Summer Games Paris 2024

[Wyndbrook]

nope never have done, nearest track to me must be 70-80 miles away, and Id never get the hang of a single speed anyway.

You would, I just rocked at the Newport track (Geraint Thomas Velodrome) for a beginner session, looked at the banking' and nearly had to change shorts, but I was soon whizzing around and taking part in beginner races.

 

[Sciatic]

You would, I just rocked at the Newport track (Geraint Thomas Velodrome) for a beginner session, looked at the banking' and nearly had to change shorts, but I was soon whizzing around and taking part in beginner races.

Great point—our county offers fairly inexpensive beginner and advanced-beginner track classes at the local (Marymoor) outdoor velodrome. Even as a non-racer it was great to get a feel for the experience of riding track bikes around the oval with other riders. Also was great for improving bike handling skills like riding in very close proximity holding one’s line and how to ride while leaning on another riders hips or shoulders to stay upright. That track is not nearly as steep as an Olympic level, but worked well enough as the place where Rebecca Twigg started her racing career.

 

[BeachBum]

Having said that, an Evenepoel win seems most likely. He probably attacks when the few domestiques in this race are exhausted. If he gets some separation, who is gonna go after him?

I'm hoping for an in form Lou Lou.

 

[Oldermanish]

From my European location I see bike racing as dying across all disciplines in the US. Hopefully I am wrong.

Nope. Almost every stage race in the Idaho, Oregon, Washington area has been gone for awhile. Mostly victim of USAC lack of support and local jurisdictions wanting legit insurance. Add that use of public roads now almost always has a requirement of paid local police presence. Gone are the days when the community governments thought that tourism boost of 300 folks for a day was worthwhile.

 

[Oldermanish]

Yeah, I think that's it. Real sports have their own events so they only allow gimmick versions in the Olympics.
I don't care about track and won't watch it in the Olympics, same with the ITTs. But at least those events seem Olympick-y. Esoteric events with timers and stuff that no one would care about otherwise. But you can't have real sports in the Olympics so you got a road race with 1.462 riders per team. At least MTB is watchable and you can do real sports stuff like crash your opponent off balance to win gold or pick up a silver by pretending to need water.

Ooooooo. Don't blame the results on anyone but the riders for those two circumstances. Watching the men's race many guys were blasting through the feed zone not picking up a bottle. I guess the Dutch federation didn't have anyone that could benefit from that. The woman's race was fair according to the riders.
As for the Men's Mtb....the silver medal rider hit the rear wheel of the lead rider who managed to keep them both upright. Otherwise the crying would be that an Italian won the race because the Brits and French took each other out.
But the gimmicks abound so we agree on that.

 

[claude cat]

Ben O'Connor comes into the Australian road team for the injured Lucas Plapp.

 

[Leinster]

Watching the women’s tri. It’s basically like watching the Champs stage of the Tour but with a bigger gap between the groups.

Draft-legal triathlons on a flat city course always seem pointless to me. Barring a puncture, everyone’s just going to start the run with whoever they finished the swim with.

One of them has dropped her chain a couple laps back. What competitor with access to a professional mechanic would be riding with a front derailleur on this course?

 

[RedheadDane]

Watching the women’s tri. It’s basically like watching the Champs stage of the Tour but with a bigger gap between the groups.

And a bit more swimming and running.

 

[tobydawq]

Draft-legal triathlons on a flat city course always seem pointless to me. Barring a puncture, everyone’s just going to start the run with whoever they finished the swim with.

I was thinking exactly the same.

Either they should ensure that the course is hilly, or they should swap the order of the bike and the run.

 

[meat puppet]

It's common knowledge that they are road running races with some prefatiguing (edit: forgot to add that there's also a mandatory crashfest)

 

[Leinster]

It's common knowledge that they are road running races with some prefatiguing.

Yup. On the final lap of the run now, and the group of 10 from the bike ride is now down to 4.

 

[Coffeeplanter]

The men's triathlon is on now, with an interesting figure: Kristian Blummenfelt. He is said to be world class here, which is true judging he is the defending Olympic champion. Allegedly he will make the switch to cycling next year with Jayco and has set his sights on winning the Tour de France by 2030. It would appear this man is a physiological monster, with rumours of having the highest VO2max ever recorded.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

The men's triathlon is on now, with an interesting figure: Kristian Blummenfelt. He is said to be world class here, which is true judging he is the defending Olympic champion. Allegedly he will make the switch to cycling next year with Jayco and has set his sights on winning the Tour de France by 2030. It would appear this man is a physiological monster, with rumours of having the highest VO2max ever recorded.

Kristian Blummenfelt. Country: Norway. Date of birth: 14 February 1994. Place of birth: Bergen. Height: 1.76 m. Weight: 75 kg.

He'd need to re-shape somewhat.

 

[Monte Serra]

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

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

 

[Squire]

Kristian Blummenfelt. Country: Norway. Date of birth: 14 February 1994. Place of birth: Bergen. Height: 1.76 m. Weight: 75 kg.

He'd need to re-shape somewhat.

Watching a triathlon for the first time in my life now. I don't know much about Blummenfelt other than having read about him briefly, but looking at the Olympic triathlon, he looks chubby even compared to the other competitors. Doesn't have a body type which screams GC potential.

