Men Elite Road Race - UCI RWC Doha 2016

[yaco]

Re: Re:

Of course a rider tries to save energy for the final - This is something Sagan has improved immensely as a cyclist in 2016 which has lead to better results - The races that had a reduced sprint were Omloop and E3 which he lost and Gent Werelgem which he won -It's telling this was the the last of the three races so it could be argued he had better condition.

GW takes place two days after E3, I doubt his shape improve that much in this period.

Of course your shape improvess with more racing.

 

[Arredondo]

I'm totally against this WC. It's morally and sportively wrong. But if you look purely at the race today, you can't say it was a bad race. We wanted echelons, and we've got them. The only poor thing were Belgium's racing tactics (going 100% for Boonen instead of letting a rider attack in the final and forcing the other teams/riders to take their responsibilty) in the final 10 km.

It was surely better then Copenhagen. But if the UCI wants to organize another WC far abroad in the future, they need to go to Colombia, Japan, Australia or other countries who have a certain cycling culture.

 

[mr61%]

Would Sagan fanboys still dare to lament that everybody is sucking his wheel after this.

I mean did he ever put his nose in the front before the final 200m. I'm quite serene because this win is worthless anyway. I've always said this, even long before Sagan turned pro. Nothing to feel bitter for Libs or for me. Cycling fans need to realise that this performance is way overrated.

Make your mind up, is it worthless or way overrated? The guy's already a legend and his career still has a long way to go - get used to it.

Also Cavendish yet again blaming his teammate in defeat - classy as usual from the Manx Moaner (Brit here btw).

 

[May0maniac]

Re:

Kristoff: "I feel that I was let down. To me it seemed like EBH sprinted for his own chances. I may have lost gold medal because of that."

Lol

What a sore looser, he just wasn't strong enough.
Boonen probably went a bit too early (according to Sagan it was a headwind sprint), but I seriously doubt that he would have won the sprint.
Bennati was mighty strong, Italy burned him too early, but who else should have done the work?
Berhane finishing 13th in a flat WC RR is one of the strangest results that I've see recently.
Degenkolb animated the race with bottles and did a ton of work for Greipel.
What happened to the French team and Demare?

 

[orangerider]

Ouch, Cavendish taking silver in the two biggest races for him in the year, if not of his life. That's got to hurt big time.

 

[Echoes]

Make your mind up, is it worthless or way overrated? The guy's already a legend and his career still has a long way to go - get used to it.

You'll have to tell me where the contradiction is. Really I wanted to quit bashing CN posts after being unbanned but well ... OKay I shut up.

Legend is your own subjective word and I'll get use to whatever I feel like, you have no lesson to teach me. I was just stating a well-observable fact. I denounce the hypocrisy of Sagan fans who woulbe the first to say it was a dull race had Cavendish won. Oh and also some of them were the first to claim that Worlds in Doha was a farce. Now well the Messiah have saved it by wheelsucking all day long. Deal with it and show that I'm wrong. Fanboyism is really blinding.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

I'm totally against this WC. It's morally and sportively wrong. But if you look purely at the race today, you can't say it was a bad race. We wanted echelons, and we've got them. The only poor thing were Belgium's racing tactics (going 100% for Boonen instead of letting a rider attack in the final and forcing the other teams/riders to take their responsibilty) in the final 10 km.

It was surely better then Copenhagen. But if the UCI wants to organize another WC far abroad in the future, they need to go to Colombia, Japan, Australia or other countries who have a certain cycling culture.

The race was terrible apart from there being early selection. I had hoped they'd start racing in the last 20km but they just didn't. Everyone had agreed the fastest would win, even though some team had no hopes of winning

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re:

I'm totally against this WC. It's morally and sportively wrong. But if you look purely at the race today, you can't say it was a bad race. We wanted echelons, and we've got them. The only poor thing were Belgium's racing tactics (going 100% for Boonen instead of letting a rider attack in the final and forcing the other teams/riders to take their responsibilty) in the final 10 km.

It was surely better then Copenhagen. But if the UCI wants to organize another WC far abroad in the future, they need to go to Colombia, Japan, Australia or other countries who have a certain cycling culture.

