Mens Road Race: Suprises and dissapointments

[auscyclefan94]

Which performances were you surprised of and which performances were dissapointed of in the mens road race? (based on results & tatics)

 

[Mich78BEL]

i'm dissappointed with the overall result, that a rider who did so little for the entire race ends up winning

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

It all went pretty much as expected I suppose. I was a little surprised at Thor winning, disappointed that gilbert didn't win, but not at his performance.

I didn't think spartacus would be up there.

Friere, Gilbert, Pozzato, cuddles, martens... were the men i expected to be contending for the win, so it wasn't to far off.

I didn't think koos would be so competitive either, but he did well.

 

[stefrees]

i'm dissappointed with the overall result, that a rider who did so little for the entire race ends up winning

He didn't have to do too much a). Because ebh was in first split and b) he only had a 3 man team, it would have been stupid for him to go on crazy attacks

 

[auscyclefan94]

He didn't have to do too much a). Because ebh was in first split and b) he only had a 3 man team, it would have been stupid for him to go on crazy attacks

Some people don't like watching 262 km races for a "sprinter" to win the race even though it was a darn good race.

 

[maltiv]

Dissapointments:

1. Pozzato doing his never-successful "glue-to-the-favourite" tactic once again.
2. Cancellara.
3. The young generation (Goss, EBH, Sagan, Boom...). I guess they need a few years before they can manage the distance, which is quite natural.

Surprises:

1. Peloton coming back...I was sure the victory would be between the guys in the first group.
2. How early the action started! Amazing race.

 

[Tuarts]

FFS. Does no one actually watch and understand cycling? It's not just about the strongest riders or most derving winning. It's about getting the right strategy, the right tactics and the right conditions (and luck). Just because Barcelona have star studded team, doesn't meant they deserve to win every match they play.

 

[Luis Ocaña]

The race was lovely to watch, but the outcome was pretty disappointing. Although Thor was impressive in that sprint, a WC sitting in the wheels for 260k and suddenly turning up at the finish wasn't really one of my favourite scenarios.

Biggest disappointment: Pozzato. What a f**. He could become a great detective after his cycling career, as shadowing people seems to be one of his specialities.

 

[rolfrae]

After all the early season talk about Geelong being a sprinter's race (and the prospect of it being a dull race) the main surprise for me was how interesting it was to watch. The Italians worked hard to animate the race, Evans was impressive in his attempted defence of the title, and another surprise must surely be the two Japanese riders being up there right to the end.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Dissapointments:
- Spain: poor effort all being caught out like they were
- Cancellara: Not present att all in the race except when he was popped out the back
- Pozzato: yes he still came 4th but his tatics were average.
- Paolo Bettini: His selections were crap. not taking a sprinter was a big mistake.

Surprises:
- The aggression of the race
- Cadel Evans: He defended his title so well after injury, lsmall amount of race fitness and attacked so many times on a course which did not really suit him
- The Dutch: For a country who don't really have a sprinter or a real big leader like gesink here, I thought they rode an aggressive race, had riders in all the moves and caused some of the splits. Koos was amazing. Kroon was quite generous at the start by throwing some jerseys out to the crowd.

 

[maltiv]

Dissapointments:

1. Pozzato doing his never-successful "glue-to-the-favourite" tactic once again.
2. Cancellara.
3. The young generation (Goss, EBH, Sagan, Boom...). I guess they need a few years before they can manage the distance, which is quite natural.

4. The Norwegian national anthem apparently only lasts for about 10 seconds...

Hushovd looked quite puzzled when it suddenly stopped, mistakes like this shouldn't be too hard to avoid!

 

[Nick777]

A little surprised Cadel was so strong, given his build up.
Disappointed for Gilbert.

 

[Nick777]

Oh yeah - my main disappointment was not getting to see the start due to a few stuff ups - namely 3 links on my chain cracked when I was on my way there. Nursed the bike home, didn't shower or anything, just jumped on the scooter & caught every red light from here to Fed Square, and missed the start by 5 minutes. Not happy.....!!!

 

[The Hitch]

Dissapointments
- Cancellara.
- Friere


Surprises
- Cuddles
- Matti Breschel
- Ukranian guy holding out for long

 

[killswitch]

Disappointments:
- Grega Bole
- Cancellara
- Pozzato
- Italian team's tactics
- Sagan
- Goss

Surprises:
- strong slovenian team
- Arashiro and Beppu
- Bazayev and Fofonov (two kazakhs in top 12)
- Cadel's defence of the jersey

 

[ttrider]

Doesnt Bettini look stupid not bringing Bennati!
Nibali and Visconti were good but probably went to early, poor effort for such a historically strong team

 

[aahmadhu]

we got to see hilly classics battle right from the start of the circuit, and ended in a traditional bunch sprint without any leadout train. what more can we ask?? shame that there can only be one winner though.

 

[PCutter]

Surprise - Cancellara not getting to the finish

Disappointment - Pozzato starting his sprint too late - when they watch the replay and realise he was coming like a freight train, the Italians are going to wish they'd launched him earlier

Those here not happy to see a winner who hides in the bunck the whole day probably shouldn't tune in next year

 

[The Hitch]

Disappointments:

- Italian team's tactics

It was the Italian team tactics which blew the race into excitement with 6 laps to go.

 

[Luis Ocaña]

It was the Italian team tactics which blew the race into excitement with 6 laps to go.

But they blew up Nibali and Visconti too early too.

 

[ScottyMuser]

Suprise:
1) How Spain managed to screw up so badly and put all their wrong riders in the original break.
2) how the peloton managed to close down the break so close to the finish without race radios

Made me the most happy
1) Leukemans again showing how awesome he is and how unjust it was that Vac were never given the big invites. In fact, generally how good Vac were having Romain in their for the sprint, and Poels and Bjorn attacking all day
2) Nibali and Gilbert attacking on climbs and dropping everyone else.

Disappointing
1) Freire not managing to position himself coming out the last corner to properly contest the sprint.
2) Despite riding a great race up until the penultimate lap, how poor the Itallian tactics were after

 

[hrotha]

Best non-obvious performances: Van Avermaet, Hoste.

Disappointments: Spain. Freire deciding to follow Gilbert's wheel in the bunch sprint... Really? Didn't he know Gilbert had killed himself the last few laps? Of course he didn't.

 

[Christian]

Surprise:

Paul Martens
The Portuguese guy
The Japanese guy
Fränk Schleck

Disappointment:

How few people seemed to be at the side of the road with 5 k to go


Also, there seems to be some confusion as to how to spell dis(s)appointment - my apple auto correct says 1 s and 2 p's so that's what i'm going with

 

[Anonymous]

Which performances were you surprised of and which performances were dissapointed of in the mens road race? (based on results & tatics)

I couldn't have been happier that Evans didn't win. Man, that was all I really wanted. Christmas came early this year!!!! WAHOOO!!!!!!!!!

 

[Anonymous]

Some people don't like watching 262 km races for a "sprinter" to win the race even though it was a darn good race.

I love watching a race where a tosser like Evans doesn't win. Any race where that happens is exciting!!!! WAHOOO!!!!!!!!