With no North American cyclocross on the calendar for the 2020-2021 season, the CX Heat Check has reluctantly turned its eyes to Europe. We threw all the data from the nascent season into the supercomputer and the algorithm churned away until the top 11 men and top 11 women had been calculated. You can watch the results on the Wide Angle Podium You Tube Channel, linked below. Make sure you subscribe to the channel, like the video and leave a comment to let us know how the algorithm did.
After you’ve gotten your fill of the Heat Check, check out the latest from the Cyclocross Radio Media Pit. We talk about the return of Beef Season, this time featuring Wout and MvdP, before looking at the Gieten SuperPrestige race and the return of Prime Time.
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Great to see the Heat Check back which is nicely edited with great clips. Also great to see you into the European CX scene. This with the media pit is really complimenting the European CX coverage.
I worry though that Denise Betsema is clearly causing you a problem. Hardly mentioning her feels like you want to snub her or take your bat and ball home. She clearly adds interest to the competition though and whatever the rights and wrongs of what happened last year a due process was followed and many people have ignored the fact that she had to miss 3/4 of last season and lost all her UCI points. She had that plus the condemnation of commentators and North American athletes. We don’t have to forget anything but we need to move on and treat each other with respect as human beings and athletes.
That’s how I feel but please keep up your enthusiasm and good work. .
Thanks for the comment. I appreciate the input and it’s something I will consider going forward. We have talked a lot about how to handle Betsema’s results and even covered it in the latest Media Pit ep linked above.
Brilliant latest (part 2 heat check).
But I was sorry that all you said about Betsema was that the reason she was number 2 was because she wasn’t out of the sport long enough. In one way it was a nice way to side step other comments on the rider or her performance but did you not see the concentration and purposeful way she got to the front on both races at the weekend and the skills she displayed especially in Switzerland in that tricky descending and climbing section which gained her time every lap? Apart from the views I expressed before, I remember last year that US riders really got into the heat check, talked about it among themselves and were almost as motivated by it as the races themselves but what, I wonder, does that comment in the Heat Check do for Betsema, other riders or even in promoting cyclocross. Perhaps we need a heal check.
I have been disappointed by so many riders over the years. I never got over the issues with Jan Ullrich. After the Betsema drugs issue a due process was followed and the emphasis then should surely be on doubling the effort on physical and mechanical doping testing and detection. I am sorry but I hate the way that someone can be de-humanised and dismissed on an ongoing basis. Is it hoped that she just goes away or is forced out by the criticism or that the UCI reviews the situation and punishes her further? She seems tougher than that but other riders might be demoralised as well as people who love the sport.
By the way, I am not Betsema’s agent or representative or even a particular fan, (just a superfan of cyclocross). I actually got bored with her winning so much previously but I have felt the need to respond to some of the untruths and unfairness where I have seen it since the UCI decision on her case.