Geelong 2010: Elite Men's Road Race 262.7km

[Francois the Postman]

I'm proud of the dutchies. Didn't expect much of them with the exception of Moerenhout and well he was great indeed, but also a lot of kudos to Poels and Terpstra. Boom once again proved he can't handle 200+km which worries me:/

It was a welcome change to be on the thick of it for a change, not even with not one, but 3 whole riders.

And I think you should have been worried if Boom could have handled the 260k. They aren't supposed to. As pointed out, he lasted an additional 30k. I'd say he is coming on nicely, although I don't think he will ever fill the boots that some were stitching for him, once he stopped carrying his bike around.

In a way I am glad that Moerenhout is calling it quits. He went out on a high, I will remember him fondly for sure. Plus the last memory always comes easiest. He gave us a nice last farewell at the highest level. It would be a crying shame if he tucked on another year and spend most of it anonymously out in the back, keeping the British team company.

I hope Vino will time it equally well. Announcing the last year and riding it as such seems to bring out something extra. Looks like Freire and Vino (one more TdF after all?) came back from it, but thinking that you have one last statement to make seems to do the sort of wonders that outperform all the picogrammes you can throw at it.

 

[maltiv]

And I think you should have been worried if Boom could have handled the 260k. They aren't supposed to. As pointed out, he lasted an additional 30k. I'd say he is coming on nicely, although I don't think he will ever fill the boots that some were stitching for him, once he stopped carrying his bike around.

Indeed. I think Boom and EBH might start getting results in those long races in 1-2 years. Sagan shouldn't be able to do well in long races before 3-4 years. But I'm quite sure it's all about age, I mean, Hushovd couldn't handle 200 km+ before he was 28 or so. Not everyone are like Tom Boonen! (peaking at 24)

 

[Kwibus]

I haven't seen Van Avermaet or Hoste mentioned here at all. Both were incredible. Actually, Belgium as a whole was incredible, including of course Gilbert and Leukemans. I sooo wanted Gilbert to win, but I too thought his chasing Leukemans was questionable (although, let's be fair - he probably was right in believing if he was going to get a big enough gap he had to go right there).

I thanked the belgians in my first post in this thread. Without belgium this race would have been half as good probably. *bows down to the belgians*

 

[Kwibus]

When do the broadcast the replay of Geelong on the belgian tv?

 

[Ferminal]

Would like to hear some news from the people watching it down there (probably still getting home).


Hopefully in lower case and legible sentences too.

Asif acf knows legible English...

Tongue in cheek of course.

 

[Captain Serious]

Yep, it's a bit embarrassing that the tv people stuffed up by missing Gilbert being caught and the chase group catching the front guys. Maybe the egomaniacal TV execs, who don't know much about cycling, didn't take on enough advice

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Good morning again. Or, good afternoon, just awoke after getting my sleep back.

And Maltiv has a good point, it's very much possible Boom and EBH and other young guns can't handle hard 250+ races until they are 27/28

Don't forget a certain Philippe Gilbert couldn't get a crack at a good result in the Amstel Gold Race, Liege Bastogne Liege or Lombardia until 2008.... when he turned 27

 

[theyoungest]

Yep, it's a bit embarrassing that the tv people stuffed up by missing Gilbert being caught and the chase group catching the front guys. Maybe the egomaniacal TV execs, who don't know much about cycling, didn't take on enough advice

I just watched a clip with English commentary on Youtube. Wow, that was like a festival of errors. Martens the Belgian, Kolobnev on the attack (they were too busy figuring out who it was that they missed him flying straight past Gilbert), Moerenhout on the attack in the final km.

 

[stephens]

I couldn't find a live English feed here so had to watch in French. Even though I don't even know French, it sounds like I got better info from the commentators on that broadcast than I would have from the English one!

 

[Jamsque]

Slept until 3pm today...

What a race. Never stopped being animated, always breaking up and re-forming and breaking up again. Hugely aggressive rides from the Dutch and Belgian teams, Italians in nearly every move, Cadel seemly everywhere at once.

 

[Captain Serious]

Would like to hear some news from the people watching it down there (probably still getting home).

"Alledgedly", this yobbo wasn't happy at all with the race being here, so he started moving barriers

 

[Carlo Algatrensig]

Yep, it's a bit embarrassing that the tv people stuffed up by missing Gilbert being caught and the chase group catching the front guys. Maybe the egomaniacal TV execs, who don't know much about cycling, didn't take on enough advice

The cameras did catch the point when he was caught and passed by Gusev it was just missed by most of the commentators by the sounds of it.

 

[Andy99]

"Alledgedly", this yobbo wasn't happy at all with the race being here, so he started moving barriers

Ha ha. has he just got out of his car with that beer in hand!?:

In all seriousness though, great race and obviously great circuit - good crowds too in the end.

