Rio 2016 Olympic Road Race and Time Trial courses

[Armchair cyclist]

Re: Re:

Without having to slave himself to Pinot, Reichenbach could well win the whole race.

Please God no-one will bring this to Carlton Kirby's attention, or we will be told 5 times every day for the next three weeks that, as "many people's tip" for the Olympic road race, he is bound to finish high in the Tour.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Steve Cummings telling it like it is in the BC/Sky walled garden:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cummings-hits-out-at-ellingworth-and-british-cycling-after-olympic-snub/

“I think we need a new coach because of a conflict of interest,” he told Cyclingnews.
“That’s my opinion and maybe I’ll never ride for GB again but if that’s the way it is, then that’s the way it is. If you win the races I’ve won this year, in the way I’ve won them, and you don’t get picked then you might as well say what you think.
“I criticise the coach. I criticise the tactics, I criticise the selection criteria, and I criticise British Cycling.”

and some road sense too:

“I think that the Olympic Games is a very open race. If you sit behind and pull then they [GB] will end up in the situation they did in 2012. You have to send riders up the road and who better to send up the road than me? It’s doesn’t mean I have to collaborate. I could just sit there and say I’m waiting for Froome but that works better for him. If thirty guys go up the road then you’ve got four pulling against thirty. It’s mathematics.”

 

[DFA123]

Re:

Steve Cummings telling it like it is in the BC/Sky walled garden:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cummings-hits-out-at-ellingworth-and-british-cycling-after-olympic-snub/

“I think we need a new coach because of a conflict of interest,” he told Cyclingnews.
“That’s my opinion and maybe I’ll never ride for GB again but if that’s the way it is, then that’s the way it is. If you win the races I’ve won this year, in the way I’ve won them, and you don’t get picked then you might as well say what you think.
“I criticise the coach. I criticise the tactics, I criticise the selection criteria, and I criticise British Cycling.”

and some road sense too:

“I think that the Olympic Games is a very open race. If you sit behind and pull then they [GB] will end up in the situation they did in 2012. You have to send riders up the road and who better to send up the road than me? It’s doesn’t mean I have to collaborate. I could just sit there and say I’m waiting for Froome but that works better for him. If thirty guys go up the road then you’ve got four pulling against thirty. It’s mathematics.”

Yates, Thomas, Stannard and Kennaugh for starters.

 

[Alexandre B.]

Cummings sums up why he should have been taken (instead of Stannard).

 

[yaco]

Cummings is not a team player - Never seen him work for other riders - He just rides at the back of the peleton.

 

[DFA123]

Re:

Cummings is not a team player - Never seen him work for other riders - He just rides at the back of the peleton.

Yep, his arguments are just nonsense as well. Can you imagine how many stage wins riders like Thomas and Stannard could have got if they did nothing but sit at the back of the pack for days at a time, then take an opportunistic win when everyone is tired.

His one trick has zero chance of working in such a pestigious one day race.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Cumming wins things without much back up -
he would better change nationality to say Lichtenstein.
It's a shame the BC establishment has no tendency towards of meritocracy.

 

[Ruudz0r]

Cummings cant really ride in a peloton, he is afraid thats why he is always at the back or up the road. That is also why he wont be able to work for a rider like Froome, his only option would be to go up the road but imo he does not deserve a selection simply because he cannot work and there are better guys to send up the road then him if they want to send someone up front.

 

[wwabbit]

"You question my commitment but then I question the commitment of the guy who stopped in the Tour de France last year.”

He doesn't really like Kennaugh does he?

 

[Alexandre B.]

To be fair, Kennaugh has nothing to do here. What did he achieve after the Australian Summer? Pretty much nothing.

 

[May0maniac]

Re:

To be fair, Kennaugh has nothing to do here. What did he achieve after the Australian Summer? Pretty much nothing.

Yeah, he also crashed in Cali and hasn't raced since then, so it's a rather odd pick.
Otherwise it would be understandable, he's a former track guy who rides for Sky, big engine and a good climber and friends with Froome.
Kennaugh someehow winning the whole thing would probably make the forum crash, that would be brutal.
I'll cheer for one of the smaller teams, the Estonians, Brazil and Argentina and I'll probably cheer for the Iranians just for the lols, Pourseyedi FTW!

 

[SlickMongoose]

There's no point in Stannard in a race like this, he won't get over the climbs and the teams are not strong enough to keep it together. The race will be won by an attacker.

In fact i'd say that Cummings is the 2nd most likely GB rider to win it after Yates.

