Track Cycling at the 2020...2021 Olympics

[Pricey_sky]

Indeed.

Also, speaking as a Brit (although not for 'The British' since I'm just one bloke ) I think it's pretty obvious that the medal factory is now closed, at least for the foreseeable future. That's sport - it has cycles (no pun intended) and both athletes and coaches progress through them and out the other side.

I certainly don't know anybody who thinks this is anything other than the natural order of things. You get good, you put yourself above the parapet to be shot at, then someone else takes over. It was ever thus.

Well said, this is why you should always celebrate success, because in sport it very rarely lasts a long time.

Given the resources within the GB team I’m sure it won’t be too long before they are up there again, though with 2 silvers to date, and other chances ahead, it’s far from a disaster.

 

[RedheadDane]

So... when do people reckon the WR for the men's TP will dip below 3:40?

 

[OldCranky]

Well said, this is why you should always celebrate success, because in sport it very rarely lasts a long time.

Given the resources within the GB team I’m sure it won’t be too long before they are up there again, though with 2 silvers to date, and other chances ahead, it’s far from a disaster.

True on all counts. It says a lot about British success in recent years that this feels like a significant step down, despite already getting results that many other countries would be delighted with.

 

[canarydan23]

No a Danish rider was concentrated on during his job and get his team to the final (and a new WR), but unfortunately the officials didn't warned him with flags and whistle as they should, so they crashed. Luckily both he and the GB was okay afterwards, so Rodenberg can compete in the final.

I don't know if the 18.000 pound GB bike survived and when it will be send into retail, but I know that it doesn't concern the GB management, they are focused on tape and a shirt - easy to focus on marginal gains when all the major gains are financed :-D

A fine example of double standards and solely focus on winning at all costs...

Wow. The cognitive dissonance is strong in this one.

Still, the right team won the final. Or more importantly, the right team lost. Better buy more tape next time.

 

[Zoetemelk-fan]

So... when do people reckon the WR for the men's TP will dip below 3:40?

If someone asked me that question just five years ago, I would say they either didn't know anything about track cycling or were just utterly insane.

It's been amazing witnessing the development of this discipline through the last decades.

 

[ciranda]

Instead of generalising millions of people, did you watch the previous few Olympic Games?

GB had protests about them at every one, and unlike the Danish vests and go faster plasters, they were mainly rejected.

It’s all part of the fun and games of being the fastest team.

Yeah? I thought it was funny but find it accurate also, look at the posts about 'poetic justice', that they better bring more tape and the description of UCI officials as 'fuckwits and morons'.

By all accounts the British track team take protests to another level. The protests about the tape and the undershirts were rejected too, they were just afraid to use them again because there would have been another avalanche of protests. The outrage over Rodenberg yelling *** IT and the moralizing on sportsmanship is


Bennekou talked about the subject in an article from eb.dk https://ekstrabladet.dk/sport/ol/iskold-luft-de-brokker-sig-over-alt/8749389:

They complain about everything
The air between the cycling delegations from Denmark and the United Kingdom is icy cold after new arguments at the Olympics. Until four to five hours before the semifinal, the Danish team feared they would be kicked out of the Olympics due to the tape on the shins in the qualification.

The semifinal opponent Great Britain was among those who had complained to the UCI who however let the Danish favorites continue the hunt for a new triumph. But the episode, in turn, shook up a smoldering conflict between the two countries.

- Britain is a very large nation. They complain about everything and seek all marginal rulings and also try to cross the line if they can, said elite director Morten Bennekou, who was not impressed by the British complaint.

He estimates that the British team's bicycles cost ~25,000 euro. Each. Because of that he shrugs as response to the British protests that Denmark used a special undershirt in the qualification.

A shirt, the British believe, that could not be bought in free trade on January 1 as the rules otherwise prescribe. Morten Bennekou states they have documentation to the contrary. Still the team did not use them again because he feared being kicked out of the Olympics. Especially because he knew where the protest was coming from.

- They (the organizers and IOC) have had a lot of pressure from the UK, and we know from experience that's dangerous.

He is annoyed that this arms race has become necessary in track cycling.

