Road European champion Tim Merlier confirmed to appear in several crosses this winter: "It's nice that he doesn't deny his roots"
Cyclocross
Soon, European cyclocross Champion Thibau Nys will be joined by another man with blue stripes and yellow stars on his jersey. Albeit from road. Sprinter Tim Merlier will remember his cross roots and also this winter, he'll get down and dirty on several occassions. Adding to his pre-season preparation, the Belgian speedster will attend several beach races and also few cyclocrosses this winter.
During the Urban Cross in Kortrijk, Paul Herygers suddenly came up with news about the plans of the speed devil from Soudal - Quick-Step. "Here and there the rumor was already circulating that he would do everything he could for the Belgian Cyclocross Championship in Zolder," the co-commentator began at Sporza. "Because there could well be a sprint there. You never know in such a royal sprint, although I think those plans will fall through."
Why does Herygers think that? The Belgian Championships is not included in Merlier's program. "He's going to do some beach races first on 1/12 and 22/12," he says. "On 27/12 he'll really come and race in Loenhout. Then there's 29/12 in Besançon and 4/1 in Gullegem."
Ruben Van Gucht still has hope. "Maybe he'll take stock after that," he tries. "In any case, it's nice that he doesn't deny his roots and, Stybar-style, makes time to return to cyclo-cross."
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- yeah, that’s a more fair assessment. “reaching mathieu’s level” doesn’t mean you’re planning to replicate his whole career. the former IS doable, potentially. it’s just the latter that likely is not.OCexile25-12-2024
- That’s not entirely true. Every person follows their own development path and peaks differently. Remco and Primoz had hardly started cycling before elite level. Jonas was pretty much under the radzr until he unexpectedly had to take over responsibility at JV. Some guys only get real good in their thirties others have peaked mid-twenties. You can’t tell in advance how and upto what level they will progress, obviously his career might not have MVDPs length but nothing says he could not end up doing a few seasons at his level.Mistermaumau25-12-2024
- well, del grosso is 21 right now. when mathieu was a year younger than that, he was already winning elite level world championships, not U23. i think del grosso will be a very good pro for years, but if he was really going to be the next van der poel someday, he’d already have to be at that level right NOW. van der poel was showing signs of true greatness when he was 15-16. THAT’S what generational talent looks like.OCexile25-12-2024
- Yeah.... gear 😅.mikolajjj24-12-2024
- It shouldn’t be about expectations in the first place should it? Besides, if you look at everyone’s calculations as a whole they don’t add up in the first place. There’ll be 2-3 riders with a 50% chance, a dozen with 10 or 20% and dozens more with a 5% so we’re expecting at least 2 if not 3 winners. Remind me again who won before her? Says it all about using data to decide on participation.Mistermaumau24-12-2024
- Ok, happy I’m not too interested in this team coz’ the account of what happened is really hard to follow.Mistermaumau24-12-2024
- The UCI is worse than USA CyclingVeganpotter24-12-2024
- It's not like they wanted her to not win😅 She had an outstanding Olympics. But there's a reason why she wasn't expected to win the road race and that's ok. Things like this happen and it's great...better than seeing expected winners win.Veganpotter24-12-2024
- Bruyneel ? The man with a lifetime ban from cycling...why do you keep giving him and his doper mate, Armstrong, a platform?DJ24-12-2024
- yeah, agree. on the subject of being a “complete rider,” i do think that’s getting more interesting. mathieu seems to have decided he wants to get much better at climbing the the high mountain passes. he appears to be looking for new challenges, which should be interesting to watch. in most cases you’d dismiss a goal like that at age 30, but it’s mvdp. he’s never going to climb with the real climbers, but if he can improve enough it could open up stage wins when the parcours isnt just purely toothy and punchy.OCexile24-12-2024