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Team GB worlds nightmare

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rainman

Jul 5, 2011
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We just had to witness the most embarassingly bad showing by the GB team at the worlds. While all the top nations had most of their key riders in place despite the horrendous conditions, we learned that team GB were all in the bus getting their excuses ready. The guys should be used to rain and crashes by now so where did it all go wrong and can it be put right? I'm no expert tactically so its over you posters.
 
maxmartin

maxmartin

May 19, 2011
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Post tour true colour

or you can argue, Team GB are mainly SKY members, their training focus only on peaking Tour, but we do have W peaking almost all year long in 2012.
 
maxmartin

maxmartin

May 19, 2011
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Dazed and Confused said:
Other than Stannard bailing early, can't say I'm surprised about the effort.
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Aren't there are members here saying Froom has decent chance of medal?
 
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Dazed and Confused

Jan 27, 2012
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adding. It can rain lots in Britain, but that doesn't necessarily turn everybody into hardmen:

rain-mcclaren.jpg
 
Moose McKnuckles

Moose McKnuckles

Nov 7, 2009
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Dazed and Confused said:
adding. It can rain lots in Britain, but that doesn't necessarily turn everybody into hardmen:
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It didn't turn a single ONE of them into a hard man. Not one. Then again, British rain has nothing to do with Froome. He's from Kenya, lives in Monaco, trains in Tenerife, and happens to race for Britain.
 
Libertine Seguros

Libertine Seguros

Feb 20, 2010
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Was it all but Cavendish riding for Sky? Under the tutelage of the Brailsford brain trust?

Thus far, one day races have not been something that Sky/BC seem to have figured out. They haven't really demonstrated a great amount of tactical nous over time if we're honest. Their tactics even in their biggest one day success, Cavendish's Worlds win, were the same as their stage race aims:

1) have strongest guy in race
2) ride at the front all the time to control it so they can finish it off

Who of the Great Britain team has a great one day palmarès? I mean, Cavendish has a monument, the Worlds, a semi-classic (KBK) and The Worst Race In The World®, but the Firenze Worlds were clearly not to his taste. The only rider in the GB ranks who could reasonably be considered a puncheur is Tiernan-Locke, who was withdrawn from the race for reasons we are by now all aware of, and who hadn't shown anything like the requisite level to compete at the race anyway. Froome? Perhaps, but the climbs that were steep enough weren't really long enough for him to make the difference, and he has been chronic since winning the Tour anyway. The likes of Thomas, Stannard etc. are more for a more rouleur-type race, and it would have required some incredible tactical genius for the Brits to have got themselves up in the mix on this one, in retrospect. Edmondson and Rowe are too young (and the course didn't suit Rowe) and inexperienced to have been anything but domestiques on the course (Rowe did his job pretty well, no?), and Cummings was ok but nothing more.

The big problem is that:
1) Sky/BC aren't really all that tactically adept; with strength in depth and stage racing this can be masked but with one-day racing, and no reason for competitors to 'wait for the next day' and much more aggressive racing, this shows them up and their lack of success in one-day races has been notable when you look at their dominance of whatever stage races their A team go to.
2) Sky's riders who are capable in this type of race are not British, and the British riders who might be good at this type of race either haven't gained enough experience in racing them, or have seemingly been badly behaved.

Edit: a bit harsh on Stannard to say that it didn't turn a single one of them into a hard man. Just finishing KBK 2010 is a sign of being a hard man, let alone being in the winning break.
 
CycloAndy

CycloAndy

Apr 15, 2013
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No need to overreact, they had no form and the course didn't suit them. Geraint Thomas's ride at the tour and Stannard's display at MSR show they are no softies but without a chance, either individually or collectively, they rightfully called it quits. Thomas' lips were blue by the end which shows how tough the conditions were. The other countries coped better because they knew they had a decent chance of victory.

All the pre-race hype was just to keep the media happy. They were hardly going to admit beforehand that they had no chance and didn't believe in Froome's chances.
 
Afrank

Afrank

Aug 16, 2011
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1. Were mostly Sky riders.
2. Sky riders aren't the best in the rain (the British ones that were part of the team that had the best chance of a result that is).
3. Sky still don't know how to ride one days for the win.
4. They didn't have anyone who could win anyways.
5. They didn't care too much about worlds (see #4).
 
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del1962

Oct 16, 2012
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I think the most dissapointing one for me was Wiggins, all this talk of not being ablt to ride in the rain, but he was fine in a number of TOB stages in the rain, like the Cumbria stage and he had some form, but he just wasn't motivated.
 
Moose McKnuckles

Moose McKnuckles

Nov 7, 2009
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Afrank said:
1. Were mostly Sky riders.
2. Sky riders aren't the best in the rain.
3. Sky still don't know how to ride one days for the win.
4. They didn't have anyone who could win anyways.
5. They didn't care too much about worlds (see #4).
Click to expand...

Eh, no. BRITISH Sky riders aren't the best at riding in the rain. Uran was there until the very end. So was Henao. So was Boasson-Hagen.

Not only didn't they win anything, they didn't even come close to finishing. Not one.
 
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Waterloo Sunrise

Sep 9, 2009
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I know people love to talk about tactics, and how some people are clueless, but this really isn't the race to indulge in that ********* new and original thought.

The race just came down to the 4 strongest guys, with a Valverde fail in to the mix. That was it. Everyone in a group at the bottom, and then the 4 strongest pulled away.

GB were crap because they didn't have the legs and motivation.
 
Afrank

Afrank

Aug 16, 2011
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Moose McKnuckles said:
Eh, no. BRITISH Sky riders aren't the best at riding in the rain. Uran was there until the very end. So was Henao. So was Boasson-Hagen.

Not only didn't they win anything, they didn't even come close to finishing. Not one.
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Correct, I figured that would be applied, since the topics about the British team. Should probably edit that in though.
 
trevim

trevim

Oct 26, 2010
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Who was the master mind that chose a bunch of rouleurs / sprinters to the hardest WC of the last decades? I know they don't have a large pool of climbers and puncheurs to choose from but Thomas, Stannard, Cav, Rowe was probably a bit too much. Other than that, choosing Wiggins expecting he rides for Froome, now that's just hilarious.
 
Richeypen

Richeypen

May 3, 2011
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will10 said:
I remember the days when no-one cared....

Seriously, what was anyone expecting??
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Exactly. Apart from Cav has any of the GB team won a one day race? If the route is flat or slightly lumpy they have riders who might be able to podium if the conditions are right. Apart from that they are never going to win a medal and apart from the British press I doubt anyone honestly though that they would.

On a side note I was at work for the race and following it on BBC and Guardian text feed. Thy seemed to believe that it was like a F1 race and were commentating on when ever someone took over at the front of the peleton like they were 'winning'. The mainstream British press know nothing about cycling and if Froome wins the biggest race in the world he is therefore the best rider and should therefore be winning the WC as well.
 
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