BaGearA Posted March 19 Share 3 minutes ago, Shebeen said: the live timing is not so easy to navigate this year. if you dnf at a waterpoint, i guess thta means you got there and pulled out. there must still be like 40+ teams with timing still at WP2 Welgemeen (47km), but not yet tracked at WP3(70km). They've been going for at least 6:30 hours now. What's the cut-off going to be? still a climb out of WP3 to then go down the wapad, they will be struggling. agreed the timing is horrific to follow but the latest team in has a time of 6:47:30 something which is already a massive day, but acceptable imo up to 175% of the winning time in my mind is a fair bench mark for amateurs to chase with cutoff maybe being like 220% , I honestely have no idea how cutoff is actually calculated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaGearA Posted March 19 Share 7:12:16 for the team that just crossed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwissVan Posted March 19 Share 5 minutes ago, BaGearA said: It honestly blows my mind that someone signs up for this when they must know they won't finish. Sure lots of people have 135k to just throw away casually twice a week but even when you're ready and fit you know there's going to be some suffering involved Starting so late is definitely a crappy spanner to be thrown by the organizer but surely if you can't make it halfway by 13:00 on stage 2 then you should never have even been allowed to start on Sunday A year ago when lots of people entered not even sure if they would get a ticket...it seemed like a great idea. Unfortunately once you have entered and paid, its hard to take it back Rowl, nathrix and BuffsVintageBikes 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselnDust Posted March 19 Share 4 hours ago, Shebeen said: the live timing is not so easy to navigate this year. if you dnf at a waterpoint, i guess thta means you got there and pulled out. there must still be like 40+ teams with timing still at WP2 Welgemeen (47km), but not yet tracked at WP3(70km). They've been going for at least 6:30 hours now. What's the cut-off going to be? still a climb out of WP3 to then go down the wapad, they will be struggling. The teams that have not checked in at WP 3 by 15:00 are in trouble. Cut off is 9hr 40 so if departing at 8:20 the cut off is at 18:00 three hours to complete the last 27km is a big ask especially when that wagon train descent isn’t a free ride home Edited March 19 by DieselnDust Corrected my crappy clock math Lexx 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffsVintageBikes Posted March 19 Share I just mentioned to some friends that the thing most Epic first-timers fail to train for is the hike-a-bike sections and they absolutely kill your legs for the next days stage. You end up with massive muscle stiffness because you're only conditioned for cycling so the glutes, hammies & calves take a beating. It sounds inconsequential but believe me, you pay the price. It's literally only the Pros that can climb those massive mountains on the bike, for the rest it's a 30min to 1 hour hike, almost every day. mikkelz, Zebra, Headshot and 4 others 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffsVintageBikes Posted March 19 Share 3 minutes ago, DieselnDust said: The teams that have not checked in at WP 3 by 15:00 are in trouble. Cut off is 9hr 40 so if departing at 8:20 the cut off is at 17:00 two hours to complete the last 27km is a big ask especially when that wagon train descent isn’t a free ride home Pretty sure they'll extend cut off today due to the abortion on the climb Ant in the NL and ChrisF 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselnDust Posted March 19 Share 6 minutes ago, SwissVan said: A year ago when lots of people entered not even sure if they would get a ticket...it seemed like a great idea. Unfortunately once you have entered and paid, its hard to take it back A lot of the dropouts are sponsored entries. Theres not much commitment other than pride when its a freebie mikkelz, Zebra, Rowl and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselnDust Posted March 19 Share 16 minutes ago, BuffsVintageBikes said: Pretty sure they'll extend cut off today due to the abortion on the climb According to rule 15 it shouldn’t be extended further since the max allowed stage time is the greater of the max advertised stage time (9hr40) or double the stage winner’s time ( 8 hr 10min 44sec) the race director can extend it but the past few years they have only done so if conditions were extreme. In 2016 we had 44C temps but the cut off remained at 17:00 Edited March 19 by DieselnDust TIB 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikkelz Posted March 19 Share 13 minutes ago, BuffsVintageBikes said: for the rest it's a 30min to 1 hour hike, almost every day. I can think of better things to do with my money (and time) than taking my bike for a hike. 😂 Pieterlab1, DieselnDust, ChrisF and 1 other 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajnkzn Posted March 19 Share Unpopular opinion, but if you look at the day's profile and where the Wagon Trail is situated on the way out / back; No matter how fast the top guys are and how far after them one starts (is it 07h00 for top dogs and last batch off at 08h20 - only 1hr20?), if you can't get to 20km in 3 hours or so then I'm not sure it's the organisers who are to blame? It's (arguably) the most prestigious and "hardest" MTB stage race in the world so if you enter, make sure you are experienced, fit, fast and technically very able. Edited March 19 by ajnkzn mikkelz, DieselnDust, ChrisF and 3 others 4 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newbie321 Posted March 19 Share 4 minutes ago, ajnkzn said: Unpopular opinion, but if you look at the day's profile; No matter how fast the top guys are and how far after them one starts (is it 07h00 for top dogs and last batch off at 08h20 - only 1hr20?), if you can't get to 20km in 3 hours or so then I'm not sure it's the organisers who are to blame? It's (arguably) the most prestigious and "hardest" MTB stage race in the world so if you enter, make sure you are experienced, fit, fast and technically very able. Those poor oakes probably spent all their money on the entry instead of buying a race ready bike worth north of 150k. white tiger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pandatron Posted March 19 Share Just now, Newbie321 said: Those poor oakes probably spent all their money on the entry instead of buying a race ready bike worth north of 150k. Little bitter there Newbie321 and DieselnDust 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajnkzn Posted March 19 Share If you see Oli Munnik and partner a few years ago on their Signal Hardtails (yes they were kitted with nice wheels etc but still a basic bike), the bike is not what's holding anyone back? I would bet that a R 40 k used aluminium Giant / Orbea / Spez dual sus, well serviced and with a good rider, could get into the top 100 easily. ChrisF, tux26 and Headshot 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newbie321 Posted March 19 Share 3 minutes ago, ajnkzn said: If you see Oli Munnik and partner a few years ago on their Signal Hardtails (yes they were kitted with nice wheels etc but still a basic bike), the bike is not what's holding anyone back? I would bet that a R 40 k used aluminium Giant / Orbea / Spez dual sus, well serviced and with a good rider, could get into the top 100 easily. That's the joke Edited March 19 by Newbie321 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pandatron Posted March 19 Share 2 minutes ago, ajnkzn said: If you see Oli Munnik and partner a few years ago on their Signal Hardtails (yes they were kitted with nice wheels etc but still a basic bike), the bike is not what's holding anyone back? I would bet that a R 40 k used aluminium Giant / Orbea / Spez dual sus, well serviced and with a good rider, could get into the top 100 easily. Going to say hmm maybe, the sharp end of that bunch really do push the peformance out of their bike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shebeen Posted March 19 Share 11 minutes ago, ajnkzn said: Unpopular opinion, but if you look at the day's profile; No matter how fast the top guys are and how far after them one starts (is it 07h00 for top dogs and last batch off at 08h20 - only 1hr20?), if you can't get to 20km in 3 hours or so then I'm not sure it's the organisers who are to blame? It's (arguably) the most prestigious and "hardest" MTB stage race in the world so if you enter, make sure you are experienced, fit, fast and technically very able. They first did it in 2011, 110km stage back then the descent into the valley was also the return path, I have put today's route in orange, which should have made a clash less likely. https://www.strava.com/segments/718210?filter=overall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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