Anyone care about the tour of Oman?

[maltiv]

But a TT in a race like this, renders the rest of the race rather meaningless, no? Just like Qatar and TdU would be, if a final TT decided everything. But then, all of these events are meaningless, in the sense that they're only warmup for the real racing. Het Volk only a week away!

Now don't forget that EBH would've won by a huge margin, instead of finishing second, if it wasn't for the "rather meaningless" part of the race

 

[zapata]

Yes, If he hadn't stopped to pee, the overall top three would have been identical to the TT top three, instead of almost identical.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Yes, If he hadn't stopped to pee, the overall top three would have been identical to the TT top three, instead of almost identical.

Yes and if sky weren't being such *** like racing hard through the feed zone and wanting others to chase the break EbH wouldn't of been in that situation and the tt top 3 would of been identical to the gc top 3 instead of being almost identical. See the hypotheticals we could of all came up with.

 

[Jonny7c]

would be good if we didn't jave to wait until tomorrow night to see the coverage on Eurosport. Just watch last night's stage 4 coverage which included a whole 5 mins on Omani sweet making?! (and no mention of EBH toilet break?)

 

[zapata]

Yes and if sky weren't being such *** like racing hard through the feed zone and wanting others to chase the break EbH wouldn't of been in that situation and the tt top 3 would of been identical to the gc top 3 instead of being almost identical. See the hypotheticals we could of all came up with.

That's just what I was saying?

 

[auscyclefan94]

That's just what I was saying?

you only included the peeing part... I included what sky did to provoke that reaction.

 

[Winterfold]

love that pic of EBH - that is a very very good position on a road bike

Hammond comes out of this badly I think. EBH answered in the best possible way. If he can maintain this youthful insolence, aggression and speed as he matures he is going to be the most exciting rider by miles*.

Wasn't I saying Scandinavians are practically British?

*for people who think the real hardmen of cycling come out in the Spring and not the Summer

 

[zapata]

you only included the peeing part... I included what sky did to provoke that reaction.

My point was that the TT decided almost everything. If it wasn't for ****gate, it would have decided everything. That's why I don't think there should be a TT in short, flat races like this or the TdU.

 

[stefrees]

love that pic of EBH - that is a very very good position on a road bike

Hammond comes out of this badly I think. EBH answered in the best possible way. If he can maintain this youthful insolence, aggression and speed as he matures he is going to be the most exciting rider by miles*.

Wasn't I saying Scandinavians are practically British?

*for people who think the real hardmen of cycling come out in the Spring and not the Summer

i agree, the best thing sky/ebh could do was answer on the bikes. and that they did. i dont think cervelo/garmin have won a race between them yet this year?

 

[zapata]

love that pic of EBH - that is a very very good position on a road bike

Hammond comes out of this badly I think. EBH answered in the best possible way. If he can maintain this youthful insolence, aggression and speed as he matures he is going to be the most exciting rider by miles*.

Wasn't I saying Scandinavians are practically British?

*for people who think the real hardmen of cycling come out in the Spring and not the Summer

I like to think of the british as practically scandinavian..

 

[Cerberus]

I like to think of the british as practically scandinavian..

A legacy of the Viking occupation no doubt, or possibly the Norman invasion.

 

[Anonymous]

I like to think of the british as practically scandinavian..

We are, in fact if you go to the north of england, talk to geordies etc, they have no problems understanding people speaking norweigan etc, just as norweigians have no problems understanding geordies speaking english.

As for the TT, i stand by what i said, any race of 6 days where the TT is solely responsible for the GC is stupid.

 

[tgsgirl]

i agree, the best thing sky/ebh could do was answer on the bikes. and that they did. i dont think cervelo/garmin have won a race between them yet this year?

Garmin: 2 (Meyer and Meyer, Aussie national champs on the road and ITT)
Cervélo: 0 - though as a ProConti team they've had far fewer race days than the PT teams (86 vs. SKY's 131).

