Belgian mind trick or legit??

[Chance Legstrong]

Albert Tips Van Der Haar As Man To Beat In Louisville | Cyclingnews.com

I have to admit.
I didn't think Lars would find his senior legs so soon.
It has been really impressive to see him not only hang, but animate with Nys, Albert et al...
the kid has quicks

discuss

[SteveP]

will be some belgian.
ill bet on that.

chance.
you take " some swiss guy to win" and i'll give you odds.

i will throw j-pow down for top 5 though.

[Chance Legstrong]

will be some belgian.
ill bet on that.

chance.
you take " some swiss guy to win" and i'll give you odds.

i will throw j-pow down for top 5 though.

Deal.
I'll take Frischknecht over J-Pow.
whatcha got

[SteveP]

heres one for you.
will j-pow use the discs at worlds?
theres one to get you agitated.

i say yeah.
same for tj and treborn.
$.50 put up

[Chance Legstrong]

heres one for you.
will j-pow use the discs at worlds?
theres one to get you agitated.

i say yeah.
same for tj and treborn.
$.50 put up

TJ and Treefarm don't have much of a choice since Stu said no to canti's
J-Pow will complain that he would've had a top 20 had it not been for the rotor rubbing after kicking kicked on the last lap.
PP gift ok?

[Saab2000]

The Swiss used to be legit contenders. Top 5 would be a success now. A medal seems unlikely in the pro race these days.

[rabo]

Still hoping that other Lars the bank has in his team might show up (not decided yet I think). At worlds van der Haar will be riding against a Belgian team , (if they like it or not) and he won't have a chance if his team can not help counter the attacks. Sporza's guys were reporting Jpows results today in broadcast but a top 5? Not likely.

[SteveP]

Still hoping that other Lars the bank has in his team might show up (not decided yet I think). At worlds van der Haar will be riding against a Belgian team , (if they like it or not) and he won't have a chance if his team can not help counter the attacks. Sporza's guys were reporting Jpows results today in broadcast but a top 5? Not likely.

we'll see.
my worry is he hasnt been tested enough.
he's been flying easily w/ the front guys here and hitting the gas and going solo w/ one punch.
he is a mile ahead of the rest of the guys here so far. ive not seen him tested in us racing.

against the euros that may not be enough.
ill stick with an outside chance at top 5 but it will require a fast course i thk.
if these laps are a little over 5 minutes a lotta guys will get lapped by nijs and company.

[Human Epic Jolt]

The Hokey Cokey. If SteveP can do it anyone can.

[sk_tle]

If he is on form and the course is dry, Francis Mourey could be an unexpected contender. We don't hear a lot about the french guys except in the world cup, because most of them don't do the belgian races. There is a nice calendar in France and most of them tend to prefer racing at home.
Francis Mourey was 6th last year in the world cup standing and he is a bit like Van der Haar, small, a bit wheelsucker with a very fast sprint. He's form is quietly and slowly growing, he was 14th at Tabor, 8th at Plzen and took a 5th place at Niel.

Taramarcaz (Switzerland) did some nice results these last few weeks, he may be able to do a top 5 at worlds. The belgian are fast on belgian races, but I don't expect a new koksijde this year. The course will be easier and may allow fast riders from other nations to shine. We miss Stybar though.

[j44ke]

Just seems like the Euros have a different gear. Even in the thickest mud, they are flying. Hard to bet against Nys, Albert, Pauwels.

[coylifut]

was tested day two at Rhode Island, the only race so far with weather, and failed. I think he's the best American on American courses. Look at euro races like Niel. Long running sections and sloggy pedaling sections. He'll do fine on hard, fast non technical courses like the ones he grew up on, but doesn't have a chance for a top 5 if winter shows up. I don't think there's a lot of hope for Americans to make the transition until the courses go back to how hard they were 5-10 years ago. It seems we are moving farther away from not closer to the Belgians.

