2015 European Games, 18-21th June

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Mar 13, 2015
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I counted no spectators in about half an hour.

As for GB not being there: they could easily have sent a second string team like McLay, Thwaites, Downing etc.
 
Aug 28, 2012
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Re:

TMP402 said:
I counted no spectators in about half an hour.

As for GB not being there: they could easily have sent a second string team like McLay, Thwaites, Downing etc.

Racing in France, Holland and Wales respectively. Same reason Germany couldn't send a team Martin is tired after the dauphine and all of there sprinters are in either Switzerland or Holland.
 
Mar 14, 2015
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Re: 2015 European Games, Men's road race, 21th June, 215.8km

219xk0i.jpg


Good ride for Vasil :) Decent performance for Luis Leon,Zakarin 13th :eek:
 
Feb 20, 2012
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Quiz :D: Which athlete has this photo as his official profile photo at the European Games?
4517670.png

Hint: he is a cyclist...
 
Jun 9, 2011
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PeterB said:
Quiz :D: Which athlete has this photo as his official profile photo at the European Games?
4517670.png

Hint: he is a cyclist...

Quaade is a strange guy anyway, he is how he looks :p
 
May 25, 2010
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Well done Clement. Not going to beat the best TT specialists, but looks like he is getting his subtop TT skills back.
 
Aug 18, 2010
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Decent result from both Quaade and Mullen there. I hadn't seen that Quaade finally got a pro contract with Cult Energy.
 
Jun 3, 2012
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Watching the women's race right now. Course looks quite tough, the climb doesn't look too shabby.

My pick for the win is Benoot.
 
Jun 3, 2012
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De Snelle Duif said:
Benoot said he doesn't like the heat. Course looks awesome though for classics guys.

Okay, he will probably have a tough time then. Course is really good for him, though.
 
Feb 20, 2010
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Dutch have the advantage, Anna vdB can sit on as van Dijk is chasing. Amialiusik and Katie Unknown are both climbers primarily.

Dalej Kasia!

Edit: Amialiusik and Niewiadoma made vdB lead out and got gold and silver as a result. I like Amialiusik and she raced brilliantly to take it, but I'm driving the Kasia Niewiadoma bandwagon.
 
Jun 3, 2012
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LOL, I have rarely seen someone f*ck up so much as the dutch team today! WTF were Van der Breggen doing in the last 2 k????

I don't watch a lot of women's cycling (maybe I should, this was quite entertaining) but nice to see the Dutch not winning.
 
Feb 20, 2010
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Bushman said:
LOL, I have rarely seen someone f*ck up so much as the dutch team today! WTF were Van der Breggen doing in the last 2 k????

I don't watch a lot of women's cycling (maybe I should, this was quite entertaining) but nice to see the Dutch not winning.
There's not a massive amount to see, that's the biggest problem really. Typically they produce good races on courses the men can, and when they produce terrible races the men's races are similar (København 2011, for example).

The style can often be quite different, you often see very little in the way of BotD activity, so often it's about the pace of the péloton and lots of people pinging off the front for short gaps. Smaller teams and small roads often mean more Classics-styled racing as while the opening parts of high profile races tend to be quite controlled, once the elastic is broken it shatters to pieces.

And if ever a race seems dull, add Valentina Scandolara. She's like a female Pirazzi.

As for today and the tactics, in general I would normally put my money behind Anna vdB to beat Kasia and Alena in a sprint. Amialiusik is no mug, but she's more a hilly rider and decent in the mountains. Kasia is inexperienced but is mostly a climber - her breakthrough came with staying with Emma Pooley from the break in a mountain stage and controlling the big guns in the mountains of the Giro last year (as a 19yo neopro), and her biggest win was last week, the GC of the Emakumeen Bira (which is women's País Vasco - literally speaking it means "women's race" and used to be paired to the Euskal Bizikleta, but now that has merged with País Vasco proper, the women's event is standalone) and is being let off the leash at present thanks to Vos and PFP being injured. Not sure if Anna perhaps expected more help from Ellen van Dijk in the close once she caught back on, but once Anna's attempt at going away failed, she was basically forced to lead out.

Ratto in 5th is a good sign of life from her, she's had a pretty disappointing season so far, and I rate her very highly. She's Daniele's sister, but she's a much stronger rider than he is. She's in her 4th season as a pro, rated top 20 in the world the last two seasons... and she's still only 21.
 
Mar 31, 2015
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Nizzolo will be second.

Maybe he could win this though. The most pointless race of the year.
 
Dec 6, 2012
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avanti said:
Why is Israel competing in the European Games? Israel is in Asia.

They no longer compete in any Asian sport events for about 40 years, they were exiled from Asian Games in 1978 and from various individual sports around that year (mostly before).
At least it's not Kazakh football.