(Sky have four, Liqui and HTC are both in the lead with seven wins each)

 

[Anonymous]

Garmin: 2 (Meyer and Meyer, Aussie national champs on the road and ITT)
Cervélo: 0 - though as a ProConti team they've had far fewer race days than the PT teams (86 vs. SKY's 131).

(Sky have four, Liqui and HTC are both in the lead with seven wins each)

Sky have five

cancer council classic
final stage of tour down under
team time trial in qatar
stage 3 in oman
time trial in oman

Garmins 2 are rather dubious. they where hardly facing a quality field in the australian champs..
As a TEAM garmin have not won a race yet this year..
But anyway, its still FIVE to sky, not FOUR

and where does 131 race days come from...?

Tour down under (including cancer classic) - 7 riders for 7 days
Besseges/Marselleise - 7 riders for 5 days, 4 riders for 1 day
qatar - 8 riders for 1 day, 7 riders for 5 days
oman - 8 riders for 6 days

 

[St. Elia]

We are, in fact if you go to the north of england, talk to geordies etc, they have no problems understanding people speaking norweigan etc, just as norweigians have no problems understanding geordies speaking english.

As for the TT, i stand by what i said, any race of 6 days where the TT is solely responsible for the GC is stupid.

Ok first of all, no one really understands what the british are saying, never really have

Second of all, the race of truth didn't have to deiced everything there were lots of stages where someone could have gained time and made an impact on the over all. But like I keep saying these guys are here to train and not go for overall victory. Plus I think you guys are being two-faced if Sky would have won you would be saying something different. And one last point, isn't it better to have the race of truth deiced a race rather then a bunch of sprint finishes? It was a very tough tt and the best guy won. It was a good result for these guys and good exposure for all of the teams and it brings cycling to a new place in the world.


I am not looking forward to when sky is in a real race, you guys are going to be unbearable!!

 

[BroDeal]

I am not looking forward to when sky is in a real race, you guys are going to be unbearable!!

What?? It's going to get worse?

 

[ingsve]

I do think, there needs to be a better answer than a TT, there is no way in a 6 stage race should have the top three in the gc being the top three in the TT...

I don't agree. I think there should be all kinds of stage races. And there are...

There are races where all that determines the GC are bonus seconds, there are races where all that determines GC is a single mountain stage, there are races where a TT decides the race. It seems very fair and reasonable to me. No matter what your specialization is there is at least some oppotunities to also win a stage race each year.

I also think that all the most prestigious stage races should be decided by more than one speciality but I think that is the case as well so I have no problem with the current mix of races.

 

[tgsgirl]

Sky have five

Garmins 2 are rather dubious. they where hardly facing a quality field in the australian champs..
As a TEAM garmin have not won a race yet this year..
But anyway, its still FIVE to sky, not FOUR

and where does 131 race days come from...?

I was using the CQranking stats to keep it fair overall - I think they only count .1 races and above. And if we start deciding that nationals don't count because the opposition isn't all that great than EBH can return his national TT champ as well.
(you can check the 131 race days on CQ as well if you want, though they may have added today's races already. My point was simply that comparing wins and such this early on is fairly pointless, since different teams are in different stages of prep. A new team like SKY still has a point to make, fans and race directors to convince etc. The same would be true for the Shack if it weren't for the fact that the name "Lance Armstrong"** basically does all of that for them without the team having to ride a single kilometre)

*where Garmin is sixth in the 2010 team ranking and Sky ninth, by the way. I'm starting to sound like a Garmin fangirl, which really isn't the case.
**no, I'm not a LA fangirl either, but I am realist enough to know that the media attention and fanbase the man attracts is enough to get his team invited to whatever race he deigns worthy enough to be graced by his presence.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

We are, in fact if you go to the north of england, talk to geordies etc, they have no problems understanding people speaking norweigan etc, just as norweigians have no problems understanding geordies speaking english.

Is that REALLY true, though? I live next door to a Swedish woman, and I have been working with languages for a long time. She has a lot of difficulty communicating with my Mack'em friend.

