2011 Copenhagen World Championships: Elite Men Road Race

[Tuarts]

Brits and aussies are supposed to take the **** out of each other. i think it is in the constitution somewhere."Every weakness must be exploited to the max"

"Yet ACF's ego shall not be bruised"

 

[Ferminal]

I say we give Contador a Worlds featuring many loops half way up Alpe D'Huez, and going to the top the final time around. Spain would probably have a harder time of it than GB did today though.

 

[Thomsena]

Just went back home from the race after cheering for 6 hours 50 meters from the finish line. It was absolutely amazing. I'm almost lost for words. The atmosphere when Bak/Sorensen attacked was fantastic. Though the course was too wasy I actually thought it turned out to be alot better than expected. I really enjoyed it. I think we can be proud of what we arranged today. Fantastic show up and incredible to be a part of.

 

[mc_mountain]

My apologies to Farrar. He was caught in that crash and still managed a 10th.
Yes, a return to course with nice climb would be alright with me.

was likely farrar look a like talansky

DNF [USA] TALANSKY Andrew

 

[fatandfast]

I watched the finish of all the races, all of them included the elite men's looked pretty similar. The almost slow motion power of a really long final sprint was pretty surprising to me. The fact that Cav waited as long as he did and really just jammed past people while crushing a enormous gear was a sight. The other squads all said that they would keep attacking trying to make the race hard, for the most part they couldn't/didn't. I hate Cav, but he rode a great race and certainly deserves the win.
He pulled a move like OJ Simpson when I was a small child. Everybody watching TV, everybody on both teams and everybody in the stands knew that OJ was going to get the ball, the fact that it was predictable from everybody and they way he used to get lose and score was nothing short of amazing.
The fact that people have been marking Cav for this win and he still pulled it off is also amazing

 

[El Pistolero]

Agreed. I'm not the one arguing for some mythical 'fair' course where everyone has a chance but really Thor, Fab, Phil, Cadel or Piti will win. Spread the love a little more.

Last year was mythically fair to me. You saw all kinds of riders trying to win. Now only a sprinter could win it.

I didn't even like Thor back in 2010(he won me over during the Tour this year), but he still was a worthy winner on a hard course.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

ain't nothing wrong with a race like this.

Except the first 5 hours and 30 minutes.

The last 10 minutes were ok though.

 

[Tuarts]

Well, reading from pages in the teens (I can't even remember from where I started now) has taken longer than the paltry coverage SBS did and sucked any enthusiasm I had of actually writing my thoughts. Goss manages to get a Silver medal but there's no congratulations, just whinging about Renshaw. I'm off to bed

(btw, anyone unlucky enough to be watching the SBS coverage notice MT change his tack about the Aus selections between ad breaks? )

 

[El Pistolero]

ain't nothing wrong with a race like this. nice win for Cav.
only one thing on my mind though: the annual post Lombardia depression. its coming. I'm already craving ice cream

Cyclocross is better than 90% of the road races

 

[taiwan]

was likely farrar look a like talansky

DNF [USA] TALANSKY Andrew

S**t, that was Pez' dark horse for sixth place (!?!?)

 

[Tank Engine]

Why not make the Worlds 12km long? Still waiting for the first good answer.

Because Chris Hoy might win then

 

[El Pistolero]

Because Chris Hoy might win then

I've heard the name before, but I'm afraid I don't know the chap. Track cyclist is my best guess.

 

[Anonymous]

Brits and aussies are supposed to take the **** out of each other. i think it is in the constitution somewhere."Every weakness must be exploited to the max"

But don't do that with Americans because we are thin skinned *** who take too many anti-depressants and see too many therapists. We need to harden the **** up, but just don't seem to be able to do so.

 

[Tank Engine]

I've heard the name before, but I'm afraid I don't know the chap. Track cyclist is my best guess.

Indeed. Olympic sprint champion

 

[BillytheKid]

But don't do that with Americans because we are thin skinned *** who take too many anti-depressants and see too many therapists. We need to harden the **** up, but just don't seem to be able to do so.

