2012 Tour Down Under Stage 6: Adelaide Street Circuit, 90km, 2.WT

[Kwibus]

so Greenedge back into their first WT win and they are acting like that was the plan from the start. I don't buy it. A national team of mostly sprinters couldn't do **** in a big sprint, lead out train needlessly overworked prior to a leadout, no stage wins, Valverde BEAT Gerrans on the decisive stage.
a win is a win, but not sure how much of a confidence builder doing it that way really is

I'm pretty confident they wanted Gerrans to win the GC. The topic about who would win the TDU it was mostly between Gerrans and Valverde and I hope that Greenedge is smart enough to listen to us

 

[will10]

so Greenedge back into their first WT win and they are acting like that was the plan from the start. I don't buy it. A national team of mostly sprinters couldn't do **** in a big sprint, lead out train needlessly overworked prior to a leadout, no stage wins, Valverde BEAT Gerrans on the decisive stage.
a win is a win, but not sure how much of a confidence builder doing it that way really is

 

[Spider1964]

so Greenedge back into their first WT win and they are acting like that was the plan from the start. I don't buy it. A national team of mostly sprinters couldn't do **** in a big sprint, lead out train needlessly overworked prior to a leadout, no stage wins, Valverde BEAT Gerrans on the decisive stage.
a win is a win, but not sure how much of a confidence builder doing it that way really is

Bit early to **** on their parade isn't it?

They won.. A lot of teams did worse? Has no bearing on their seasons prospects IMO.

Judging by the amount of red wine consumed by a few GE riders over the tour (M Goss being led astray by elder GE riders was not an uncommon sight )

They didn't take it as seriously as some people on this here interwebs forum.

Their sole mission today was to win the race, not the stage, mission accomplished.

 

[craig1985]

Dammed if you do, dammed if you don't. You win and you get criticized, and if you don't you still get criticized.

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

It's objectively a good result for Greenedge. But equally, you do have to recognise that Greenedge were taking this race several times more seriously than any other pro-tour team.

Simon Gerrans is not going to win many more GCs this year, so if they want to be more than Servetto Mark II, they need to show something in sprints. To the extent that TDU is 90% sprints, and at home, it is both strange and slightly concerning that they didn't even seem to try.

 

[Midnightfright]

Dammed if you do, dammed if you don't. You win and you get criticized, and if you don't you still get criticized.

There a 1st year wt team they had better get used to endless critiscm.

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

I also find Matt Goss's approach strange.

A large part of his reputation is built on riding form from the Australian summer through PN & MSR.

We'll certainly get a better idea of how good he is this year if he's trying to ride a European fitness schedule.

 

[Andy99]

On a positive note, now the WT training camp in out of the way, the season edges ever closer..

 

[simo1733]

Hat's off to Gerrans.He is no Gilbert or Valverde,but I think he get's the maximum out of his potential.
I am not overly impressed with Greenedge though.They can't rely on winning many stage races so they are going to have to take on the sprinters sometime.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Well to be fair, the TDU has no business being in the World Tour, it's an awful race! There are many better races out there, that should be World Tour over this junk.

Ouch!

But I have to say I haven't posted at all on the race as I somewhat feel the same way, though I don't think it's "junk". It's just not that interesting of a race. It seems too early in the season, the stages are pretty dull for the most part, and I can't get into it, much at all.

 

[craig1985]

If ENECO Tour is allowed to be in the WT, then so should the TDU.

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

If ENECO Tour is allowed to be in the WT, then so should the TDU.

ENECO has a TT, and occasional hills/cobbles.

But yes, it's clearly the 2nd plainest WT race.

 

[Wilba60]

It's objectively a good result for Greenedge. But equally, you do have to recognise that Greenedge were taking this race several times more seriously than any other pro-tour team.

Simon Gerrans is not going to win many more GCs this year, so if they want to be more than Servetto Mark II, they need to show something in sprints. To the extent that TDU is 90% sprints, and at home, it is both strange and slightly concerning that they didn't even seem to try.

I can't buy that other teams weren't taking this race as seriously as GE. If I were a supporter of any of the other 15 teams and thought they weren't racing as hard as they could I would be very disappointed. Watching the way BMC, Movistar and Sky went at it on Willunga looked super serious to me. I know you are probably referring to them wanting it more...first race, home soil, etc but more the reason for other teams to burst their bubble.
As far as the sprints went, there were only 3 of the 6 stages that ended in true sprints (50%) and of those 3 GE had varying difficulties. Stage 1 crash caught the whole team out and all were effectively out of contention....Stage 3, only McEwan sprinted and as I mentioned earlier it seemed a pretty good feat for him to get up for 5th with the rest of the team minding the two leaders and in Stage 6 they worked the hardest of any team on the day and covered off both intermediate sprints, plus a Meyer breakaway and with 2/3 protecting Gerrans no-one really for the train.

 

[jens_attacks]

i'm ok with the aussies,at least they got hundreds of thousands of spectators and i'm sure there are lots of kids not becoming obese but fine skinny healthy bike riders.it's a very fine race for january.lance armstrong did a part of the job for you and the world of cycling should be greateful

 

[El Pistolero]

Tour Down Under: a WT event where placing second in one stage is more prestigious than winning 3 stages in said event. And equally prestigous as winning a Monument.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Hat's off to Gerrans.He is no Gilbert or Valverde,but I think he get's the maximum out of his potential.
I am not overly impressed with Greenedge though.They can't rely on winning many stage races so they are going to have to take on the sprinters sometime.

