The Grand 2022 Wollongong UCI Road World Championships Thread, September 18th-25th

[BR2]

Wright will win the road race. You heard it here first.

No. I already claimed that.

 

[gregrowlerson]

No. I already claimed that.

Two rights make a W.

 

[Breezy1985]

View: https://youtu.be/aSkQij6lGJ4

That is one of the most random things I've seen on here.

For context this is rural Ireland 1986 where outside of Sean Kelly no rural Irish person had ever even seen a foreigner. It would have been the talk of the town for months if you saw a French lad and even hearing the accent would result in girls being sent off to live with the nuns

 

[Lemonbaloon]

Best watts aren't enough when you loose like 0,5 sec every corner and there's 50 corners on the route.
Also I never know how to take all those riders' not proven "did my best watts ever" claims.

Anyway, Foss did an insane TT indeed, but you can't look at it without putting it into some context. I'm just wondernig if next season he'll be able to show that he's a deserved champion and not only one-day wonder.

I 100% does not agree with this logic. What you're implying is that you are not a deserving winner, unless you can replicate the performance?
If this is that case, then only the best rideres should be allowed to win, and if an outsider is in the posistion to win, he should pull off because he is not a "deserved winner"?
With this viewpoint, Matt Hayman did not deserve to win Paris-Roubaix(which he obviously did).
Just my opinion though.

 

[RedheadDane]

If this is that case, then only the best rideres should be allowed to win, and if an outsider is in the posistion to win, he should pull off because he is not a "deserved winner"?

Obviously*.
(Go check out the Roglic thread for a further exploration on this matter.)



*Some sarcasm might be in use.

 

[Carrick-On-Seine]

Obviously*.
(Go check out the Roglic thread for a further exploration on this matter.)



*Some sarcasm might be in use.

People are going to lose their s*** on here when Senechal wins on Sunday!

 

[Extinction]

I 100% does not agree with this logic. What you're implying is that you are not a deserving winner, unless you can replicate the performance?
If this is that case, then only the best rideres should be allowed to win, and if an outsider is in the posistion to win, he should pull off because he is not a "deserved winner"?
With this viewpoint, Matt Hayman did not deserve to win Paris-Roubaix(which he obviously did).
Just my opinion though.

Naturally he that puts in the performance deserves to win end of story, with speculations over "what could have been" futile. It's not just about power output, but technique and that's the beauty of bike racing. When power is essentially the same, well then what really counts is how you drive the bike. Foss just did that a little bit better, as did Kung.

 

[Gigs_98]

Man, everyone bar Foss must be furious about this result. So many riders who will look at this and think this would have been their big chance to become TT world champion. It's easy to say that Evenepoel/Van Aert/Küng all still have chances in the future but it's so difficult to get everything together for this race. Especially for Küng this might have been his one golden opportunity.

 

[limak_]

I 100% does not agree with this logic. What you're implying is that you are not a deserving winner, unless you can replicate the performance?
If this is that case, then only the best rideres should be allowed to win, and if an outsider is in the posistion to win, he should pull off because he is not a "deserved winner"?
With this viewpoint, Matt Hayman did not deserve to win Paris-Roubaix(which he obviously did).
Just my opinion though.

In my post I was referring solely to World Champs and probably the word "deserved" wasn't the most relevant one. I just personally prefer if a world title is won by a rider who showed on many occasions throughout the season that he's undoubtedly "the best or one of the best in the world". Or, wearing the jersey, he's able to honour it with some wins in the following season. Leading to this worlds Foss was at best top 10 TTst, but I hope this was somewhat of a breakthrough performance for him and he'll get some nice results in this discipline in 2023.

So the Hayman's expample doesn't fit into this logic and he definitely was a deserved winner.

 

[limak_]

Naturally he that puts in the performance deserves to win end of story, with speculations over "what could have been" futile. It's not just about power output, but technique and that's the beauty of bike racing. When power is essentially the same, well then what really counts is how you drive the bike. Foss just did do that little bit better, as did Kung.

That's a really good point. Sometimes people seem to forget that riding a bike is something more than only pushing the pedals with a certain power, especially now when we have so many focused on the "numbers".

 

[Mayomaniac]

One day I want to see an itt that is long, but a constant 2-3% uphill drag. The average speed will be lower, but at the same time it's a lot worse for the loghter guys because aerodynamics become less important while raw power becomes more important. On paper Ganna and Wout should demolish the rest on such a course.

 

[Red Rick]

One day I want to see an itt that is long, but a constant 2-3% uphill drag. The average speed will be lower, but at the same time it's a lot worse for the loghter guys because aerodynamics become less important while raw power becomes more important. On paper Ganna and Wout should demolish the rest on such a course.

I think that only works if you have both a better W/CdA and a better W/kg on a TT bike. The real benefit of the big guys should be their better W/CdA as CdA scales roughly linearly with height rather than quadratically, and their lower relative energy expenditure on rolling and drive train resistance.

