Libertine Seguros said:A lot of disappointment at Armitstead's attack online that I can see. Yes, she's won, but she's attacked her own teammate in her last race, and a lot of people aren't too happy about it.
Libertine Seguros said:Pooley's going to get silver. It's down to bronze.
A lot of disappointment at Armitstead's attack online that I can see. Yes, she's won, but she's attacked her own teammate in her last race, and a lot of people aren't too happy about it.
Yes. Including some fairly reputable sources about women's cycling too.scholar said:Among people who actually know about cycling?
Sure, the stated team leader was Armitstead, and she took it home exactly as you might have expected. Perhaps they expected Pooley to have been swallowed up again by the climb where Armitstead attacked. But she wasn't, and that made it look like Armitstead attacked her own teammate. Especially because when she got there they didn't work together and Pooley didn't work for her, she just went up and over, which made it look like "thanks, see you later, bye".Emma's an old friend of mine (and we used to train together), and I'd love to have seen her get gold in her final race. (And I had tears in my eyes as I saw hers as she crossed the line.) But the English tactics were clearly for Armistead: Emma had done more than 80% of the work in the break, and the gap she had didn't necessary decisive (even though it probably would have been). Sure, in retrospect it seems she could have won a race from the position of being second strongest if Armitstead hadn't attacked, but as it was they got a team 1-2 (which they seemed to be riding for) and won a dominant victory.
Libertine Seguros said:Yes. Including some fairly reputable sources about women's cycling too.
Now I'm happy to accept that a touch of romanticism clouds a lot of judgement at the time of the attack (it certainly clouded mine, as I'm a big Emma Pooley fan and am not all that fussed by Lizzie), but it has created some debate. "No gifts" seems to be the underlying discussion point, as of course such actions always do. The fact that the "no gifts" act was from one teammate to another was another sticking point.
Sure, the stated team leader was Armitstead, and she took it home exactly as you might have expected. Perhaps they expected Pooley to have been swallowed up again by the climb where Armitstead attacked. But she wasn't, and that made it look like Armitstead attacked her own teammate. Especially because when she got there they didn't work together and Pooley didn't work for her, she just went up and over, which made it look like "thanks, see you later, bye".
It wasn't actually bad tactics or anything like that, but it has left a bad taste in a few people's mouths because the rest of the race showed England could have done the 1-2 without it.
Ryongsyong said:Eh ... Cycling's a team sport. Pooley did an outstanding job in her role today of super-domestique, taking her team-mate to the gold and getting a super silver herself. Great job! No need to get upset; at least they actually had tactics unlike the others (plus some helpful motos).
(In the end, it's just the Commonwealth games. Who cares anyway?)