 

[Coffeeplanter]

Watching a triathlon for the first time in my life now. I don't know much about Blummenfelt other than having read about him briefly, but looking at the Olympic triathlon, he looks chubby even compared to the other competitors. Doesn't have a body type which screams GC potential.

Campenaerts gave an interview recently as he knows Blummenfelt and his trainer, some guy named Olav Aleksander Bu, a little. He said they have almost everything figured out and that the biggest maniac in pro cycling doesn't come close to Blummentfelt's work ethic.

https://www.nieuwsblad.be/cnt/dmf20240729_96127805

I am not a firm believer, but it will be interesting to follow. The teams that he is rumoured to join (Jayco or UNO-X) don't give me the biggest confidence boost either.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

I'd find it easier to believe if he had stated goals in the northern classics.

 

[Coffeeplanter]

This is also a fun passage from said interview: Hij omschrijft 2025 als het jaar waarin ze de limieten zullen opzoeken. Zo snel mogelijk door een bocht rijden tot Kristian valt, bijvoorbeeld. Om de volgende keer aan dezelfde snelheid door de bocht te gaan zonder te vallen.

Basically, they intend to address the possible problems Blummenfelt will have with riding in a peloton by having him ... crash intentionally.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Just to prove I'm not used to watching triathlon, why do they have bits of string tied to their backs? Is it in fact a quadrathlon of swimming, cycling, running and tag rugby?

 

[Penninepeddler]

nope never have done, nearest track to me must be 70-80 miles away, and Id never get the hang of a single speed anyway.

You must live somewhere very nice for road cycling ahaha.

As pretty much every major conurbation has a track.

 

[Squire]

Campenaerts gave an interview recently as he knows Blummenfelt and his trainer, some guy named Olav Aleksander Bu, a little. He said they have almost everything figured out and that the biggest maniac in pro cycling doesn't come close to Blummentfelt's work ethic.

https://www.nieuwsblad.be/cnt/dmf20240729_96127805

I am not a firm believer, but it will be interesting to follow. The teams that he is rumoured to join (Jayco or UNO-X) don't give me the biggest confidence boost either.

Yeah, high-level latecomers to cycling is always exciting, so will be interesting to follow if it does indeed happen. But if he's so attentive to detail, it's a bit puzzling how he almost looks like having a 'dad-bod' even compared to his triathlon competitors. But I guess his results show that he knows what's needed. Have to admit that I struggle to see a barrel-shaped guy flying up Tour de France climbs.

He doesn't seem to have it today though. And I gotta say that the cycling part of the triathlon wasn't much of a spectacle. Remember seeing clips of Lance doing triathlons where he time-trialed past everyone on the cycling leg, but I guess the field is on a completely different level here. And there might be different rules regarding drafting, judging from what @Leinster wrote here earlier.

 

[Penninepeddler]

Just to prove I'm not used to watching triathlon, why do they have bits of string tied to their backs? Is it in fact a quadrathlon of swimming, cycling, running and tag rugby?

It is the zip pullcord for your tri suit.

 

[Valv.Piti]

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

 

[Penninepeddler]

Yeah, high-level latecomers to cycling is always exciting, so will be interesting to follow if it does indeed happen. But if he's so attentive to detail, it's a bit puzzling how he almost looks like having a 'dad-bod' even compared to his triathlon competitors. But I guess his results show that he knows what's needed. Have to admit that I struggle to see a barrel-shaped guy flying up Tour de France climbs.

He doesn't seem to have it today though. And I gotta say that the cycling part of the triathlon wasn't much of a spectacle. Remember seeing clips of Lance doing triathlons where he time-trialed past everyone on the cycling leg, but I guess the field is on a completely different level here. And there might be different rules regarding drafting, judging from what @Leinster wrote here earlier.

It would guess that it is probably because his swimming always - relatively - poor. He is still a below average top level tri swimmer... and ofc for a 1500m swim? Being more top heavy helps if you dont have great technique.

That is my guess anyway.

But Blummenfeldt also isnt actually the best tri cyclist either aha, albeit very good. His running is usually what wins him things.

 

[Coffeeplanter]

Yeah, high-level latecomers to cycling is always exciting, so will be interesting to follow if it does indeed happen. But if he's so attentive to detail, it's a bit puzzling how he almost looks like having a 'dad-bod' even compared to his triathlon competitors. But I guess his results show that he knows what's needed. Have to admit that I struggle to see a barrel-shaped guy flying up Tour de France climbs.

He doesn't seem to have it today though. And I gotta say that the cycling part of the triathlon wasn't much of a spectacle. Remember seeing clips of Lance doing triathlons where he time-trialed past everyone on the cycling leg, but I guess the field is on a completely different level here. And there might be different rules regarding drafting, judging from what @Leinster wrote here earlier.

This is my first time watching a triathlon as well, so I have zero knowledge. The commentators said that the Olympics, unlike an Iron Man, allow drafting, which completely nullifies the cycling section. In regards to his body, according to Campenaerts it is intentional. I, too, struggle to see how it would work in cycling where every milligram matters, but hey, who wouldn't want to see Alexander Kristoff win a Tour de France.