Summer Games Paris 2024

[scribers]

I know an old farmer who took up running aged about 35. His training 'regime' consisted of the odd run around the perimeter of his land. His diet was mainly mars bars and baked beans. I think his marathon PB was about 2h 30...

With that diet no one could draft behind him

 

[Dk one]

A bit of a choice that cyclingnews’ preview of the women’s rr highlights Alison Jackson but does not mention e.g. Chabbey, Faulkner, CUL (even if she crashed in the tt and had a pretty terrible year until the giro, her classics, wc and olympic rr stats are pretty solid).

 

[Samu Cuenca]

A bit of a choice that cyclingnews’ preview of the women’s rr highlights Alison Jackson but does not mention e.g. Chabbey, Faulkner, CUL (even if she crashed in the tt and had a pretty terrible year until the giro, her classics, wc and olympic rr stats are pretty solid).

They obviously can't name everyone, but Jackson definitely seems like a choice that isn't based on merit.

Regarding Chabbey, there are many riders who can all win on their day, but you just know she isn't going to do it (I would still love to see it).

 

[Dk one]

They obviously can't name everyone, but Jackson definitely seems like a choice that isn't based on merit.

Regarding Chabbey, there are many riders who can all win on their day, but you just know she isn't going to do it (I would still love to see it).

Yeah, Chabbey isn’t going to win but save for Rubaix her one day merits are much better than Jackson’s, same for Faulkner, and of course CUL.

 

[proffate]

I read years ago there is a few hundred km area of Scandinavia that has a silly high amount of the best ever V02 Max results.

Going back to the 1990s and before.

The highest ever V02 max for a footballer was Håkan Mild from Western Sweden.

But that part of it is simply that sports scientists there have measured it the longest and in turn basically every decent level athlete has had it measured forever aha.

And my guess - working in the physical excercise sector (and therefore looking at things like the Sport Eurobarometer regularly) - is that since the Scandinavian nations are by far the most physically active nations in Europe, and some of the richest, most of the "freaks" there actually end up playing sport as something like 85% of the country does as a child into teen years! AND they identify them as they measure their V02 max etc and direct them into where might suit them.

Whereas in other countries John from the council estate could be an incredible "natural" athlete... but he smokes two packs a day and works as a plasterer.

So you're saying it's because of the oil. But the Saudis aren't winning any medals so I guess there must be something cultural as well.

I agree with what you're saying, but I would like to add that the entire idea of the Olympics, and the sports that are practiced/highly adorned there such as swimming or skiing or fencing or dressage, are already extremely wealthy-Euro centric. It's sort of funny that the Europeans have gotten other (non-colony) countries to play along. Mainly I'm thinking of China dumping huge amounts of money into developing athletes in sports where they have no history, just to look good in front of their international peers. It's kinda like the peacock's tail of international diplomacy, a huge waste of resources that exists for the purpose of showing off how much excess you can direct at something totally (functionally) pointless rather than survival. As an adopted son of India, I am strangely proud of the subcontinent's disinterest in the whole affair.

Aside aside, it's also seductive to believe that the Nordic climate and historical culture of physical violence has selected for physically hardy individuals. I mean we do see genetic adaptations of the Sherpas to altitude so it's not impossible for distinct physical attributes to emerge in a population over human-history timescales.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Yeah, Chabbey isn’t going to win but save for Rubaix her one day merits are much better than Jackson’s, same for Faulkner, and of course CUL.

I agree. A lot will depend on how hard the route actually is, and how the race develops. With a bigger field than in Tokyo, a chance of a Kiesenhofer-like victory should be a lot smaller, but that doesn't mean one of the biggest favourites will necessarily win.

 

[yaco]

A bit of a choice that cyclingnews’ preview of the women’s rr highlights Alison Jackson but does not mention e.g. Chabbey, Faulkner, CUL (even if she crashed in the tt and had a pretty terrible year until the giro, her classics, wc and olympic rr stats are pretty solid).

And they give Grace Brown a high rating, yet, she has been a disaster the last three times she has been the tea leader for Australia at the World's or the Olympics.

 

[yaco]

I agree. A lot will depend on how hard the route actually is, and how the race develops. With a bigger field than in Tokyo, a chance of a Kiesenhofer-like victory should be a lot smaller, but that doesn't mean one of the biggest favourites will necessarily win.

This will be a controlled race with the less selective parcours and shorter distance than in the men's race. If I am Holland, I'm controlling for Wiebes or if this is not possible, then get Vos into the break.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

This will be a controlled race with the less selective parcours and shorter distance than in the men's race. If I am Holland, I'm controlling for Wiebes or if this is not possible, then get Vos into the break.

That is not really the Dutch way of riding though, so we'll have to wait and see if they've learned anything. It'll also be interesting whether the Belgians will just protect Kopecky or they'll try to put pressure on the Dutch throughout the race.