- For a long time I have said that it is not enough to have world class riders and coach of the year in 2019. You have to take part in this race too. I wish that was not necessary. Because in that case we would win, said Morten Bennekou coldly. At the same time he rejected the idea that Denmark has gone further than usual.

That point of view is not shared in the British camp. Consequently the lament over Denmark was not over when the IOC had decided to send Denmark to the final after an hour and a half of tug of war.

- They have been a strong team the last few years. I'm a little sorry that their leaders have behaved inappropriately by getting involved with that kind of equipment. That takes something away from a strong team, said the British national coach Iain Dyer toxically. He felt let down by the IOC.

- The penalty could have been disqualification but the UCI chose not to do that.

Unsurprisingly he stated that the British works completely within regulations and with economic common sense.

- All teams, as in Formula 1, try to make the most of the opportunities that the rules prescribe. But we are very aware that we are supported publicly and we feel obliged to spend every penny sensibly and it is not in our nature to go further than the rules, said Iain Dyer.

 

[canarydan23]

If someone asked me that question just five years ago, I would say they either didn't know anything about track cycling or were just utterly insane.

It's been amazing witnessing the development of this discipline through the last decades.

What's the main driving force behind it though? Are today's athletes that much superior than those competing in say London 2012? Is it superior knowledge regarding training and prep? Or is it all about the bike?

 

[Pricey_sky]

Yeah? I thought it was funny but find it accurate also, look at the post about 'poetic justice' and the poster canarydan23 above.

By all accounts the British take protests to another level. The protests about the tape and the undershirts were rejected too, they were just afraid to use them again because there would have been another avalanche of protests. The outrage over Rodenberg yelling *** IT and the moralizing on sportsmanship is


Bennekou talked about the subject in an article from eb.dk https://ekstrabladet.dk/sport/ol/iskold-luft-de-brokker-sig-over-alt/8749389:

They complain about everything
The air between the cycling delegations from Denmark and the United Kingdom is icy cold after new arguments at the Olympics. Until four to five hours before the semifinal, the Danish team feared they would be kicked out of the Olympics due to the tape on the shins in the qualification.

The semifinal opponent Great Britain was among those who had complained to the UCI who however let the Danish favorites continue the hunt for a new triumph. But the episode, in turn, shook up a smoldering conflict between the two countries.

- Britain is a very large nation. They complain about everything and seek all marginal rulings and also try to cross the line if they can, said elite director Morten Bennekou, who was not impressed by the British complaint.

He estimates that the British team's bicycles cost ~25,000 euro. Each. Because of that he shrugs as response to the British protests that Denmark used a special undershirt in the qualification.

A shirt, the British believe, that could not be bought in free trade on January 1 as the rules otherwise prescribe. Morten Bennekou states they have documentation to the contrary. Still the team did not use them again because he feared being kicked out of the Olympics. Especially because he knew where the protest was coming from.

- They (the organizers and IOC) have had a lot of pressure from the UK, and we know from experience that's dangerous.

He is annoyed that this arms race has become necessary in track cycling.

- For a long time I have said that it is not enough to have world class riders and coach of the year in 2019. You have to take part in this race too. I wish that was not necessary. Because in that case we would win, said Morten Bennekou coldly. At the same time he rejected the idea that Denmark has gone further than usual.

That point of view is not shared in the British camp. Consequently the lament over Denmark was not over when the IOC had decided to send Denmark to the final after an hour and a half of tug of war.

- They have been a strong team the last few years. I'm a little sorry that their leaders have behaved inappropriately by getting involved with that kind of equipment. That takes something away from a strong team, said the British national coach Iain Dyer toxically. He felt let down by the IOC.

- The penalty could have been disqualification but the UCI chose not to do that.

Unsurprisingly he stated that the British works completely within regulations and with economic common sense.

- All teams, as in Formula 1, try to make the most of the opportunities that the rules prescribe. But we are very aware that we are supported publicly and we feel obliged to spend every penny sensibly and it is not in our nature to go further than the rules, said Iain Dyer.

it’s not an accurate representation because you are generalising a whole nation, which is the incorrect thing to do. If you don’t like GB and want them to lose or cheer in another nation, that’s absolutely fine, but keep it within the boundaries.