Does he get the maximum out of his potential? He used to, with Cervélo, but in the last couple of years he's sat in the pack looking to pick up lower end top 10s in the Classics rather too much for my liking. He ought to be at least trying to attack and take some risks rather than settling for being there-or-thereabouts.

I can't buy that other teams weren't taking this race as seriously as GE. If I were a supporter of any of the other 15 teams and thought they weren't racing as hard as they could I would be very disappointed. Watching the way BMC, Movistar and Sky went at it on Willunga looked super serious to me. I know you are probably referring to them wanting it more...first race, home soil, etc but more the reason for other teams to burst their bubble.

Ah, but those riders (with the possible exception of Valverde) have no reason to focus on the TDU. They race seriously in the race, but they don't show up with any sort of form. For GE this race is far more important than a basic warmup miles kind of thing as it is for most teams; it's their first race, so they want to make a big impression, and it's their home race so they need to look good in front of home fans.

As it was, they kind of lucked into the victory, but then you could argue that they did a good job of shepherding Gerrans in near the front every stage while Movistar were content to roll in wherever. But if Valverde had kept pedalling in the sprint in Stirling, he'd have won. Either way, bygones are bygones, Gerrans has the win, Valverde has a stage, both are happy with the outcome.

GE really needed a win here. And since they weren't competing in the sprints, the GC was the option. They got the win. Fair enough. But let's not make out like it was more than it was. Lots of teams simply didn't care about the event, still others were trying to compete but didn't care what form they were in at the event. As with most years, apart from a select 2 or 3 others, the Australians were the only riders making a big deal of the event, as they're the only ones in any kind of race shape, with the Bay Series and nationals preceding it.

 

[Amsterhammer]

Ouch!

But I have to say I haven't posted at all on the race as I somewhat feel the same way, though I don't think it's "junk". It's just not that interesting of a race. It seems too early in the season, the stages are pretty dull for the most part, and I can't get into it, much at all.

Thank God, I wasn't alone in feeling like this.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Simon Gerrans now has more CQ points for 2012 than he mustered in 2008, when he won a stage of the Critérium International, won a stage and was 4th overall at the Route du Sud, was 12th at Amstel Gold and won a mountain stage of the Tour de France. Winning the TDU apparently = winning THREE stages of Le Tour. Mick Rogers' haul for coming 4th is 5 points shy of his total for all of last year.

 

[Ferminal]

Tour Down Under: a WT event where placing second in one stage is more prestigious than winning 3 stages in said event. And equally prestigous as winning a Monument.

I don't know why you and others even make the acknowledgement. Anyone with a basic understanding of cycling knows what the most important races are, and a number the UCI gives it does nothing to make a race any more prestigious. The TDU is a poorly organised event with boring and repetitive parcours, but it is not to blame for any perceived problems in the way the UCI runs cycling.

There is no reason why there shouldn't be a race in Australia featuring the top18 teams.

 

[movingtarget]

ENECO has a TT, and occasional hills/cobbles.

But yes, it's clearly the 2nd plainest WT race.

The last few ENECO Tours I have watched don't have as many hills as the TDU. Does every race have to have cobbles and a TT ? For me the ENECO is duller. TDU is setting it's own agenda and the riders like it as an early season race. The Tour of Qatar and Tour of Turkey are not exactly rivetting viewing either. At this stage of the season I think the TDU is fine and even if the Pro Tour points are out of kilter will anyone win the Pro Tour points title on their ride in the TDU......doubtful.

 

[movingtarget]

Valverde will win the TDU, Simon Gerrans will stuff up.

Famous last words.........

 

[El Pistolero]

I don't know why you and others even make the acknowledgement. Anyone with a basic understanding of cycling knows what the most important races are, and a number the UCI gives it does nothing to make a race any more prestigious. The TDU is a poorly organised event with boring and repetitive parcours, but it is not to blame for any perceived problems in the way the UCI runs cycling.

There is no reason why there shouldn't be a race in Australia featuring the top18 teams.

There's no reason why they should be forced.

 

[Ferminal]

There's no reason why they should be forced.

Well that is the system which is in place, teams shouldn't be forced to ride any race IMO.

 

[Froome19]

Well that is the system which is in place, teams shouldn't be forced to ride any race IMO.

When a team applies for a worldtour licence they understand that it comes with an obligation to go to all world tour races and it is one of the aspects of being a world tour team. If a team doesn't want to race worldtour races then don't apply to be worldtour

 

[sublimit]

Simon Gerrans now has more CQ points for 2012 than he mustered in 2008, when he won a stage of the Critérium International, won a stage and was 4th overall at the Route du Sud, was 12th at Amstel Gold and won a mountain stage of the Tour de France. Winning the TDU apparently = winning THREE stages of Le Tour. Mick Rogers' haul for coming 4th is 5 points shy of his total for all of last year.

yeah its laughable really.
The thing is the Tour of Beijing copped a lot of flack including from myself, but at least it was race and not a glorified warm up for everybody apart from riders coming off Aussie nationals and crit series and with some sort of form.