 

[The Hitch]

I just watched a clip with English commentary on Youtube. Wow, that was like a festival of errors. Martens the Belgian, Kolobnev on the attack (they were too busy figuring out who it was that they missed him flying straight past Gilbert), Moerenhout on the attack in the final km.

which commentators?

 

[ingsve]

Good morning again. Or, good afternoon, just awoke after getting my sleep back.

And Maltiv has a good point, it's very much possible Boom and EBH and other young guns can't handle hard 250+ races until they are 27/28

Don't forget a certain Philippe Gilbert couldn't get a crack at a good result in the Amstel Gold Race, Liege Bastogne Liege or Lombardia until 2008.... when he turned 27

Well, almost everyone I've read about after the race including Hushovd said they had cramps on the last lap so it takes a very though rider to manage a race like this.

 

[Kwibus]

 

[mortailcoil]

Who were all those riders dropping out around the start?

The field went out almost by half.

 

[delbified]

Who were all those riders dropping out around the start?

The field went out almost by half.

the start of what? the race? there were a lot of riders taking nature breaks in the neutral zone, but i'm pretty sure they rejoined.

 

[fatandfast]

friend told me all the tickets and police actions given to cyclists and teams were for public opinion. No fines to be paid..just a pr move to keep the locals happy when the town got turned upside down.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

it's fun getting up old quotes from during the race

lol at the idiots predicting a sprint finish.

@50km to go

 

[davis_123]

it's fun getting up old quotes from during the race

@50km to go

It wasn't going to be a sprint finish for 248km out of 250km, if Gilbert and Nibali pace set with their teams for 1 more lap the sprinters would have come in 5mins back.

In the end they out did themselves by over attacking.

 

[hrotha]

It wasn't going to be a sprint finish for 248km out of 250km, if Gilbert and Nibali pace set with their teams for 1 more lap the sprinters would have come in 5mins back.

In the end they out did themselves by over attacking.

I realize the TV producers made it somewhat hard to follow the race, but I don't think you really understand how the race unfolded. Italy and Belgium gave their all and still the bunch was never that far, and that with only Spain and Russia pulling, later helped by Slovenia. There's no way the puncheurs could have done more than they did, and we still got a sprint finish. If Italy and Belgium had waited, the only difference would have been some extra guys in the final sprint. We saw a sprint in the u23 race, a sprint in the women race, and a sprint in the elite men race, and yet you still think a sprint wasn't necessarily the most likely outcome? Granted, at times Gilbert looked like he could made it, but that was more because he's Gilbert so no one could rule the possibility out; in reality he only got 20 seconds and we knew from experience that was never going to be enough if there were organized teams behind.

And even if Gilbert had won, that still wouldn't have changed anything. A sprint was the most likely outcome, and anyone who didn't think so certainly doesn't have much of a right to say anyone is an idiot for predicting it. Would you say a sprint is not the most likely outcome of Milan-San Remo just because a few riders have managed to stay away from the bunch every now and then?

 

[fatandfast]

I realize the TV producers made it somewhat hard to follow the race, but I don't think you really understand how the race unfolded. Italy and Belgium gave their all and still the bunch was never that far, and that with only Spain and Russia pulling, later helped by Slovenia. There's no way the puncheurs could have done more than they did, and we still got a sprint finish. If Italy and Belgium had waited, the only difference would have been some extra guys in the final sprint. We saw a sprint in the u23 race, a sprint in the women race, and a sprint in the elite men race, and yet you still think a sprint wasn't necessarily the most likely outcome? Granted, at times Gilbert looked like he could made it, but that was more because he's Gilbert so no one could rule the possibility out; in reality he only got 20 seconds and we knew from experience that was never going to be enough if there were organized teams behind.

And even if Gilbert had won, that still wouldn't have changed anything. A sprint was the most likely outcome, and anyone who didn't think so certainly doesn't have much of a right to say anyone is an idiot for predicting it. Would you say a sprint is not the most likely outcome of Milan-San Remo just because a few riders have managed to stay away from the bunch every now and then?

I felt that the TV feed was really good. The aerial shots were good and the map overviews were good without being cheesy. I think US bike races should learn from these guys. Also the closed circuit allowed for lots of fixed camera shots that were also excellent. I wish we could have more motor shots on the last 2 jams up the climb.

 

[hrotha]

I felt that the TV feed was really good. The aerial shots were good and the map overviews were good without being cheesy. I think US bike races should learn from these guys. Also the closed circuit allowed for lots of fixed camera shots that were also excellent. I wish we could have more motor shots on the last 2 jams up the climb.

They only showed what was happening in the lead group. We never got to see the bunch until they caught the lead group, seemingly out of nowhere. For a couple of laps we didn't even see the bunch going through the finish line. They focused on showing the leaders, even when that meant showing a rider going solo, as opposed to showing the attacks that were happening behind.

 

[craig1985]

This is OT, but am I the only one who thought that the French jerseys looked similar to the 2004 USPS kit?