Brian Lopes Wins the First 2012 World Cup XC Eliminator
Brian Lopes adds another official World Cup win to his long list of stats, this time with the first XC Eliminator event in Houffalize, Belgium. The format is like 4X race with a hill climb, with heats that are about 1 to 2 minutes long. Lopes felt victory hinged on the climb. On cyclingnews.com, he's quoted as saying passing on the downhill is almost "impossible."
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11 comments
Nakedracing
5/2/2012 3:06 PM
You can watch the 4X Pro Tour live this Saturday night on www.extreme.com
Great comments guys.
Ol Dirty Jose G
4/16/2012 2:22 PM
Just watched the final heat. Mega lame, this discipline makes me sad.
tstep
4/14/2012 9:48 PM
first x-fusion world cup win?
iceman2058
4/14/2012 6:31 AM
That was definitely underwhelming and boring. At least put some difficulty back into the downhill parts, that course was just lame. If they build a course where you actually NEED a dropper post not to die on the way down, they could be onto something.
Not that any amount of tech would stop Lopes of course, he looks like he could be unbeatable in this discipline...damn he has some power off the line, and his bike handling is second to none, so either way, he looks like a sure bet for this one.
filthyanimal
4/14/2012 12:19 AM
This "Eliminator"-thing replaced 4X?... great. I'd rather puke blood then watch this crap. Who's running this show? I can see huge money coming into the sport with this new and exiting racing format (yes, sarcasm!). C'mon!!!
MW
4/13/2012 8:31 PM
Dropper post for the win! I think you may finally see some other XC guys on them with an event like this.
Andy_Platt
4/13/2012 2:23 PM
I acknowledge the points made in earlier comments but I must say that the only time anyone came close to Lopes was when his foot slipped off the pedal early! I think you could have made the uphills 30 feet wide and nobody could have contended with Brian in that race...
nosi0
4/13/2012 2:19 PM
Hey guys, 4X is soo boring. So lets put the 4X gate at the bottom and make the riders ride up. Muahaha
FFS seriously? just broadcast the damn 4x protour!
Scrub
4/13/2012 1:23 PM
Either way you look at the men's results its says USA #1. I agree that there is lots of room for improvement for course design but this was the 1st UCI World Cup recognized event. Now if you have a UCI or National team specifically for this event strategies come into play especially if you start looking into team orders, referring to F1 racing for example.
cake1dlx
4/13/2012 12:08 PM
Agreed. Without anywhere to pass, the event was won by the person with the best starts out of the gate. Even during pile ups it didn't look like people could pass. Wider trails on the climbs and multiple lines on the descents would make it much more interesting.
t.martin
4/13/2012 11:55 AM
I watched the last round of this live.. It seems the strategies are the same as a typical 4X, first off the line and first to the first corner. From there on it's just line protection and riding clean - minus all the big airs, fast & loose corners, and edge of seat battles. I have to say it was a little disappointing. I thought there might long technical climbs with multiple lines, and the same with descents. There is plenty of room for improvement here!