While it took seven Belgians to dominate the Men’s Cyclocross World Championship race on Sunday, it only took a single Dutchwoman to dominate the women’s race. That’s seven times more dominanter, if my math is correct – which it always is.
Cyclocross fascinates me, mostly because it is completely insane. But I admit: I like the idea of combining Cycling and miniature golf. Put some canti’s on your road bike, take to the mud and woods, add some water hazards, sand traps, man-made climbs and jumps, and now you’ve got a sport for people who hate the way their faces look.
Marianne Vos took her fifth World ‘Cross Championship (a record) to further crowd here palmares with rainbow bands. She’s been World Champion in every discipline involving drop bars, many of them multiple times. She’s also won La Fleche Wallone more times than I can count (I can only count to three), National road and time trial championships, and the Giro d’Italia Femminile. She was even World Champion in Mountain Biking as a Junior. One could easily argue that “V”os is the best active cyclist in the world, bar none.
To that point, we don’t pay close enough attention to Women’s cycling. I’m as guilty as anyone; if I was going to pick the winner of a Women’s race, I’d likely pick Vos or Cooke (if she’s not broken, which she often is) or Teutenberg if the race is likely to end in a sprint, which I wouldn’t be able to tell you without first doing some research. And that pretty much exhausts my knowledge in terms of naming riders, which is disgraceful. After all, if one is to understand the great mystery, one should study all its aspects. (Yes, I just quoted Darth Sidious.)
With the ‘Cross season coming to a close, we’re ramping up to start the 2012 Velominati Super Prestige and with it, we are dragging ourselves into paying attention to Women’s Cycling: the 2012 competition will include women’s races with the points amassed counting towards the overall title.
We are also making some coding changes to the backend system in order to fix some problems which means we’re probably only introducing new problems without necessarily fixing the things that needed fixing in the first place.
We’re also adding more races like the Strada Bianca, changing the scoring model, and eliminating certain things such as free DNF swaps. Stand by for further updates and keep a weather eye on the VSP Page for the updated schedule and rules.
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@Calmante
Awesome clip - I'll have to put that in my quiver along with the redemption clip and the minion "wha?" clips.
@JC Belgium
That clip is fantastic! The excitement as it builds as the guy comes through is just palpable. Oh, man, I can't wait for April!
JC - I'm pretending you didn't tell us all of that & that I've never read it. It makes me want to pack up my bikes, gear, VMH, dog + cats & immediately move to Belgium. I think the biggest mistake of my life was not traveling to see some cyclocross races last year when I was in Prague for February & March. How stupid of me!
That is incredible though. If cycling was on t.v. that much I'd watch ball sports even less, which is already something I don't do much of anymore. That sounds like heaven! Tube choices & psi talk on the telly? Crazy!
@frank
Bullshit. I know this isn't about cycling, but saying businessmen have no moral code is asinine. People don't get rich by screwing their customers (unless, of course, your name is Abramoff, but then you end up in jail). They get rich by providing outstanding products or services profitably. Criminalization of capitalism is one of the biggest problems in the USA and I can't abide by it. The mere idea that our politicians have a stronger moral position then non-elected Americans is so funny that I just shot green tea out of my nose reading that post...
@frank
Sounds like a base fitness problem to me ; ) It must be pick on Frank day in my house.
I participated in the USA Cycling XC MTB Nationals last year in Sun Valley, ID. I was out practicing on the course the day prior to the race and a big group of female cyclists caught me on the long climb to the top (I got Chicked)... I was taking it easy, just getting the lay of the land, but decided to follow them along. Along the climb I realized a couple of things... the ladies were Pros, they were 7 or 8 years younger than me, and their ability to go fast was little different than mine. I was a first year racer in the Mens Cat 3 30-39 (and I was 39) group at the time. The point of the story is that the reason women's athletics aren't more popular is that in many cases it's like watching a slower version of the men's event- there I said it. For many viewers that's just plain boring. Kind of like saying lets watch the Indy 500 at full speed and then run another race at 80% speed. which one will get the attention? Again, I enjoy women's athletics, but I don't compare to men, because in many sports there just isn't any comparison.
@Ron
Ball sports? what in Merckx name is that?
@frank
@Ron
I will try to post some more videos during the road season, there is a lot of full race footage on the internet... if you have some time, here is cyclocross as it should be (full report):
GP Sven Nys (1 Jan 2012)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIDhAlAjgmk
if you have some more spare time, check World Cup Namen, GP Mario De Clercq Ronse, Koppenbergcross, Gavere, Druivencross Overijse, World Cup Zolder, World Cup Koksijde, Belgian Championships Hooglede-Gits (these are the 'cyclocross classics')
@Anjin-san
Hit a nerve, did we? For reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humour
(I am in business myself, in case you think I'm just throwing stones. I am also pro-capitalism. I'm also saying Bob Stapelton has a different moral code than most other people and is an ass.)
@Anjin-san
I disagree completely. We can't tell how fast they're going on TV. What is interesting is watching the battle play out between competitors - it has nothing to do with speed. We have no clue when watching how fast they are going - all we can see is if they are fighting with each other or not.
Bollox, can't get any of these video links at work - might have to bunk off home early
For some reason I have an terrible urge to get a Canyon Nerve XC (and ride it on something slightly less challenging than that root section!)
Love my Cx bike, can't wait for next season's whacky races - luckily there is a whole season on the road to suffer through in the meantime - yehaaa!
For anyone stating that Women's racing can't be as good as Men's: whether you're right or wrong, I'd prefer for us to find out, rather than to theorize.
After all, I find we can be more successful by believing something is possible than we are by knowing that its not.
As Ford said, "Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right."