled the single track while Avancini attacked the other lane. It was just racing but he seemed more intent on keeping the riders behind than chasing the rider in front, even down the finish straight.
It was a very exciting final lap though.
Now, onto the womenās race!
No worriesā¦I didnāt know her history in regards to the eating disorder/underfueling, so my bad there.
2 Likes
Does anyone know if thereās a way of watching the Team Relay on Wednesday?
Thereās a couple of previous years editions on YouTube which are quite entertaining, but nothing for last year.
I canāt see anyone beating the French with their form right now.
I thought this was really classy from both Nino and Henrique, nice to see that there is some real respect from both of them:
3 Likes
I felt so good for Henrique today, he waited a long time for that one. He played it so smart, taking the opposite line in that last section, and gunning it to get out front. Kudos.
Wow, PfP is on a whole other level, not sure whoās going to take it to her next week. Apparently next weekās track has more climbing, but it still feels like sheās the one to beat.
4 Likes
Iām all about Kate winning as Iām
from NorCal and want to see her win every race. That said PfP deserves to race in the WC jersey for more then 3 weeks. Iām kinda hoping she wins next week just so she gets a full year of racing in it.
Such a bummer year for these racers. Canāt wait for next year and the chance to watch them hopefully race a full season plus the Olympics.
Although I have to admit all this cycling crammed into such a short time period is awesome as a fan. With the menās and womenās XCO race plus LiĆØgeāBastogneāLiĆØge it was all cycling all day at my house today.
1 Like
The aging racer doesnāt have the top end power he used to have. He was dragging a group of 5 or 6 around all day and none of his attacks could shake them. Face it @chilla13, a top level athlete at age 35 isnāt as strong as they were at age 30 or 31.
Donāt get me wrong, I love to see Kate win, sheās a fantastic athlete and role model. However, sheās currently got a stomach bug, so we will see how she recovers from that. Same for Jolanda. Iām with you, the Olympics are going to be wild.
Yeah, was wondering what happened to Kate. And what a stark difference between the races on Sunday. Big bunch of 7 or 8 guys in it for pretty much the whole race, while PFP checked out early in the womenās race with huge gaps behind her. Looks like she recovered way better than some of the others.
Anyone notice that Avancini was running a dropper? It was easy to notice him dropping it while watching the second race. I wonder how much of a difference it made.
Also makes me wonder if Nino will put on a dropper.
1 Like
Best guess,
- His preference is honestly to high post. Strange as it may seem, I do think he prefers this for XCO racing.
- Sponsorship; Rockshox likely allows for DT Swiss to sponsor wheels, but wouldnāt allow him to run their (dt swiss) light XC dropper post. That option seems like a no-brainer, minimal weight penalty with enough drop for XCO. The current Reverb, and AXS in particular is a tank, I can understand the hesitation to pick up that much weight.
Itās a good point though steve. Consider Ninoās slightly fading form, I mean heās going to need every second on course to solidify any wins moving forward, it would seem a couple seconds here or there on the descent is something they should be definitely looking at.