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"I almost s**t my pants" - Experts Nys and Herygers comment on high planks at World Championships circuit
CyclocrossSaturday, 04 February 2023 at 10:00
The World Championships track in Hoogerheide will be of immense drama over this weekend as the Cyclocross season culminates. Many riders and experts have spent the week in the Netherlands looking at the track, Sven Nys and Paul Herygers have had a lot to say regarding the high planks present on course.
“They are really in a very crucial place and are high. At the limit, I think: 40.9999 centimeters," Nys said in conversation with Het Nieuwsblad. "It is quite different from the planks we are used to with the Superprestige or the X2O Trophy these days: they are 35 centimeters high and easy to do, but here they are as they used to be." The planks can be seen in a recon video of the track here.
The course will be fast however feature an explosive finale to the track. The final two minutes of the lap feature a couple of steep banks, a run-up in a stairs section and the planks, which will be very high and a very complicated feature even for the biggest specialists.
“Thin planks, high and uphill: so if they can take you with a little more guts, you are ten meters ahead and then head for the finish via the stairs. A finish that is also slightly uphill, which you hardly ever see in the cross. If I had to go back, I would say: Hallelujah!" Nys commented.
Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert are the biggest contenders for the men's Elite race whilst Dutch duo Fem van Empel and Puck Pieterse will have a great deal of favoritism for the women's event.
Analyst Paul Herygers matched Nys' comments, telling Sporza that “I almost shit my pants. The idea is to jump, because if you get off, you get a second. They are extremely high and they are strategic. Grab a second here with the perfect jump and then it's not far. They couldn't be better suited for a real jumper.”
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