“Cancelling is the only right option, no matter how hard it is for the organization" - Laurens Sweeck & Michael Vanthourenhout support decision to call off World Cup Cabras
Cyclocross
Due to the extremely adverse weather conditions, this Sunday afternoon's World Cup Cabras has been cancelled at the last minute. Despite the potential financial ramifications of the decision, the cancellation seems to have been met with a mostly universal agreement from riders.
Crelan-Corendon star Laurens Sweeck only made a late decision to even head to Sardinia for the Italian leg of the World Cup, but as it turned out, he didn't have bothered making the trip after all. That ultimately turned out to be the wrong decision,” he admits in quotes collected by Het Nieuwsblad. “But nobody can do anything about it. It’s just not responsible to race now. We can hardly stand still here, what would that mean on a bike? It might have been a course for me with quite a bit of sand, but look, that’s how it is now.”
Another of the hopeful riders that travelled to the course full of ambition, was former European champion Michael Vanthourenhout. He and Pauwels Sauzen - Bingoal teammate Eli Iserbyt have been a deadly duo so far this winter, but due to the wind, both are now set to head back to Belgium empty handed.
“Once you get here, you know that cyclocross is not feasible. It is already difficult to just stay upright, with the bike and with the support it becomes even more difficult,” explains the 30-year-old to Sporza. “I think cancelling is the only right option, no matter how hard it is for the organization. Only one thing has to happen and then the floodgates will open. Everyone has made an effort to get here, also financially. But okay: I think that today only safety should play a role.”
With the World Cup Cabras round cancelled, attention for the riders now turns to next weekend at the next round of the UCI World Cup in Namur on December 15th.
⚠️ Important update from the 2024 @UCIcyclocrossWC in Cabras 🇮🇹#CXWorldCup pic.twitter.com/jQEU8CQnEr
— UCI Cyclocross (@UCI_CX) December 8, 2024
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- That’s big news??Mistermaumau13-01-2025
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TRjens13-01-2025 - It would be difficult for him to ride the Tour even if he wanted to, as his team didn't obtain a wildcard invitation.
santiagobenites13-01-2025 - love ganna, always has a big smile on his face. would love to see him notch some big wins. MSR and Roubaix really are both kinda freak shows, never really know who’s going to take them. the strongest rider basically always wins a race like Flanders, but MSR is often about timing and Roubaix can have a lot to do with just luck. i don’t think ganna would ever be the per se “strongest” at either, not with pog, mathieu, wout and maybe mads around, but things could break right for a big engine like him in either or both.OCexile13-01-2025
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KerisVroom13-01-2025 - AmenMistermaumau13-01-2025
- Thank you Thijs for bringing some rationality back into this pointless rant. I know of no sport that doesn’t see continuous improvement, either steadily or in erratic steps, all I see is that the average amateur now beats champions of 2-3 generations ago, this says it ALL, humans progress, all the time when they apply the collected knowledge and methods. Coming from another sport I was always surprised at how backward cycling training was in comparison, all they’ve done is catch up. There have always been individuals who lead the way in progress whilst the lower levels take more time to catch up, but catch up they always do. The 4 minute mile or 10s sprint was once seen as unattainable, I’m pretty sure Van Gelder has never looked at a list of how many have now run faster. Next is the 2h marathon. Yes, there are dopers trying to skip the line but that doesn’t mean you can just blindly accused a winner or the best. Pog is no better than Vin in certain situations, no better than MVDP in others and isn’t unbeatable, are ALL of them doping then, with the same miracle product/technique? And why is it just them, you’d imagine if it was so effective and untraceable, they’d ALL be buyers.Mistermaumau13-01-2025
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