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

[tobydawq]

Certainly some were. Anyone not trying was also beaten. Why were those who “were not trying” not trying? Just let that group go? Not a threat? They either lost because they weren’t strong enough or smart enough.

Well, Madouas, Alaphilippe, Cosnefroy, Laporte, Bettiol, Trentin, Bagioli, Küng, Pogacar, Laporte, Honoré, Mollema, Narváez, Girmay, Matthews and Almeida were not. All the strongest countries' best riders of the day.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Good strategy by the Belgians to get their biggest rival MVDP arrested and then attack with Remco, even when everyone expected a Remco attack. Good planning.

This should be investigated more. Maybe it was Remco dressed as a teenage girl, deciding the race before it even started!

 

[yaco]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FH2gq9tThmY

It would be good if Matthews targets the 2023 Australian National Championship - He's well suited to the course.

 

[Volderke]

Well, Madouas, Alaphilippe, Cosnefroy, Laporte, Bettiol, Trentin, Bagioli, Küng, Pogacar, Laporte, Honoré, Mollema, Narváez, Girmay, Matthews and Almeida were not. All the strongest countries' best riders of the day.

There were 2 main moves on Mount Pleasant:
The one with Remco, and believe it or not, it was one of the fastest ascents of all riders, as he was one of the last riders to bridge and make it to that group
The one with WvA on the penultimate lap.

Guess what: Remco rode nearly as hard going in the breakaway, as most of the riders you name went in reaction on WvA, when it mattered to go all out.

In other words: most riders didn't have it, and simply would have burnt their legs trying to follow Remco when they saw him going.

 

[tobydawq]

In other words: most riders didn't have it, and simply would have burnt their legs trying to follow Remco when they saw him going.

What? So guys like Tratnik, Conci, Eenkhoorn etc were just better than those that I mentioned?

And of course an attacking version of the Mt Pleasant is one of the fastest ones...

 

[Netserk]

Certainly some were. Anyone not trying was also beaten. Why were those who “were not trying” not trying? Just let that group go? Not a threat? They either lost because they weren’t strong enough or smart enough.

I don't think you'll find many disagreeing with that.

 

[Red Rick]

I don't think you'll find many disagreeing with that.

Honestly I disagreed but then he underlined it and now it is suddenly all clear to me

 

[movingtarget]

This should be investigated more. Maybe it was Remco dressed as a teenage girl, deciding the race before it even started!

He should have just rung the front desk and/or the police. Understandably he needed to get some sleep and calling the police would have cost him even more sleep. Strange business........strange kids......

 

[Volderke]

What? So guys like Tratnik, Conci, Eenkhoorn etc were just better than those that I mentioned?

And of course an attacking version of the Mt Pleasant is one of the fastest ones...

You missed the “remco was one of the last ones bridging” part.
That was quite an effort and a gap Remco closed, and the strava data prove it was one of the best efforts by anyone, all day, and pretty early in the finale.

To state that you just had to flick fingers for other riders to react at will, is not applicable for all riders you mentioned.

 

[red_flanders]

Well, Madouas, Alaphilippe, Cosnefroy, Laporte, Bettiol, Trentin, Bagioli, Küng, Pogacar, Laporte, Honoré, Mollema, Narváez, Girmay, Matthews and Almeida were not. All the strongest countries' best riders of the day.

What exactly were they doing? They just weren’t interested in winning? Out for a Sunday ride?

 

[SHAD0W93]

This should be investigated more. Maybe it was Remco dressed as a teenage girl, deciding the race before it even started!

Damn. Evenepoel not only stabbed his own tire, payed Wright to take out Roglic, forced WVA to be his Boonen, but also paid those teenagers to harass MVDP.

 

[tobydawq]

You missed the “remco was one of the last ones bridging” part.
That was quite an effort and a gap Remco closed, and the strava data prove it was one of the best efforts by anyone, all day, and pretty early in the finale.

To state that you just had to flick fingers for other riders to react at will, is not applicable for all riders you mentioned.

Okay, I know I didn't pay much attention to that detail but I maintain my point. Nobody tried to follow him of the guys I mentioned. Which they absolutely should have done.

 

[Sciatic]

Italy and France just put their weakest riders up there and were satisfied because they were "covered" and "had numbers". Yeah, congrats with that, what good is it gonna do you?

Hey, it made the race more interesting, especially the 1st time they did it with 200km to go and pulled Pog and Van Aert to into the front of the split with them!

 

[Lequack]

Damn. Evenepoel not only stabbed his own tire, payed Wright to take out Roglic, forced WVA to be his Boonen, but also paid those teenagers to harass MVDP.

I know, he's very sneaky that one.

 

[fox]

What? So guys like Tratnik, Conci, Eenkhoorn etc were just better than those that I mentioned?

And of course an attacking version of the Mt Pleasant is one of the fastest ones...

No, Eenkhoorn and co were the first to attack, so they were like 50 meters in front of Evenepoel when he went. The others couldn't follow Evenepoel and by the them he was on top, he caught Eenkhoorn and the others. Does anyone really think that Pogacar just let Evenepoel ride if he was able to follow?

 

[red_flanders]

Honestly I disagreed but then he underlined it and now it is suddenly all clear to me

Not sure who “he” is In your mind. Certainly I didn’t underline anything.

 

[Sciatic]

Hah, so Van Aert apparently thought they were sprinting for 6th or something, so he didn't really go 100%. If he had known it would've been for 2nd (again), he would obviously not tried to sprint at all.

That’s not surprising—in his group’s surge to the line it probably wasn’t easy to decifer that they had come right through the original group of 4 chasers.