 

[TMP402]

Re:

There's no point in Stannard in a race like this, he won't get over the climbs and the teams are not strong enough to keep it together. The race will be won by an attacker.

In fact i'd say that Cummings is the 2nd most likely GB rider to win it after Yates.

Yeah, you could call Cummings sour or unlucky or whatever... but GB picked Stannard!

 

[Jungle Cycle]

they are finishing asphalt over the parking area witch was dirt before so the iTT can go trough.. they'll put barriers and block the RR to use the asphalt, forcing them to use the cobbles...

 

[Asero831]

The Belgians and could drop the climbers by 2 minutes in those cobbled sections, that's why you need Stannard there.
Imagine the number of mechanicals we are to see in the first half of the race.

Imagine GVA, Gilbert, Kwiatkowski, Valverde, Amador, Nibali, Brambilla, Ulissi, Fugslang, Dumuolin, Poels, Cancellara, Albasini, Stybar, Vakoc, getting 40 seconds lead on the cobbled section.

How much resources Quintana, Froome, Contador, Porte and Pinot will burn just to make up that ground? Chances are that 40 seconds will widen to 90 second come the foot of Canoas

 

[shalgo]

Cummings is pulling for Cav today.

 

[Gigs_98]

The cobbles could be really good for nibal. If there is a big split I'd expect him to be in front and then I doubt there would be many other good climbers in front.
Seriously the more I look at the route the more I'm looking forward to the race.

 

[PremierAndrew]

The cobbles could be really good for nibal. If there is a big split I'd expect him to be in front and then I doubt there would be many other good climbers in front.
Seriously the more I look at the route the more I'm looking forward to the race.

Those cobbles aren't going to create any splits whatsoever. They look pretty easy

 

[DFA123]

The cobbles could be really good for nibal. If there is a big split I'd expect him to be in front and then I doubt there would be many other good climbers in front.
Seriously the more I look at the route the more I'm looking forward to the race.

Those cobbles aren't going to create any splits whatsoever. They look pretty easy

Of course they'll create splits. There's going to be quite a lot of weak riders in the race - more than in any WT or 2.1 Europe race. And some big names will mess up position and get caught behind them. If a rider like Cancellara or Stybar puts the hammer down on the cobbles, all hell will break loose.

 

[CheckMyPecs]

The cobbles could be really good for nibal. If there is a big split I'd expect him to be in front and then I doubt there would be many other good climbers in front.
Seriously the more I look at the route the more I'm looking forward to the race.

Those cobbles aren't going to create any splits whatsoever. They look pretty easy

Of course they'll create splits. There's going to be quite a lot of weak riders in the race - more than in any WT or 2.1 Europe race. And some big names will mess up position and get caught behind them. If a rider like Cancellara or Stybar puts the hammer down on the cobbles, all hell will break loose.

Unless his false teeth rattle off.

 

[yaco]

Australian team is Porte, Dennis and Gerrans - Gerrans is a staggering selection as he has nothing to offer Porte - Needed another strong engine like a Sutherland type - Sooner Brad McGee is out of the Olympics program the better.

 

[Gigs_98]

Re:

Australian team is Porte, Dennis and Gerrans - Gerrans is a staggering selection as he has nothing to offer Porte - Needed another strong engine like a Sutherland type - Sooner Brad McGee is out of the Olympics program the better.

Stupid team imo. Gerrans is complete nonsense, no doubt about that, but anyway Porte is no favorite. It's unlikely he will drop everyone on the climb, he isn't an outstanding descender and his sprint is probably the worst of the peloton. He would need to finish alone but I really don't see that happening so he doesn't need anyone who works for him. Instead Australia needs more riders who could attack early and try to anticipate. Gerrans is definitely not going to do that and I'm not sure if Dennis is the guy to do that, but anyway if I understood everything correctly Gerrans is going for a medal, so Dennis will probably work for him.

 

[StryderHells]

Re:

Australian team is Porte, Dennis and Gerrans - Gerrans is a staggering selection as he has nothing to offer Porte - Needed another strong engine like a Sutherland type - Sooner Brad McGee is out of the Olympics program the better.

I agree that Gerrans isn't the best pick but in reality why would you send riders to support Porte? He won't medal in the race anyway. Can't really think of any Australian rider who would be a chance in this

 

[bikeit]

I also thought Australia had qualified 4 places?

 

[carolina]

Portugal:

rui costa
andré cardoso
josé mendes
nelson oliveira (ITT)