Written by Frank Holwerda of
Holwerda Cycling
When it comes to races, there is nothing finer than a race where a rider must be able to get the best out of himself on as many terrains as possible. Fortunately these races exist in OCM. They are known as the “Allround” races or “all 3” races. Perhaps you have seen them. Maybe you were scared to send your specialist sprinter or climber to that race, afraid he might get swept away by the high average guys. And you should be scared. There are some riders that have no weaknesses at all and ride around with averages of 55 or more. We even have three riders with an average of 58.
In this article I want to share with you which riders perform well in the allround races and what interesting stuff is going around in the allround. Are the High Average guys really the best | | in this races? Or is it perhaps actually a battle between sprinters and climbers who have the chance of meeting each other in these races. And perhaps I can mobilize some people who also think that the best allrounder in OCM should be able to win an award at the end of the season.
Now let us look at the interesting races that have passed. We have seen Horatio Higginson win the only all-3 race in Top Division (even with 3 in CB) until now, Whispers of the Oman Desert. He got the best of Baltazar Radondo and Yury Belomestnov. Also big average man Jayden van den Kroon proved to be competitive in Top Division by winning Chennai – Pondicherry, a downhill race where allround riders can do very well. Brent Meijerigh and Filipo Armesto were also on the podium.
Mihael Jeseni?nik won the all-4 1.1 race Kriterium Landeck beating big names Reynardo Celades and
| | Troy Hardee.
In Division 3 Hernan Brizeno has been riding very good with three podium finishes with one of them a win in the prestigious East Egg Race. In lower divisions we have seen a good J?drzej Doma?ski with a win and three other top three finishes.
My top three allround riders for the first 1/3rd of the season is:
1. Hernan Brizeno
2. Horatio Higginson
3. J?drzej Doma?ski
Next edition we will have results from the only classic we have in this race category: Tour of Hawaii. A short preview:
1. Chatwin Stiver
2. Hernan Brizeno
3. Xabat Elcano
But at the end of the season we will see who is the allrounder that peaks at the right moment at the World Championships.
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