As a big fan of Ganna I’d have been cheering Italy on regardless of the incident yesterday when the Danish rider went mad at the Brit despite clearly being at fault.

As the article you posted explained, GB were ‘one of’ the teams who protested, they were not alone, which has been confirmed elsewhere.

As I said previously, GB had the same teams protesting about them for the last few Olympics and things got very heated between GB and France in 2012, it’s all part and parcel of being the best.

Denmark should take it as a compliment, it means they are doing something right and they were unlucky not to win gold in the end given the crash yesterday perhaps cost them today.

 

[ciranda]

I still think it was pretty funny. Nothing I wrote was disrespectful to the nation of Great Britain or its inhabitants. It was not a generalization of what 66 million people think about a track cycling competition, it was about the general behavior of the GB team's directors, the links I have seen to stories in British news papers and reactions here.

 

[Zoetemelk-fan]

What's the main driving force behind it though? Are today's athletes that much superior than those competing in say London 2012? Is it superior knowledge regarding training and prep? Or is it all about the bike?

Equipment i.e. bikes, suits and helmets are under constant ongoing development. That factor should not be neglegted, ofcourse.

But IMHO that cannot alone explain the rapid dropping times.
Luckily, since in that case it would just come down to money exhibition in equipment investment, more physical training and diet focus (= boring/unsexy).

As I see it, the main reason is far more focus on refined tactics.
Identifying each athlete as unique and taking the best of each riders forces into account planning tactics of who to take turns when and for how long.
Moreover, realizing and acknowledging that good and bad days do exist, even for elite athletes, making it a moving symbiosis between coach and riders, putting leadership on each rider. So down to constant small on-the-fly adjustments to the original plan, which is refined and iterated for each day, taking constantly account to each riders present state, which also sets demands to each athlethes honesty and knowledge to own body state and mind.

It's a complete other planet than watching 4000m team pursuit in the 80ies with almost mechanical evenly distributed rider shifts with the slave driver standing at the inner circle holding the stop watch.

And yes, team tactics do have developed a lot more in "agile" direction, even since a relatively short time horizon as London 2012.

And that's why I find this discipline so fascinating. Yes, I was fascinated by the four men 100k road TTT in start 80ies, but this is on another and 'deeper' level. But ofcouse it still helps with raw power riders like Ganna, Wiggo, G, etc, haha. To me, however, the beauty is about putting together riders with different forces. Ok, the dying lap of Ganna was beauty, too, in my eyes, haha.
This is why this discipline will never be boring to me.

 

[canarydan23]

Katy Marchant easily the unluckiest rider in the Velodrome. Shafted by the commisaires in her first round and then nerfed out through no fault of her own by some awful cycling by van Riessen. That said, I hope she's OK as she spent a long time on the boards afterwards.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Katy Marchant easily the unluckiest rider in the Velodrome. Shafted by the commisaires in her first round and then nerfed out through no fault of her own by some awful cycling by van Riessen. That said, I hope she's OK as she spent a long time on the boards afterwards.

Feel a bit sorry for Van Riessen as she got nudged out and then overcompensated trying to avoid the German rider, but definitely at fault sadly.

Rotten luck for Marchant, hopefully she can make up for it in the sprint.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Matt Walls dominated the Omnium and rode a clever points race.

Stewart takes silver with a great late attack.

 

[Volderke]

Walls was impressive. From a tactics POV, he did everything right, but ofcourse you have to have the legs in the first place.
Jan-Willem van Schip seemed to be struggling in the final points race. I thought he had it after the tempo race, but either he didn't have the legs, or miss-timed his efforts. Ofcourse it's harder to get away when you're the favourite, but Walls was jus tmuch better and had everything under control from the moment he took his bonus lap.

Finally a gold for team GB. I feared that, with all the buzz around their new bikes, they would end up without any gold, and that would be a bit shameful given the money invested.

 

[Barnacle Bill]

Talking about the cost of bikes, I found it interesting that for all the focus on the GB bike the commentators mentioned the Malaysians had the most expensive of all competing nations.

Looks interesting...

The Olympic track bike arms race: who’s riding what at Tokyo 2020?