OooooK? That's interesting

 

[Anonymous]

Why not make the Worlds 12km long? Still waiting for the first good answer.

Because the television coverage would be too short for the networks showing the race to make any money form advertisers.
i
Past that, quit *****ing about the course. You are only in one segment of society that watches races, and even though it was not to your liking, it seems as if you have paid the race quite a bit of attention. There were plenty of people who enjoyed the race. The sponsors thank you for watching and discussing.

 

[rides like a girl]

I say we give Contador a Worlds featuring many loops half way up Alpe D'Huez, and going to the top the final time around. Spain would probably have a harder time of it than GB did today though.

On one hand I think it is a bit more difficult to compare the two situations. GB only had to work for Cav today. I never heard anyone on the team talk about a plan B. If it was a MTF, Spain has more premier mountain riders than GB has premier sprinters.

GB's plan today was quite easy to predict and rally behind today. Everyone work to get Cav to the end.

Here is where I think team Spain for Contador and team GB this year would be the same. Team GB worked hard to make it a bunch sprint. They still almost messed it up in the end, leaving Cav without a teammate as his leadout. Cav worked himself into position in the end without a teammate. He used other teams wheels toward the end of the stage, then he went off by himself by the boards to the win. So actually team GB did what I think team Spain would do for Contador, Spain would get him as far as they could, most likely to the hardest part of the climb and then it would be all Contador's capability to get him to the end.

If we are dealing with what if's...How different would team GB's decision making and team play be if there was a hilly/mountainy course this year? Who would they be unified behind? Froome or Wiggans? Had this mountain course taken place, so shortly after the Vuelta, I think it brings a few team decision problems for GB. I think on a different course, GB would be left asking questions about who got left behind, like team Aussie today.

 

[El Pistolero]

Because the television coverage would be too short for the networks showing the race to make any money form advertisers.
i
Past that, quit *****ing about the course. You are only in one segment of society that watches races, and even though it was not to your liking, it seems as if you have paid the race quite a bit of attention. There were plenty of people who enjoyed the race. The sponsors thank you for watching and discussing.

I think when people see races like this they stop watching next year. Really good for the sport.

Not a single big sponsor will ever put money in women cycling after that race, that's for sure.

 

[Thomsena]

I think when people see races like this they stop watching next year. Really good for the sport.

Of course they dont.

 

[Sørensen]

I think its been a really good World Championship in every way. And wow there was a lot of people out there today.. 100.000 more than last year in the elite RR in Australia! Amazing.

That's actually pretty amazing. considering the crappy course and DK with zero chance of a medal.

 

[Tank Engine]

I caught the last 30k of the race after a ride. From what I read, I thought that team GB had been doing too much work. Wiggins was super strong, but then when the Aussie train took over, I thought that GB had burned themselves out. Stannard did a really good job at the end to get close to the front, but Cav seemed to lose his leadout. Really great duel with Goss, the rest were lengths behind. First British champion for 45 years and the whole team worked brilliantly. Drinks on Frodo tonight, then

 

[Anonymous]

I think when people see races like this they stop watching next year. Really good for the sport.

Not a single big sponsor will ever put money in women cycling after that race, that's for sure.

You'll still be watching next year, so...

 

[hatcher]

You'll still be watching next year, so...

You can't win 'em all.

 

[Dancing On The Pedals]

Not read through all the posts over the last few hours, so this may have been answered (apologies if so), but what was Cav's plastic cover thing on his helmet, and I noticed he was wearing a skinsuit rather than shorts and a top - something to do with SKY's marginal gains stuff?

 

[taiwan]

Not read through all the posts over the last few hours, so this may have been answered (apologies if so), but what was Cav's plastic cover thing on his helmet, and I noticed he was wearing a skinsuit rather than shorts and a top - something to do with SKY's marginal gains stuff?

Both those items have been seen on Sky riders, and I can't think of anyone else who uses them. Then again, Cav was probably wearing a jersey that actually said "Sky" on it - only because Sky's a sponsor of British Cycling, innit?