Fotoreporter Sirotti
Interesting cycling items from across the Internet, October 13, 2011
Seen any cool links we missed? Share ’em in a comment below!
Fotoreporter Sirotti
Interesting cycling items from across the Internet, October 12, 2011
Seen any cool links we missed? Share ’em in a comment below!
Photo by Luc Claessen | ISPA-photo
1. Neils Albert – A couple weeks ago, we predicted that Neils Albert would take some time to hit his stride, but when he did so, he would dominate races for a solid stretch before fading. It seems Albert’s hit that stretch, winning capably and alone in Kalmthout and Ruddervoorde. He’s the man to beat; how long will he be on top of the heap?
2. Sven Nys – Sure, Nys’s last two races have netted him only 6th and 4th place, but it’s important to look deeper than the results. In Kalthout, he got tangled with a bobbling Kevin Pauwels, and in Ruddervoorde, suffered repeated chaindrops. I can’t help but think that it’s his luck, not his form, that’s holding him back. Last year he was plagued with repeated misfortunes – among them, a broken pedal and a mechanic pulling him off his bike. Let’s see if he can’t reverse his luck.
3. Bart Aernouts – Bart gets a boost up the standings thanks to a Superprestige podium. The Rabobank rider is looking strong, and it was only Albert’s dominant that spoiled what would have been a huge win for him. No hanging his head – it’s still a great place for Aernouts to be at this point in the season.
4. Klaas Vantornout – Like Aernouts, Vantornout gets a boost up the Power Rankings. He finished third at Ruddervoorde, behind Albert and Aernouts. Vantornout bested a field of his peers and has been riding consistently over several races. More podiums aren’t out of the question for him.
5. Bart Wellens – Bartje’s 5th at Ruddervoorde and consistent results following his preseason sojourn to North America. He’s looking to find a few more wins this year than in seasons past – he’s looking good, but it awaits to be seen if he’ll find the wins he wants.
6. Zdenek Stybar – Last week, the reigning World Champion was #1 in the Power Rankings; a couple wins followed by abstaining from Kalmthout due to playing a bruised knee safe made him look pretty fearsome coming in to the season, but his performance at Ruddervoorde leaves a bit to be desired.Â
7. Kevin Pauwels – the young upstart threat to Sven Nys’s Belgian cyclocross dominance was curiously absent from the top-ten in Ruddervoorde, sandwiching an anonymous performance between a poor start and a 13th-place finish. Does this bode ominously for his Superprestige aims?
8. Tom Meeusen – another youngster hot on the heels of some of cyclocross’s biggest names, Meeusen animated Ruddervoorde on his way to seventh place. Meeusen had a few major wins last year – he’ll look for a few more this year.
9. Steve Chainel – the road rider from FDJ led Ruddervoorde early before fading a bit, hanging on to the continent’s best cyclocross racers on his way to a top ten finish. Let’s see if he can repeat his performance.
10. Sven Vanthorenhout – despite less consistent results than his cousin Dieter, Sven was chosen for the Belgian World Cup team – likely on the strength of an 8th place finish at the Superprestige’s opener this past weekend.Â
Episode 3 of this season’s Behind THE Barriers, starring everyone’s (and in particular, Erik’s) OTHER favorite Jeremy, Jeremy Powers. Enjoy!
Interesting cycling items from across the Internet, October 11, 2011
Seen any cool links we missed? Share ’em in a comment below!
Photo Courtesy of Rapha
1. Jeremy Powers – after a start to the season that made us wonder, it looks like J-Pow is really coming around. It hasn’t been easy – he’s had to go head to head against a Ryan Trebon who looks to be in the form of his life. At Sunday’s USGP race in Fort Collins, the two put on a show, trading the lead and hunting each other down a couple times, but it was J-Pow who, in the last two laps, closed down Trebon’s gap, opened one of his own, and took the win. It’s enough to put him on top of the heap.
2. Ryan Trebon – It would be easy to keep Trebon at the top of the power rankings, too – since he took Saturday’s arguably more difficult USGP race, slogging through deep mud on his way to putting nearly a minute into J-Pow.  Whether it’s Trebon or Powers who’s better right now is definitely fodder for debate, and the only clear answer I can see is that it’s shaping up to be an incredible season.Â
3. Geoff Kabush goes rocketing up the Power Rankings with an impressive weekend at the USGP’s New Belgium Cup – taking two third places behind the placeswapping Jeremy Powers and Ryan Trebon. Kabush had indicated that this weekend would be a season-decider for him after a disappointing September. Performing in both atrocious mud on Saturday and fast, tacky conditions on Sunday show us that he’s a well-rounded rider. He’s always performed well at Fort Collins – let’s see if he can parlay is performance and his confidence into repeated results.
4. Jamey Driscoll – It seems that the young New Englander has traded monickers, having graduated from being The Studious One (in past years he traveled to races on the weekend and spent the weeks at college) to now being Mister Consistency. Driscoll’s had a hard time cracking the podium this season but remains steadily behind the leaders.
5. Tristan Schouten – Like Kabush, Schouten’s another new face on the Power Rankings after the USGP two-up in Fort Collins, riding into 4th place on Day 2. We’ve wondered where Schouten’s been this season, but it seems he’s answered. Look for more good performances from him.
6. Tim Johnson – Man oh man where has our TJ gone? We’ve said in the past that his early season difficulties aren’t too hard to pin down – a flu here, a planned low-form early on with an eye toward the longer game of building up one reliable peak for the World Championships. But we’re still not used to scrolling down on the results sheet to see his name.Â
7. Ben Berden – the big tough Belgian lurks behind the leaders, constantly in the top ten of major races. It’s yet to see if he can burst ahead to go toe to toe with the continent’s best, but he’s certainly close.
8. Christian Heule – For much of September, Heule was the spark that lit the Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com machine, which culminated in a big homefield win at Gloucester’s C1 race. A cartilage injury as slowed him down somewhat. Expect him to be quiet for a bit while he heals, retrains, and comes back with a boom.
9. Chris Sheppard – Sheppard’s presence on the Power Rankings this week is the third of a trifecta of new faces on the Power Rankings, an indication of just how much this weekend shook up North American CX. The Canadian National Champion put down two top-ten rides in the USGP – if he, like others, are finding form to be competitive in the biggest races on the continent, then we’re in for fireworks.
10. Justin Lindine – the East Coast’s pride and joy repped his sponsors on the regional races, going two for two at Providence and handily defeating the Northeast Pro field. Â