 

[Sciatic]

Congrats to Remco, shows that being brave can get you big victories and not just looking at the other guy, waiting for him to bring you the win.

OTOH though, I almost haven't slept whole night to watch that shitshow? Can someone explain me how can you be happy with the situation in which you have your domestiques in a group with one of the biggest favorites and strongest riders in the world? Who has half of his teammates with him too btw... And nobody pulls and they let the gap to 2min-2.30, WTF? You go to the other side of the world, prepare for weeks for this race and then you put the brakes on your best riders because you don't wanna be the one who pulls? And you have a effing Eenkhorn ahead with Remco... EENKHORN! Why bringing gregarios at all if they're not gonna do their job, which is pulling for your strongest riders/leaders when needed? What is Tratnik's job (in which he's so good)? Getting the rainbow jersey? France going crazy like they've pulled the heist of the century even though not one of their 4 strongest riders made it into that move... And I'm sitting there, watching the group of favorites on a training ride, with disbelief on my face, while people coordinating this ccrap get payed real life money for it. With 70km to go I'm thinking it's over, Remco has it in the bag, secretly hoping that it's just my impatience and that I don't see the long game these peloton poker stars are playing... And then Brian Smith says that he thinks that the winner will still come form the peloton... then you know it's 100% over.
I'm just baffled by the idiotism, stupidity, more idiotism with most of the big nations except Belgium...
I get that some people enjoyed the confused nature of the race and that Remco fan(boy)s had the time of their life, and I can respect that... it would be fine for me if it's some smaller race but it's the WCRR! I hoped to see the best guys going at each other, giving their max, with of course some tactics involved... And this was just soo underwhelming... Just looking at each other while Remco is butchering their bottle carriers up the road, and everyone just being content with that. What did they think would happen while 50km from the finish? After so many great races we've seen this year, for me this was just bad image for the sport, not how you get more viewers imo... Knuckleheads is an understatement
Sorry for the long post but I'm tired and pissed off, and had to get this disappointment off my chest as I was really excited for this race. I mean really, Eenkhorn?

P.S.: I see same names that spent most of the July in Wout's clinic thread already laughing at him and belittling him and his result... I'll just say that him being there in the same team with Remco and having many other favorites focused on him, gives Remco more leash which helps him at least a little. So try to be more graceful in the times of success instead of acting pathetic like that. Kiss

For decades the Super Bowl, in terms of well played football, sucked as well. I’m not sure if folks are more bothered by the tactics (yup, hard to figure what some teams were thinking), that we didn’t have more of an elite front group, or the the race was decided once Remco dropped Lutsenko (we knew he would drop him sooner or later).

 

[Sciatic]

It's even weirder as it forces the major cycling championships to change drastically their calendar. Road is usually held in the end of september, MTB XCO, DH and XCM in the beginning/middle of september and although Track was usually held between February and April, it's been in October for the past two years. Only BMX will be nearer the normal slot.

Maybe they think that there are better TV ratings in the middle of the summer as it's the period usually connected to major sporting events (Olympics, Football World Cup, Athletics Major Championships, etc.).

Blame Brexit. GB is no longer in synch with the rest of Europe

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Uh, no. The other star riders were not trying to get into the break when he did...

No, but part of beating opponents is beating them tactically. That is why it is road racing, not Zwift.

 

[Sciatic]

Well, Madouas, Alaphilippe, Cosnefroy, Laporte, Bettiol, Trentin, Bagioli, Küng, Pogacar, Laporte, Honoré, Mollema, Narváez, Girmay, Matthews and Almeida were not. All the strongest countries' best riders of the day.

Sports organizations and coaches are notations slow to change. I wonder if they need to get a t in their heads that racing has changed the past few years with so many of the very best riders also the ones willing to attack from 50km out (or thereabouts). Because maybe they need to toss out the old “don’t attack or lead a chase from behind if you have a teammate up front.”

 

[tobydawq]

No, Eenkhoorn and co were the first to attack, so they were like 50 meters in front of Evenepoel when he went. The others couldn't follow Evenepoel and by the them he was on top, he caught Eenkhoorn and the others. Does anyone really think that Pogacar just let Evenepoel ride if he was able to follow?

Yes. Of course he could have followed.

 

[tobydawq]

Sports organizations and coaches are notations slow to change. I wonder if they need to get a t in their heads that racing has changed the past few years with so many of the very best riders also the ones willing to attack from 50km out (or thereabouts). Because maybe they need to toss out the old “don’t attack or lead a chase from behind if you have a teammate up front.”

Exactly.

 

[Escarabajo]

Well that was awful to watch. I didnt read the thread and I expect it's been said many times before, but a lot of countries failed hard to let Evenepoel get such a big group because they had teammates up ahead with him.
I knew they would all get dropped. Ofcourse I hoped it wouldn't happen to atleast have some decent race, but ofcourse it did happen.

Congrats to Evenepoel and the Belgian squad for seizing the opportunity with both hands. Evenepoel didn't even have to work hard for this one imo. Ofcourse he had to work hard, but he didn't have to beat the best riders.

I agree. But let's be honest, although we know is a hard race it just looked too easy for Remco. Everyone knew he was going between 50-80 km to go. That was just the obvious tactic. But none of the big hitters went with him. LOL. I couldn't believe my eyes. I thought it was "too easy" or at least it looked easy for Remco. BTW, his biggest threat was on his own team. No contest at all.

 

[Sciatic]

That’s not surprising—in his group’s surge to the line it probably wasn’t easy to decifer that they had come right through the original group of 4 chasers.

And I just saw the Matthews interview and he said the exact same thing: they didn’t know how many riders were in front of them as they chased into the last Km