Geelong 2010: Elite Men's Road Race 262.7km

[glass half full]

greetings to the forum from first time poster. sunday was also a first experience to see a pro cycling race live. expected it to be interesting and exciting - it was much more then that - phenomenal, gob-smacking really, and a much more visceral experience than i imagined.

since it’s often good to read here first hand accounts of races from the other side of the planet. here is a contribution from this side. i was watching from the esplanade a bit of a way along so as to get a clear view of the riders. also a great spot to fill in between laps.a few strolls along the bay. couldn’t believe the pace they were keepng up.

my main impression of the race was that mid to late part where it had settled into the strong lead group - peloton way behind. simon gerrans was amazing (albeit a kamaikaze mission) evans looked strong , and so many other top names. then minutes and minutes back - the peleton with Luis Leon et al driving at the front - such a brave effort -surely to no avail. lap after lap , time and again the spanish on the front a few aussies (presumably incl davis) tucking in there, surely to no avail, and i remember once seeing thor - surely to no avail., and then somehow the gap seems to be shorter and finally ihe race pans out the way it did. brilliant.

I think more mention should be made of the wind direction factor. 70% of the time in coastal vic we get westerlies (as for every day the previous few weeks).- such a wind would have meant tail wind down ****ngton street after the climbs (as opposed to the head wind on the day) and may well have allowed Gilbert to succed. so more a case of God of Wind than thunder.

Another hypothetical worth posing - what if the Spanish had a rider in the main split. no way they would have driven the peleton. who would have??. just who would have?? then it might have stayed split ??

so purely from this spectator point of view - the rides of the day were - the ukrainian rider out front, gerrans and luis leon. well. everyone really - what a blast.
thor and davis- memo to self - don’t forget to add LLS to xmas card list this year.

 

[Polyarmour]

so purely from this spectator point of view - the rides of the day were - the ukrainian rider out front, gerrans and luis leon. well. everyone really - what a blast.
thor and davis- memo to self - don’t forget to add LLS to xmas card list this year.

Great post Half Glass Full. The television coverage of the peloton during the breaks was a bit limited, I hadn't quite appreciated that LLS was doing so much work during that phase when Freire was isolated. I watched the last lap again and noted that it was Chris Anker Sorensen who was responsible for dragging the peloton back to the front at the business end of the race. He had the same wind to push into but he was going like a freight train.

 

[hrotha]

Another hypothetical worth posing - what if the Spanish had a rider in the main split. no way they would have driven the peleton. who would have??. just who would have?? then it might have stayed split ??

Good post.

One thing though, Spain had three riders in the front group. Problem is, none of them was a particularly good card to play against the likes of Gilbert or Evans. Barredo could have been up there, but you don't sacrifice your chances of winning for a top 10 place and maybe a medal if you hit jackpot. So it was logical to pull. It might have been different if Samu Sánchez or even Luis León Sánchez had been there instead.

 

[davis_123]

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 have never watched Milan-San Remo, I am no fan of sprint races and often avoid sprint stages of the big tours and wait for the mountain stages.

Nibali had 3 guys to pace him when he decided to attack, you can't realistically think him attacking then and the counter by Gilbert the lap later didn't help the sprinters catch up to them.

Nibali could have used those 3 guys to set a high tempo over the climbs and then attacked the next time around, I dare say they would have lost a minute at least on that lap when they could have fought a nil all draw.

Comparing the U23 & Womens races to the mens race is like comparing apples to oranges, they race half the distance at half the speed its just not the same.

 

[Carlo Algatrensig]

Nibali had 3 guys to pace him when he decided to attack, you can't realistically think him attacking then and the counter by Gilbert the lap later didn't help the sprinters catch up to them.

Nibali could have used those 3 guys to set a high tempo over the climbs and then attacked the next time around, I dare say they would have lost a minute at least on that lap when they could have fought a nil all draw.

I don't think Nibali actually "attacked" when he went away from the field on that climb it was simply that the guy on his wheel (I think it was Chris Anker Sorensen) simply couldn't follow and so the gap emerged. Given that Nibali was on the front setting the pace when that split did occur it would suggest that the Italians were probably working for Pozzato at that time and so had a strategy involving setting him up for the win instead of Nibali.

 

[goggalor]

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

France was in the race?

Edit: Besides from Offredo, obv.

 

[glass half full]

Good post.

One thing though, Spain had three riders in the front group. Problem is, none of them was a particularly good card to play against the likes of Gilbert or Evans. Barredo could have been up there, but you don't sacrifice your chances of winning for a top 10 place and maybe a medal if you hit jackpot. So it was logical to pull. It might have been different if Samu Sánchez or even Luis León Sánchez had been there instead.

thanks for the qualification on that. the on-course radio were saying "can't believe the spanish missed the split" (i guess they just meant freire missed the split). yeh barredo would be somewhat a chance but a better bet to ride for freire - so - what a ride they did to give freire every possible chance.

while i was checking back this thread for the list of the 30 in the break i saw that many a "senior member" were also thinking that this break was uncatchable. yes what a brilliant knife-edge it was.

safely home (the only bogans i saw were the collingwood supporters in melbourne
and now i'm looking forward to watching the tape and reliving a glorious day.

 

[glass half full]

what ?? no more posting on any of the geelong threads.

sigh. our moment of glory in the sun is over then.

but it will live on in the sense - as we resume our usual position on the couch or computer at 2 a.m following great racing from the other side of the planet - we won’t just be thinking it seems exciting - we’ll bloody well KNOW it’s exciting and fantastic. and we’ll be hearing the swish of wheels , feeling the buzz of the crowds and the bite ot the wind, and smelling the croissants.

i’m realising one of the key elements for the success of the race for the spectators was the course finish in Moorabool Street. secure a spot on the barriers. look left - it’s like the road and the riders are coming up out of the sea, look right and you get a real sense of a challenging uphill slog, look behind - a wall of people. it’s actually quite a narrow street. so you get a real canyon effect - racing up a narrow alley walled in by buildings and people. and then the suspense of exactly what was gonna come swishing round the corner on the last lap.

will we call it - iconic - some day?

I was one of those beforehand preferring to see a small breakaway type of finish but as it turned out - the barnstorming finish - was about as good as it could get. didn't mind that at all.

and now to win lotto....rob a bank....score a job in geneva.....