2013 Australian National Championships: Men's Road Race, 195.6km

[Tricky Dicky]

Follow up - Simon Clarke in that chase group too.

 

[Tuarts]

Do we know the size of the peloton?

 

[Tricky Dicky]

Looks about 30 max? Durbo alone now. Hard to see him not winning now or perhaps one of the 5-6 chasers, no? 3 mins to peloton. Incredible ride.

 

[Tuarts]

Everyone playing for second. Good for Durbridge but expected a race like the last couple of years

 

[Afrank]

How many km to go? Turbo Durbo continues to impress.

 

[Tuarts]

Three GreenEdges all in a row. This was just a training ride for most of them

 

[Tricky Dicky]

Everyone playing for second. Good for Durbridge but expected a race like the last couple of years

Agree about the race. Saluting Durbridge though - 2.20 to peloton, 1 lap to go. Bit sad that Sulzberger is likely to be caught. Really gutsy ride from a guy that has got so much bad luck in his career.

 

[Ferminal]

Goss was still in the bunch at the bell and Matthews at the front, but they did the climb hard only 10-15 were left, not sure who takes the sprint.

Edit:

Matthews 2nd Von Hoff 3rd

http://roadnationals.org.au/results/elite-mens-road-race/

 

[Tuarts]

I think it'll be out of the Simons, Matthews if its a sprint and Meyer if the lone GE rider from a break takes it.

Called part of it, and got the wrong West Aussie

Ah well good for Luke, repaid the faith.

 

[Ferminal]

So, when is the national championships?

 

[Tricky Dicky]

Durbridge wins alone. Very impressive. Matthews takes sprint for 2nd, Steele von Hoff for 3rd. 1st time ever for a rider to win TT and Road Race in the elite men Aussie champs. It is a bit of a shame that one team dominates the line-up so much that no one else really chases - spoilt the race a bit, but hats off to Durbo - Cancellara 2.0?

 

[movingtarget]

Great win by Durbridge. Sulzberger caught up the last climb by the bunch. Was hoping he would hang on for second.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Very good win by Durbridge. Not a great race to be honest because Durbridge was so dominant. My roughie Von Hoff came in for third, good pick.

 

[asdfgh101]

https://twitter.com/CyclingAusRoad/status/290331108049035264/photo/1

Top 9

 

[Afrank]

Congrats to Turbo Durbo, he earned that win. Can't wait for Durbridge vs. Phinney.

And thanks for everyone on the forum for keeping us up to date on what was happening in the race.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Garmin's and Sky's tactics were hopeless today. They didn't even try to chase until it was all over. Garmin arrived at the finish with nearly, if not, all of their riders. So did Sky. Why not put some riders on the front and chase before it is too late?

 

[movingtarget]

Garmin's and Sky's tactics were hopeless today. They didn't even try to chase until it was all over. Garmin arrived at the finish with nearly, if not, all of their riders. So did Sky. Why not put some riders on the front and chase before it is too late?

Yeah it was like, why bother, another GE rider will attack anyway. GE seemed to psyche the other teams out of it.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

Garmin's and Sky's tactics were hopeless today. They didn't even try to chase until it was all over. Garmin arrived at the finish with nearly, if not, all of their riders. So did Sky. Why not put some riders on the front and chase before it is too late?

Agree with this - why not form some alliances? Asking some of my part-timer mates at GPM Wilson to take it up is a bit embarrassing frankly. But, that said, podium is all under 25. The future is bright: watch out Europe.

 

[Ferminal]

No one was good enough, Bobridge and Dennis gave it a big crack but could only manage a lap or so before blowing up. Porte and Haas both finished well back. They were mostly individuals, too hard to get a cohesive chased organised (especially with GreenEdge guys everywhere being annoying). Someone like Hansen isn't going to sit on the front chasing for other guys to win. Reality is Durbridge was one of the strongest in the race.

 

[auscyclefan94]

No one was good enough, Bobridge and Dennis gave it a big crack but could only manage a lap or so before blowing up. Porte and Haas both finished well back. They were mostly individuals, too hard to get a cohesive chased organised. Someone like Hansen isn't going to sit on the front chasing for other guys to win.

I disagree. They got it organised in the final 1.5 laps, which shows they were able to do so. Not a good excuse. Attacking off the front was clearly not going to work and that was obvious from the start. They had to chase and then wait for the final lap to attack. When Garmin & Sky finished with all of their riders in the final group, it shows that there really wasn't a committed chase at all. They could have brought it all back.

 

[movingtarget]

No one was good enough, Bobridge and Dennis gave it a big crack but could only manage a lap or so before blowing up. Porte and Haas both finished well back. They were mostly individuals, too hard to get a cohesive chased organised (especially with GreenEdge guys everywhere being annoying). Someone like Hansen isn't going to sit on the front chasing for other guys to win. Reality is Durbridge was one of the strongest in the race.

Pretty much. GE has the talent pool. Gerrans, Porte and Lloyd did not have it unlike last year and the gap had grown too large.

 

[Ferminal]

...

Garmin had Von Hoff in finishing group

Sky had Sutton and Hayman.

The rest of the Europe pros were individuals - Lloyd, Hansen, McCarthy, Wurf.

So basically you're asking Hayman to sit on the front and Hansen and Wurf to join in working for a Sutton or Von Hoff win (ignoring the fact that GreenEdge had the best attackers and Matthews still there). Can you not see how difficult that would be to organise? If Haas and Porte got dropped they were obviously not strong enough to have an influence on the chase.

 

[auscyclefan94]

...

Garmin had Von Hoff in finishing group

Sky had Sutton and Hayman.

The rest of the Europe pros were individuals - Lloyd, Hansen, McCarthy, Wurf.

So basically you're asking Hayman to sit on the front and Hansen and Wurf to join in working for a Sutton or Von Hoff win (ignoring the fact that GreenEdge had the best attackers and Matthews still there). Can you not see how difficult that would be to organise? If Haas and Porte got dropped they were obviously not strong enough to have an influence on the chase.

When did I say Hansen or Wurf should chase? Sky were able to chase last year in a somewhat similar situation and bring it back.

Can you post the full results? I don't think Haas was dropped.

 

[M Sport]

Boring race. Impossible to race against a team that big. Next year they should cap GE's entries.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Boring race. Impossible to race against a team that big. Next year they should cap GE's entries.

It is suppose to be an individual race (even though it really isn't) so they could not cap the GE's entries.

I am writing a letter to Cadel to tell him to get his **** in Bunninyong in 2014!