Rwanda would definitely have the fans, as per the photos Benotti posted in the Cookson thread in the Clinic. Out of countries that we could see as reasonably bringing the Worlds in, South Africa would offer some possibilities, Argentina (although opportunities for an exciting parcours are limited, though there is a short but steep hill around Mar del Plata somewhere), Chile or Uruguay also have some cycling interest (I discount Colombia as they're already bidding for it and you mentioned them, and Brazil because they just had Rio), New Zealand could offer something as well. Then the other country with an established cycling scene is of course Iran, which I can't see happening. Morocco and Algeria have some decent interest as well, but little in the way of pro interest.

 

[robin440]

shame that degenkolb punctured out of the first group, wonder what he could have done in a sprint?

 

[mr61%]

Make your mind up, is it worthless or way overrated? The guy's already a legend and his career still has a long way to go - get used to it.

You'll have to tell me where the contradiction is. Really I wanted to quit bashing CN posts after being unbanned but well ... OKay I shut up.

I would have thought it was self explanatory but clearly not for some people. Saying a win is way overrated is some climbdown from saying it is worthless, so which is it? If further clarification is required which, having had a brief look at some of your recent posts, it might well be, don't hesitate to ask.

 

[May0maniac]

Re: Re:

I'm totally against this WC. It's morally and sportively wrong. But if you look purely at the race today, you can't say it was a bad race. We wanted echelons, and we've got them. The only poor thing were Belgium's racing tactics (going 100% for Boonen instead of letting a rider attack in the final and forcing the other teams/riders to take their responsibilty) in the final 10 km.

It was surely better then Copenhagen. But if the UCI wants to organize another WC far abroad in the future, they need to go to Colombia, Japan, Australia or other countries who have a certain cycling culture.

Rwanda would definitely have the fans, as per the photos Benotti posted in the Cookson thread in the Clinic. Out of countries that we could see as reasonably bringing the Worlds in, South Africa would offer some possibilities, Argentina (although opportunities for an exciting parcours are limited, though there is a short but steep hill around Mar del Plata somewhere), Chile or Uruguay also have some cycling interest (I discount Colombia as they're already bidding for it and you mentioned them, and Brazil because they just had Rio), New Zealand could offer something as well. Then the other country with an established cycling scene is of course Iran, which I can't see happening. Morocco and Algeria have some decent interest as well, but little in the way of pro interest.

An Iran WC would also be pretty cool, but I don't think that we'll see one in the near future.
South Africa and NZ would be good options, Cape Town and Dunedin could both host a great WC, a Wellington WC could also be interesting.

 

[BigMac]

Dunedin WC ftw, lol.

 

[mb2612]

Re: Re:

I'm totally against this WC. It's morally and sportively wrong. But if you look purely at the race today, you can't say it was a bad race. We wanted echelons, and we've got them. The only poor thing were Belgium's racing tactics (going 100% for Boonen instead of letting a rider attack in the final and forcing the other teams/riders to take their responsibilty) in the final 10 km.

It was surely better then Copenhagen. But if the UCI wants to organize another WC far abroad in the future, they need to go to Colombia, Japan, Australia or other countries who have a certain cycling culture.

Rwanda would definitely have the fans, as per the photos Benotti posted in the Cookson thread in the Clinic. Out of countries that we could see as reasonably bringing the Worlds in, South Africa would offer some possibilities, Argentina (although opportunities for an exciting parcours are limited, though there is a short but steep hill around Mar del Plata somewhere), Chile or Uruguay also have some cycling interest (I discount Colombia as they're already bidding for it and you mentioned them, and Brazil because they just had Rio), New Zealand could offer something as well. Then the other country with an established cycling scene is of course Iran, which I can't see happening. Morocco and Algeria have some decent interest as well, but little in the way of pro interest.

An Iran WC would also be pretty cool, but I don't think that we'll see one in the near future.
South Africa and NZ would be good options, Cape Town and Dunedin could both host a great WC, a Wellington WC could also be interesting.

A South African WC would probably be in Pietermarizberg, which has scope for a brutal route. I would be very surprised if they could find the money though.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Cape Town used to have the Giro del Capo which is probably why it's most people's first thought, it does allow for some interesting possibilities. You could still have a decent route in Joburg or Pretoria, along the lines of the Geelong route with a couple of short tough climbs. Joburg has some possibilities to do something akin to Stuttgart too.

 

[Popchu]

Would Sagan fanboys still dare to lament that everybody is sucking his wheel after this.

I mean did he ever put his nose in the front before the final 200m. I'm quite serene because this win is worthless anyway. I've always said this, even long before Sagan turned pro. Nothing to feel bitter for Libs or for me. Cycling fans need to realise that this performance is way overrated.