What is a track bike, how do they differ from normal road bikes and what is each team riding at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games?

www.bikeradar.com

 

[Pricey_sky]

Walls was impressive. From a tactics POV, he did everything right, but ofcourse you have to have legs in the first place.
Jan-Willem van Schip seemed to be struggling in the final points race. I thought he had it after the tempo race, but either he didn't have the legs, or mistimed his efforts. Ofcourse it's harder to get away when you're the favourite, but Walls was jus much better and had everything under control from the moment he took his bonus lap.

Finally a gold for team GB. I feared that, with all the buzz around their new bikes, they would end up without any gold, and that would be a bit shameful given the money invested.

Yeah I thought Van Schip would be a big challenger, but he seemed to run out of steam in the final race and only really put in a couple of half-hearted attacks.

Viviani came back strong but left himself too much to do for gold, though I think after a difficult year he’ll be happy with a medal.

 

[BlueRoads]

They said China gifted the velodrome in Trinidad and Tobago? ...

 

[Volderke]

Talking about the cost of bikes, I found it interesting that for all the focus on the GB bike the commentators mentioned the Malaysians had the most expensive of all competing nations.

Looks interesting...

The Olympic track bike arms race: who’s riding what at Tokyo 2020?

What is a track bike, how do they differ from normal road bikes and what is each team riding at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games?

www.bikeradar.com

And I thought naively that the German's FES was expensive:

Institut für Forschung und Entwicklung von Sportgeräten (FES)

frameset = 21.000 euro.
Handlebar = approx. 4500 euro
Wheelset = approx. 8600 euro
Crankset = approx. 4000 euro
seatpost = approx. 800 euro

not including chain, chainring, pedals, tubulars, saddle yet (around 750 - 1000 euro)

Total: 40.000 euro.

The WR-X (https://www.wx-r.com/shop )
frameset = 25.000 pounds (frame) + 6000 pounds (fork). This comes with crank and seatpost
Handlebar = 10000 pounds
Wheelset = 6000 pounds (front), and for a Campagnolo Ghibli it's around 2600 pounds (I found that on Velodrome shop: a bargain! The listed price for the olympics is around 5-6000 euro for a Ghibli rear wheel)
saddle mount = 3000 pounds, but if buying the adjustable version, one can choose any saddle of choice (I go for that route, as the specific saddle is 3000 pounds as well)

not including chain, chainring, pedals, tubulars, saddle yet (around 850 pounds)

Total price: 53450 pounds, or around 63000 euro...

Welcome to the Olympics, where it's about the sport, not the material
I wonder if track cycling is one of the most expensive sports, in terms of personal material / equipment needed? Others that come to mind are sailing and hippic sports...?

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

So what was the cost of the fragile Australian handlebars in the TP?

 

[IndianCyclist]

The track Olympics have become a crash fest. To Talk about preventing crashes in 200k races when even in short distances there are so many crashes.

 

[Barnacle Bill]

So what was the cost of the fragile Australian handlebars in the TP?

It's been removed from sale for now, replaced by a statement on their site.

Looking at an archived page from a while back it was "AUD 4,584 plus any relevant shipping, duties & taxes"

 

[Volderke]

Some observations regarding the women's madison:

There is a lot of improvement to be made during the changes:

1. they are generally slow and not efficient (in terms of transfer of speed) in most teams. Team GB is doing the best job.
2. because they are not very efficient, other riders don't wait for changes, they just overtake. It creates a lot of unnecessary double / triple files and more chance for crashes
3. because they are slow, it's hard to time them right, and they take a lot of time and space. It creates dangerous situations, because other riders come in between those who are changing.

All in all, a very tricky race.

And I feel, in the end, it will be a very difficult race to know where is the peloton...! But that's why I love Madison

 

[Zoetemelk-fan]

The women's Madison was a one-sided British slaughterhouse. Impressive! And congrats.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

The Dutch were unlucky, but the Brits would have been unbeatable anyway.
I guess the crashes and bad changes are also partially by-products of the limited racing they've done on the track during the pandemic.

 

[Volderke]

I didn't see round 2 and 3 from the men's sprint live, but if you didn't see anything of it, it is amazing stuff to watch.