World Cyclocross Championships - 2008 Treviso-Italy

Ok kids, sorry to get the forum off-track from our usual winter banter, but things are starting up again.

Any thoughts/calls for the world championships, which will take place 26 and 27 January in Treviso?

Official website (in Italian, English and Flemish - top left on yellow banner which reads 'Lingue'): http://www.cxtreviso2008.com

 

I hope it's on tv again this year.

 

Well, it will be here. Where are you?

 

In the USA. Last year the regional sports networks (I have a dish and get all of them) picked up various World Championships and one of them was Cyclocross.

 

For one it is suppose to be a very fast unselective course that will not be slowed by rain this week, so any decent rider could get lucky and pull off a big ride.

That being said there appear to be four likely podium guys: Boom, Wellens, Vervecken and Mourey. Nys' form has completely collapsed in the last 2 weeks (his coach says he is the worst he's been in 4 years), but maybe he should still be included just because we know what he is capable of doing.

Alberts should dominate the U23.

Kupfernagel for the women. Compton likely not to podium as her "muscle" problem has occurred again forcing her to sit out yesterday's WC race.

 

Well, Lars Boom is the new elite world champion! Nys is only third! Good call Wayne!

1. Lars BOOM (Ola) in 1 05' 27"
2. Stybar (Cec) a 5";
3. Nys (Bel) a 6"

And Kupfernagel is once again WC amongst the women (her fourth title if I am not mistaken!).

 

A very odd cross course, the elite men's race was basically a 25 man peloton for most of the race. Pure grass crit racing. Not since the WC in Milan a few years ago have I seen anything like it. Even when Boom launched his race winning move at the early in the last lap, I think there were still 20 or so guys in the group.

 

There is only one decent photo on cyclingnews that shows part of the course. Are there not rules for the course design? It looks like the equivalent of holding a mountain bike race in a parking lot.

 

It was a nice looking course but just too hard/dry. The only place where it looked like it was hard to maintain momentum was the section where Boom launched his winning attack. The largest contributor is that the elite men are cagey and afraid of getting used, so they tend to sit up whenever someone sits on their wheel, which of course lets everyone who is under pressure catch back up or recover. All the other races everyone tends to ride balls to the wall for the most part, Kupfernagel dragged the French girl around for 2 or 3 laps before dropping her. In an elite's men race that situation would almost certainly never play out because the guy doing all the work would stop riding.

 

Does anyone know where I can download the race?

 

Yes, maybe?

It's not there yet, but I hear it will soon be.

http://ccx.nathanspear.com/

 

Excellent, thanks. 9:23 AM in Rome, Italy, and it is now up on the site.

Mille grazie!