Although English and the Scandinavian languages are all Germanic, they're from different branches of it. Frisian and Dutch are more closely related to English than Norwegian is. However, there are a lot of Viking words that have come into those dialects in the northeast of England, and the fact that the musical tones of a Geordie accent is somewhat similar to the Scandinavian phonology probably accounts for the ease of Scandinavians understanding Geordies that you comment on - it'd be more to do with Scandinavians all learning English as a second or third language. Of course, that the languages are related means that some things will be close enough to understand, but that's the same with German, Afrikaans or Yiddish too.

 

[Sensation]

Is that REALLY true, though? I live next door to a Swedish woman, and I have been working with languages for a long time. She has a lot of difficulty communicating with my Mack'em friend.

Although English and the Scandinavian languages are all Germanic, they're from different branches of it. Frisian and Dutch are more closely related to English than Norwegian is. However, there are a lot of Viking words that have come into those dialects in the northeast of England, and the fact that the musical tones of a Geordie accent is somewhat similar to the Scandinavian phonology probably accounts for the ease of Scandinavians understanding Geordies that you comment on - it'd be more to do with Scandinavians all learning English as a second or third language. Of course, that the languages are related means that some things will be close enough to understand, but that's the same with German, Afrikaans or Yiddish too.

Continuing the slight derailing. How about a youtube link to someone speaking this Geordie accent? Being norwegian and having lived in the US for a few years I would say I master both languages well. I also speak german quite good. Taking those three languages as a basis, I was surprised this summer to find that I could read and comprehend dutch fairly easily. There is however no way I can understand anyone speaking it. I cannot comprehend Icelandic at all, eventhough it is supposed to be quite closely related to norwegian and norse. Norse being something we have in school (though jsut barely) and is somewhat understandable.

Also, having lived in Florida, New York and LA I have been exposed to most the diffrent accents of american english. I do really struggle with some of them. Then again, being norwegian by birth and lived here 21+ years, Is till find certain dialects near impossible to follow when they speak fast. Spoken swedish can be difficult to understand too.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwx0-oewjsM

here's some Geordie.

regards Icelandic, its conservatism is its problem. The English spoken in 1200 is closely related to the English we speak today, but you'd have trouble understanding people speaking it unless you knew a lot more than most do about it.

 

[Big GMaC]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwx0-oewjsM

here's some Geordie.

It always gets me when I see Geordie written down... I know so few people with the same actual name as me, not counting the Newcastle Geordies, so I always double take on it...

 

[Aguirre]

well, Oman show us that this year its gonna be hot with the "Peegate", the "Peegate" is gonna be crucial in the stones, including that famous stage of TdF with the cobbles.

I see a lot of load coming in the next months related with this "Peegate" starting at Het Volk.

Don't dismiss the "Peegate", the hegemony between anglo-american teams is gonna be a crude war, including Cervelo, and waiting to add The shack.

It's the war, it's the "Peegate"

 

[hektoren]

Continuing the slight derailing. How about a youtube link to someone speaking this Geordie accent? Being norwegian and having lived in the US for a few years I would say I master both languages well. I also speak german quite good. Taking those three languages as a basis, I was surprised this summer to find that I could read and comprehend dutch fairly easily. There is however no way I can understand anyone speaking it. I cannot comprehend Icelandic at all, eventhough it is supposed to be quite closely related to norwegian and norse. Norse being something we have in school (though jsut barely) and is somewhat understandable.

Also, having lived in Florida, New York and LA I have been exposed to most the diffrent accents of american english. I do really struggle with some of them. Then again, being norwegian by birth and lived here 21+ years, Is till find certain dialects near impossible to follow when they speak fast. Spoken swedish can be difficult to understand too.

Slight derailing, indeed.
A friendly piece of advice: You'll speak Dutch perfect in just a month if you practice while you brush your teeth! My Dutch is perfect, and my teeth and gums are ship-shape!

 

[Anonymous]

I was surprised this summer to find that I could read and comprehend dutch fairly easily. .

See geordie and dutch are almost the same, the father in law is geordie and worked in holland for several years and was able to communicate fine.

And our dutch freinds understand him better than i do.