 

[awavey]

Yeah, Chabbey isn’t going to win but save for Rubaix her one day merits are much better than Jackson’s, same for Faulkner, and of course CUL.

If there was a mountain involved Chabbey would be in contention, but doesn't form on this type of course go out the window anyway, because it's about your team mates, or what alliances you can build. How many riders do Switzerland get ? How many do Denmark ? Or Canada for that matter but Jackson showed in that Roubaix win she could build an assorted break away and work 1 on 1 with riders of different smaller teams the "bigger teams" couldn't contain and then its down to the sprint. She could be more likely to feature than riders in an atypical WWT race because the best riders aren't always in the best teams here.

Of course the money is on the Dutch dominating regardless,but Kopecky will struggle to form alliances with anyone trying to keep her near the front.

 

[Slavique Nuke]

Why does Norway have so many of these insane cardio athletes? You obviously have the cross country skiing guys, but you also have insane runners like Warholt and Ingebrigtsen and this tri-guy. Then you have all the up and coming young norwegians in cycling as well

The CO rebreather company Detalo has partnered with the Norwegian Olympic Committee

 

[AnotherArmChair]

Only 30 seconds ? Sure it wasn't 30 minutes.... ?
He didn't crash, but punctured. So, he first lost a few seconds slowing down with the flat tyre. Unlike in a crash, his mec was prepared for the bike change. That costed 10 seconds, pushing included. Reaching topspeed, another 2 to 3 seconds extra timeloss. So, all together, 17 to 18 seconds. Enough to win silver, not enough to win gold. The last part of the race, after a timecheck of his team, Evenepoel knew he had 20 seconds on Ganna and Van Aert. More on Tarling. So, he slowed down, especially in the corners to avoid any risk. Evenepoel confirmed it after the race. No way Tarling could have come close to Evenepoel.

I was quoting Robbie McEwen on the time lost by Tarling who imo is a far better expert on this than you

 

[Keldergoat]

That is not really the Dutch way of riding though, so we'll have to wait and see if they've learned anything. It'll also be interesting whether the Belgians will just protect Kopecky or they'll try to put pressure on the Dutch throughout the race.

With Loes Gunnewijk as DS and learning anything. I doubt it, her tactical track record is abysmal and I've no clue why the KNWU let her have this job for so long.

 

[Taxus4a]

I am with Van Aert this time, but I think favourites are:

Van der Poel
Evenepoel
Van Aert, Pedersen, Allaphillipe, Pidcock
Lazkano, Bettiol, Matthews, Girmay, Healy, Narvaez

 

[Poursuivant]

I fancy an outsider to win from the break.

 

[Sciatic]

This seems to settle (at least among cycling enthusiasts) the debate about the value of Olympic RR Gold in comparison to WCs, monuments, etc: the fact we still don’t have a RR thread the day before the race.
And yes, I should just make one, but haven’t

 

[Didinho]

Ayuso with the OG-Vuelta double victory.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I was quoting Robbie McEwen on the time lost by Tarling who imo is a far better expert on this than you

I heard McEwen say this during broadcast. He's commentating on an English spoken channel about Tarling. He was exagerating (i actually think he said 35 seconds) because that's what the audience wanted to hear.
There is no way a stop/go change takes more than 20s in total. He didn't crash, the car was right behind him. Furthermore Evenepoel was faster in every section (not just the section where Tarling changed bikes), and he said he slowed down in the final section because his lead was large enough so he didn't have to take any more risks. He also started cheering before the line.
Tarling would probably have beaten Ganna though.

 

[Didinho]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1818583364095369677

View: https://x.com/ImCalledPikachu/status/1818583364095369677

 

[memyselfandI]

Long time missing twin brother...

 

[Netserk]

My picks for tomorrow:

* * * - Van Baarle
* * - Bettiol, McNulty
* - Laporte, Pidcock, Mohorič

Joker: Gee

 

[Valv.Piti]

My picks for tomorrow:

* * * - Van Baarle
* * - Bettiol, McNulty
* - Laporte, Pidcock, Mohorič

Joker: Gee

Thats worse than Veloropa, how did you do that?

 

[Netserk]

Thats worse than Veloropa, how did you do that?

Only dark horses (that I'd like to see win) allowed. You can look up the list of favourites on oddschecker instead.

 

[Berniece]

Only dark horses (that I'd like to see win) allowed. You can look up the list of favourites on oddschecker instead.

No Stuyven?

 

[tobydawq]

My picks for tomorrow:

* * * - Van Baarle
* * - Bettiol, McNulty
* - Laporte, Pidcock, Mohorič

Joker: Gee

Why can we never agree on anything, Van Baarle is probably the rider I would like the least to see win.

Bettiol would be awesome, though.