Gullegem Koerse is more important than this race.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

What a sprint by Sagan. Twice world champion, last time in a row was Bettini right?

And never in my wildest dreams did I think Leezer would lead a world championship until 500m to go :lol: it was surreal. I wonder if Belgian didn't take up the mantle who would. Seemed they would've come too late.

I'm not sure why Belgium had so much faith in Boonen's sprint. They were the strongest team and I think they should've done things differently on the final circuit to make it harder for Sagan, Cavendish etc.. now I feel they just led them out. Boonen is still fast after a long race, but against these guys he'll only win 3/10 nowadays. A big gamble

 

[May0maniac]

Re:

Dunedin WC ftw, lol.

Not just because of Baldwin Street , there are many hilly around the city (you could have a hard first part of the race before the start of the circuit) and there are also a few larger steep roads, Blacks Road would be a good example.

 

[BigMac]

Re: Re:

Dunedin WC ftw, lol.

Not just because of Baldwin Street , there are many hilly around the city (you could have a hard first part of the race before the start of the circuit) and there are also a few larger steep roads, Blacks Road would be a good example.

I know, I honestly have more than 20 race drafts saved on cronoescalada of a Dunedin WC. It's a real life rollercoaster tycoon.

 

[May0maniac]

That's good to know, at least I'm not the only one who has already created a few Dunedin WC routes.
Back to the race, I missed the part in the desert and the rest was rather dull, for me it was a bit like watching Kittel's favourite race, minus the crashes of course.

 

[mb2612]

Re:

Cape Town used to have the Giro del Capo which is probably why it's most people's first thought, it does allow for some interesting possibilities. You could still have a decent route in Joburg or Pretoria, along the lines of the Geelong route with a couple of short tough climbs. Joburg has some possibilities to do something akin to Stuttgart too.

Yeah, although I imagine that any Cape Town route would also be pretty Geelong like, the problem with Cape Town is the city is not really very well designed for a cycling circuit.

But Pietermarizburg has put a lot of effort in ganing UCI events, both mountain biking and track racing, and has tried to market itself as "Africa's Bike City", so it would have the inside track on any potential South African bid.

 

[Dragontearz]

Re: Re:

Dunedin WC ftw, lol.

Not just because of Baldwin Street , there are many hilly around the city (you could have a hard first part of the race before the start of the circuit) and there are also a few larger steep roads, Blacks Road would be a good example.

Not a bad idea. Area around Dunedin could create really interesting course. Lots of short steep climbs, and finish around The Octagon.

 

[Tank Engine]

Also Cavendish yet again blaming his teammate in defeat - classy as usual from the Manx Moaner (Brit here btw).

Where is this from

From http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/mark-cavendish-i-feel-like-i-lost-gold-rather-than-won-silver/

“We talked about [Blythe] going at that point, but with the wind it didn’t quite go. It just created a bit more of a barrier in front. He did what he was asked. I made the call, and at the end of the day, it was the wrong call to make.”

“Of all nine of us, we knew that Adam would be the one that was going to be up front. He’s an incredible rider in the wind, and he finds his own little way into things. He was superb, and he looked after me really well today so I didn’t have to get into any dangerous situations.”

 

[Red Rick]

What a sprint by Sagan. Twice world champion, last time in a row was Bettini right?

And never in my wildest dreams did I think Leezer would lead a world championship until 500m to go :lol: it was surreal. I wonder if Belgian didn't take up the mantle who would. Seemed they would've come too late.

I'm not sure why Belgium had so much faith in Boonen's sprint. They were the strongest team and I think they should've done things differently on the final circuit to make it harder for Sagan, Cavendish etc.. now I feel they just led them out. Boonen is still fast after a long race, but against these guys he'll only win 3/10 nowadays. A big gamble

Against Sagan and Cav, who spent the enitre day in the wheels? 30%? I'd take he over/under from that group on about 2%

 

[Andy262]

Ah well, got back in an watched the last 130 km. Should have made it the last circuit.

Hard to understand why Belgium or Norway for that matter didn't try and break things up in the last 20km.

Grats to Sagan, complete rider. Think Cav could have done him but he doesn't have the margins he once did and he made a dud choice in the wind up.

Great to see the Eritrean there at the end. Chapeau..

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Re:

Ouch, Cavendish taking silver in the two biggest races for him in the year, if not of his life. That's got to hurt big time.

Of his life? He's already won the WCRR once and London Olympics was by far the biggest race of his career.