Melbourne - track world championship

[Zam_Olyas]

anybody watching? ... dissapointed by elia at the scratch.

 

[JRanton]

Big surprises in all three of the olympic events. Not quite sure how GB's men TP managed to shave three seconds off the time they set in London six weeks ago but I'm not complaining!

 

[Zam_Olyas]

Big surprises in all three of the olympic events. Not quite sure how GB's men TP managed to shave three seconds off the time they set in London six weeks ago but I'm not complaining!

they were unlucky at team sprint.. dodgy call for disqualification

 

[JRanton]

they were unlucky at team sprint.. dodgy call for disqualification

I haven't seen a replay but I was surprised both Germany and GB were disqualified. I suppose it's good for the event that Australia got their first gold medal...(half joking)

Viviani was very strong (the strongest imo) in the scratch race but he just lost out tactically due to chasing on his own for too long at the end.

 

[unsheath]

Great first night. Fast track, high quality racing.

Still trying to figure out who Australia lost in the team pursuit. Thought it was O'Shea but possibly Hepburn. Was the difference between the teams as the Brits held it together a little longer in the stretch.

 

[theyoungest]

Great first night. Fast track, high quality racing.

Still trying to figure out who Australia lost in the team pursuit. Thought it was O'Shea but possibly Hepburn. Was the difference between the teams as the Brits held it together a little longer in the stretch.

I think it was O'Shea. Why is Durbridge no longer on the team? He seems a much better bet.

 

[simo1733]

they were unlucky at team sprint.. dodgy call for disqualification

What did they do wrong ? i missed that race.

 

[dirkprovin]

GBR & GER weren't the only team's DQ'd for the same infraction. USA & GRE were similarly relegated in earlier heats. GBR frankly didn't look that great .... GER v FRA did look to be "the decider". Credit to AUS for stepping up to the very top bracket .... I still would not install them as Olympic favourites but they must now be considered legimate contenders rather than outsiders.

4th wheel of AUS T/P still a concern as O'Shea was clearly found wanting. This race could go either way in London as there realistically is nothing between these teams who are realistically 3-4 seconds ahead of bronze medal contenders.

A nasty reality check for GBR women's team sprint who were conclusively off the pace of the 3 medallists. Salute to the Germans for successive WR rides.

 

[Morbius]

According to BBC, GBR team sprint dq'd because Kenny overtook Hindes before the end of the first lap. Speculating that Germany dq'd because the first man opened up a gap of more than 15m

German womens' sprint did an amanzing last lap to overtake Australia. The crowd thought Australia had it in the bag, and went from cheering to very quiet in less than 0.1s

 

[dirkprovin]

I think it was O'Shea. Why is Durbridge no longer on the team? He seems a much better bet.

Durbridge was cut from the squad due to the fact he was taking too long to work up to full pace ..... something which is not likely to hurt him as a road T/T man but was hurting the team over 4km on the track.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

What did they do wrong ? i missed that race.

something like ...for not changing over properly at the end of the first lap. go figure!

 

[djlovesyou]

I wonder if France would have been DQed in that Team Sprint final had they beaten the Aussies.

 

[Morbius]

I don't know what the rules say, but looking at the replay in slow motion, Kenny was pretty much dead in line with Hindes as they passed the finish line.
The German number 2 was well behind the number 1 over the finish line.
I don't see how they can have committed the same offence

 

[Raceoftruth]

Have to say the team pursuit final, was probably one of the best races I have seen in a long time, irrespective of the result!

 

[Martin318is]

Durbridge was cut from the squad due to the fact he was taking too long to work up to full pace ..... something which is not likely to hurt him as a road T/T man but was hurting the team over 4km on the track.

I would have thought it had more to do with this:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/circuit-cycliste-sarthe-pays-de-la-loire-2012/stage-2b-itt/results

 

[greenedge]

Congrats to the British- stunning ride in the mens' TP. Geraint looked very strong.

 

[blaxland]

Congrats to the German women sprint team,and the Brits team pursuitersand on a side note"Gerrant Thomas seems to be one of the nice guys in cycling and well spoken when pressed"He has just gained a new fan

 

[simo1733]

Peter Kennaugh has a lot of potential.On the road he is considered a climber and yet he can ride a world class pursuit as well.Thomas made the difference at the end though.

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

GB women start 1.3 seconds slower than Aus in opening Km, then pull it back and make the Aussie effort a 10 minute world record.

 

[dirkprovin]

Will agree with Blaxland, Thomas does come across as a class act. Both GBR & AUS do seem to have a gap over the rest, looking forward to another battle between 2 very evenly matched teams in London.

Re Durbridge, he stated in an interview after his Sarthe TT win that he wasn't able to keep up with the 1.02 start now called for to be optimal in this sport. Can't be ruled out for one of the road T/T spots though.

Re the GBR relegation in Team Sprint, Hoy's reaction seemed to be that it was a close but ultimately correct call.

Women's T/P looking like following similar script to men's. Will favour the Brits at this meet. Looking forward to London, both of these two teams do seem to have a gap over the rest of the field with the possible exception of CAN.

Meares' WR in sprint QF indicates her pace is there ..... a 0.3 sec gap over next fastest. So far the surprises were Guo having to QF for quarters thru repecharges (another race out of yr legs) & Pendleton's comparative lack of pace in QF (5th) & looking less than dominant in her last match. Could Welte be a factor ?

 

[ParfaitAmour]

Congrats to the German women sprint team,and the Brits team pursuitersand on a side note"Gerrant Thomas seems to be one of the nice guys in cycling and well spoken when pressed"He has just gained a new fan

Only seen Geraint in action in real life last year, but he was extremely patient and generous with his time when it comes to fans. Real nice chap.

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

Omnium elimination race enormo **** up.

Knew it was risky to let Australians run anything more complicated than a point to point

 

[abbaskip]

Will be interesting to see if Cameron Meyer comes back into the squad got the Teams Pursuit in London. As there are no other events that really suit him (Omnium suits Howard, O'Shea or Frieberg more), guessing he still plans to rewritten. I think he'd add just a little not in strength over O'Shea or even possibly Hepbern. Shaping up to be awesome ride for gold in London. Let's hope both teams make it through unscathed.

 

[dirkprovin]

This Worlds WILL be Howard's track swansong (by his own announcement). Not sure what the status is with Meyer but he seems to have been out of T/P squad in recent times with focus only on defending his (non Olympic) World titles. Intersting point made by abba but maybe the current schedules called for in T/P have ruled out Meyer as they have Durbridge.

Freiberg appears on the outer for both T/P & Omnium. It looks between O'Shea & Edmondson for last spot & T/P alternate. Should O'Shea medal in World Omnium, it will be interesting to see how that enters calculations.

 

[simo1733]

Tony Gibb is doing a good job as Harmons expert assistant on Eurosport.