[SteveP]

was tested day two at Rhode Island, the only race so far with weather, and failed. I think he's the best American on American courses. Look at euro races like Niel. Long running sections and sloggy pedaling sections. He'll do fine on hard, fast non technical courses like the ones he grew up on, but doesn't have a chance for a top 5 if winter shows up. I don't think there's a lot of hope for Americans to make the transition until the courses go back to how hard they were 5-10 years ago. It seems we are moving farther away from not closer to the Belgians.

i would say thats wrong coy.
he smacked them on the c-1 day
and his teammate won day 2, right?
hes won every c-1 easily here as far as i can tell and he got 7th at the wc over there

i thk he has more than you think but it will all come down to the course on the day for sure.
the raw power of the belgians in horrific conditions cant be matched by anyone here- clearly
but if its all rideable... we will see.

personally i thk its the belgian courses that are moving from the ridiculous to the sublime. a lot of that stuff is unrideable by anyone but the top 4-5 guys... if that
i watch some of that stuff and cringe.

[AJPM44]

Steve is right. I think the Belgian run can be broken up by some Swiss and Americans. Both Taramarcaz and Zahner are capable of riding with the top guys, and Powers and Trebon can mix it up as well. I also wouldn't totally rule out TJ if he is on that day. It will be neat to see how it affects the Belgians finally having to travel for a race. If the US works together it could be interesting.

[Chance Legstrong]

Steve is right. I think the Belgian run can be broken up by some Swiss and Americans. Both Taramarcaz and Zahner are capable of riding with the top guys, and Powers and Trebon can mix it up as well. I also wouldn't totally rule out TJ if he is on that day. It will be neat to see how it affects the Belgians finally having to travel for a race. If the US works together it could be interesting.

No disrespect to TJ, but no fukcing way he is in the mix at the end.
The Swiss have not finished with the top guys all season in either SP or WC series
Podium- 2 Belgians and 1 Dutch
here is the results of St Wendel- i'm not using Kocjkside because, well...nothing is comparable.
1 Zdenek Stybar (Czech Republic) 1:06:37 (doubtful)
2 Sven Nys (Belgium) 0:00:18
3 Kevin Pauwels (Belgium) 0:01:15
4 Francis Mourey (France) 0:01:16
5 Philipp Walsleben (Germany) 0:01:18 (home turf advantage)
6 Klaas Vantornout (Belgium) 0:01:23
7 Marco Aurelio Fontana (Italy) 0:01:51
8 Bart Wellens (Belgium) 0:02:01
9 Christian Heule (Switzerland) 0:02:03 (retired)
10 Tom Meeusen (Belgium)
11 Gerben De Knegt (Netherlands)
12 Jonathan Page (United States Of America) 0:02:04 (not this year- if selected)
13 John Gadret (France) 0:02:14
14 Petr Dlask (Czech Republic) 0:02:16
15 Steve Chainel (France) 0:02:32
16 Jeremy Powers (United States Of America) 0:02:35
17 Bart Aernouts (Belgium) 0:02:38
18 Marcel Wildhaber (Switzerland) 0:02:39
19 Mariusz Gil (Poland) 0:02:54
20 José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Spain) 0:02:55
21 Egoitz Murgoitio Rekalde (Spain) 0:03:55
22 Martin Zlamalik (Czech Republic) 0:03:56
23 Christoph Pfingsten (Germany) 0:04:16
24 Niels Albert (Belgium) 0:04:28 (mechanical)
25 Sascha Weber (Germany)

[sk_tle]

No disrespect to TJ, but no fukcing way he is in the mix at the end.
The Swiss have not finished with the top guys all season in either SP or WC series

Taramarcaz is quite fast this year. He did a 6 place a few weeks ago. I don't think he could make it into the podium but a top 5 is definitely possible.

[Chance Legstrong]

Taramarcaz is quite fast this year. He did a 6 place a few weeks ago. I don't think he could make it into the podium but a top 5 is definitely possible.

Swissmiss

[AJPM44]

Zahner got 5th at Supercross baden

[Chance Legstrong]

Zahner got 5th at Supercross baden

how far behind?

[j44ke]

personally i thk its the belgian courses that are moving from the ridiculous to the sublime. a lot of that stuff is unrideable by anyone but the top 4-5 guys... if that
i watch some of that stuff and cringe.

Jaarmarktcross at Niel eventually became a bike portage race. At the end, even Nys looked like he was saying "Okay, enough with the running in mud." The Superprestige race was completely the opposite. Limited mud, super fast.