There was a roughly 10km at 3% TT in Poland this year and flyweight Arensman beat Sheffield and Hayter.

And it's also not like Van Aert was benefitted hugely by the first 30km of the PdbF ITT.

 

[Mayomaniac]

I think that only works if you have both a better W/CdA and a better W/kg on a TT bike. The real benefit of the big guys should be their better W/CdA as CdA scales roughly linearly with height rather than quadratically, and their lower relative energy expenditure on rolling and drive train resistance.

There was a roughly 10km at 3% TT in Poland this year and flyweight Arensman beat Sheffield and Hayter.

And it's also not like Van Aert was benefitted hugely by the first 30km of the PdbF ITT.

That TT on Poland also featured 2.2kms at over 6%, so climbing was a decent part of the equation in relation to the overall length of the TT.
I still think that better materials and the resulting higher speeds today held the lighter guys because the higher the speed the more important aerodynamics become related to raw power output in a flattish TT.

 

[Red Rick]

I still think that better materials and the resulting higher speeds today held the lighter guys because the higher the speed the more important aerodynamics become related to raw power output in a flattish TT.

That I fully agree with. Even going back to only like 2016 Olympics, the TT position of guys like Tony Martin and Cancellara doesn't even look that aero anymore.

 

[Black Betsy]

Shimano was created to torment the cyclist. (Alexi Grewal)

 

[jmdirt]

I'm glad that Mags Sheffield's crash did not end in serious injury. He had a good ride going, flipped over the fence, got up off of the ground, and still had an OK result.

Congrats Foss!

 

[Unterlenkerfahrend]

What was the bigger surprise? This or Foliforov?
Going with Foliforov but this really came out of nowhere.

 

[StryderHells]

Finally, not sure if many other posters outside the UK will know what I'm on about but don't you think Stefan Kung kooks a bit like ex-PM David Cameron?

All depends on how drunk I am.

 

[Kaptain Kool]

Whatever people think about the surprise result, it's safe to say Remco's bronze locks up the Velo d'Or, although Vingegaard might still have an outside shot if he wins Lombardia.
I have it ranked:

1. Remco
2. Vingegaard
3. Foss
4. Pogacar
5. Vlasov

 

[meat puppet]

Naturally he that puts in the performance deserves to win end of story, with speculations over "what could have been" futile. It's not just about power output, but technique and that's the beauty of bike racing. When power is essentially the same, well then what really counts is how you drive the bike. Foss just did do that little bit better, as did Kung.

Indeed. Power is upstream from speed and that makes it a very good training and pacing tool. However, the prevalence of power-based thinking sometimes tends to cloud the fact that it is a means to an end, and it is speed that decides races, especially TTs.

 

[Red Rick]

Whatever people think about the surprise result, it's safe to say Remco's bronze locks up the Velo d'Or, although Vingegaard might still have an outside shot if he wins Lombardia.
I have it ranked:

1. Remco
2. Vingegaard
3. Foss
4. Pogacar
5. Vlasov

I think TT bronze doesn't sway much.

Road race winner will decide I think. Van Aert may win if he wins the WCRR, and if Pog wins he probably also wins Lombardia anyway.

 

[Extinction]

Indeed. Power is upstream from speed and that makes it a very good training and pacing tool. However, the prevalence of power-based thinking sometimes tends to cloud the fact that it is a means to an end, and it is speed that decides races, especially TTs.

Indeed, and taking the right line through the curves is not only more efficient, but maintains speed and requires less power to get back up to full steam ahead. In practice, therefore, on a technical course one could generate less mean power, but go faster!

 

[wheresmybrakes]

Whatever people think about the surprise result, it's safe to say Remco's bronze locks up the Velo d'Or, although Vingegaard might still have an outside shot if he wins Lombardia.
I have it ranked:

1. Remco
2. Vingegaard
3. Foss
4. Pogacar
5. Vlasov

Foss wins two races all year, both ITT's and he comes 3rd in your Velod'Or list. Wow.

 

[Breezy1985]

Whatever people think about the surprise result, it's safe to say Remco's bronze locks up the Velo d'Or, although Vingegaard might still have an outside shot if he wins Lombardia.
I have it ranked:

1. Remco
2. Vingegaard
3. Foss
4. Pogacar
5. Vlasov

Foss is nowhere near that list and neither is Vlasov. I don't think Pog gets it in a year he misses out on yellow which is sad cause he had a great spring but maybe recency bias could snatch it if he gets rainbow or IL.

Same goes for WvA, Remco and VdP at the worlds.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Whatever people think about the surprise result, it's safe to say Remco's bronze locks up the Velo d'Or, although Vingegaard might still have an outside shot if he wins Lombardia.
I have it ranked:

1. Remco
2. Vingegaard
3. Foss
4. Pogacar
5. Vlasov

This is a parody, right? Foss on the list, and not just that, third above Pogacar and Van Aert.