UCI World Championships 2010, Geelong: Early Thread

[Eyeballs Out]

Australia are going to have a very strong team this year

Hmmm, maybe not

 

[mickkk]

Typical BS selection, idiotic. You pick a team to have one guy win ala Renshaw leading McEwan to victory. You dont select a team of individuals who each might win it on a good day.

Very poor strategy, we have no hope of winning.

 

[Ferminal]

Typical BS selection, idiotic. You pick a team to have one guy win ala Renshaw leading McEwan to victory. You dont select a team of individuals who each might win it on a good day.

Very poor strategy, we have no hope of winning.

The world would laugh at us if that was the strategy...

Renshaw whilst very handy, wouldn't have made the finish, McEwen would have done nothing and not made the finish. McEwen has won once this year, in a good (but not WCRR good) field on a relatively easy stage of a tour. And a win in a rubbish race at the start of the season. '

How can anyone suggest McEwen is a better prospect than Goss in any race?

Look at the Italian team, Bettini has seen the course and has already said he's not picking a bunch sprinter, he's picking strong classics men and punchers.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Typical BS selection, idiotic. You pick a team to have one guy win ala Renshaw leading McEwan to victory. You dont select a team of individuals who each might win it on a good day.

Very poor strategy, we have no hope of winning.

I don't like the selection but...

1. We do have a hope to win, actually a reasonable chance.
2. Renshaw and mcewen would not make it to the finish and I don't think they would have any other purpose or role to play.

The biggest blow is the loss of haussler. He was the australian team's "x-factor". Good climber, very good sprinter.

 

[The Hitch]

is cancellara in the swiss tt team or is he giving it a miss to focus on the rr?

 

[Jamsque]

Cancellara is going for the double again.

 

[hiero2]

They'd better hope the field breaks up - there may be wide boulevards downtown - but there's some tricky road furniture just before the first hill. Could be nasty if you've got 100 riders all trying to get through there in a hurry. . .

Yep - I just watched cyclingtipsblog's vid. There's a road sign on a right turn that somebody will clip if they don't take it down for the race - that corner's a bottleneck, and could be dangerous. And the bridge - cyclingtipsblog said something about it being replaced - but if it's not? A real bottleneck. Whoever is going to be in front at the end will probably have to be close to the front all day. All those roundabouts? They would sure make me nervous.

I wonder how they are going to control traffic? Most of the loop is on suburban streets. Those folks won't be able to get in or out for hours, at least. At least 5% of the people living on that street will be unaware of this - just human nature.

 

[The Hitch]

Cancellara is going for the double again.

poor tony martin. He will have to wait for that wc jersey yet.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

poor tony martin. He will have to wait for that wc jersey yet.

I dunno, I think Martin will give him a run for his money.
In fact I predict tony gets the stripes this year.

 

[hiero2]

. . . McEwen . . . won't finish in the top fifty. . .

Mark my words on that.

The only sprinters that could go close to winning are Freire and Haussler. No one else makes the cut. Although, I have probably missed one or two.

Hmmmmm - I'll take that bet. imho, more than two sprinters will be in it at the finish. This should be interesting!!

 

[Spare Tyre]

Yep - I just watched cyclingtipsblog's vid. There's a road sign on a right turn that somebody will clip if they don't take it down for the race - that corner's a bottleneck, and could be dangerous. And the bridge - cyclingtipsblog said something about it being replaced - but if it's not? A real bottleneck. Whoever is going to be in front at the end will probably have to be close to the front all day. All those roundabouts? They would sure make me nervous.

I wonder how they are going to control traffic? Most of the loop is on suburban streets. Those folks won't be able to get in or out for hours, at least. At least 5% of the people living on that street will be unaware of this - just human nature.

Sounds like a temporary bridge is being installed and works are proceeding in good time:

http://www.geelongcity.vic.gov.au/ct/news/item/8cd0c023d300c98.aspx

As to the traffic advice to residents, I live elsewhere in an area where roads are periodically closed for sporting events. We always get plenty of notice, and I can't see why it would be any different for the residents of Geelong. I'd be surprised if most residents in those streets weren't extremely aware a circus will soon be passing through.

 

[Jamsque]

I dunno, I think Martin will give him a run for his money.
In fact I predict tony gets the stripes this year.

You are smoking crack, Timmy. Martin's good, but he ain't Spartacus good. Beating him at Tour de Suisse is one thing, beating him at Worlds is another.

 

[The Hitch]

You are smoking crack, Timmy. Martin's good, but he ain't Spartacus good. Beating him at Tour de Suisse is one thing, beating him at Worlds is another.

true. If cancellara isnt on form then there is a possibility, but last year cancellara beat martin by 3 minutes, and he was celebrating the last 400m, and he was saving energy for the road race. There is nothing you do against that domination.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I found that race so frustrating to watch. Yes, we were seeing something special, but the outcome was never in any doubt at all. And he would have won anyway without them tailoring the course specifically for him to win it. And unfortunately, because TT courses are not consistent, there was no World Record or anything to go for like there is on the track.

 

[El Pistolero]

I never really understood time trial world championship. What if it starts raining for some and not for others? What if the wind changes drastically? etc...

It's not a problem in a Grand Tour because the GC contenders are riding around the same time, but for a single day event?

 

[The Hitch]

I found that race so frustrating to watch. Yes, we were seeing something special, but the outcome was never in any doubt at all. And he would have won anyway without them tailoring the course specifically for him to win it. And unfortunately, because TT courses are not consistent, there was no World Record or anything to go for like there is on the track.

Considering the world hour record is 49.7km
And last years Mendrisio course was 49.8 km
And Cancellara did that in 58 minutes. Didnt he beat the world hour record??

 

[The Hitch]

I never really understood time trial world championship. What if it starts raining for some and not for others? What if the wind changes drastically? etc...

It's not a problem in a Grand Tour because the GC contenders are riding around the same time, but for a single day event?

They do put the favourites near the end. Last years last 5 was Martin, Wiggins, Gustav Eric, Fabian and Grabsch.

All of the big names are near the end, so there is a chance someone near the front might get lucky but it will still be difficult for them.

And it can be a problem in gts in the opening tt. Teams draw lots, and only top 3 from last year are allowed backe end spots. Next year Cancellara wont be able to go 2nd like he did this year because contador will have spot 1 which means canc will have to 22nd from end at the latest

 

[roundabout]

next year there won't be a prologue

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Considering the world hour record is 49.7km
And last years Mendrisio course was 49.8 km
And Cancellara did that in 58 minutes. Didnt he beat the world hour record??

a) the hour record takes place indoors so factors like wind assistance come into play. Rubén Plaza did the final TT of the 2005 Vuelta at 56,2km/h but nobody expects him to break the hour record
b) nobody even mentioned the hour record while he was riding, it was just how much will he win by
c) no, he didn't beat the world hour record, because it wasn't an attempt at the hour record, and it was a race to a set distance, not to a set time.

 

[Mambo95]

Considering the world hour record is 49.7km
And last years Mendrisio course was 49.8 km
And Cancellara did that in 58 minutes. Didnt he beat the world hour record??

No. Apart for the track criteria, the World Hour record (the one that stands at 49.7km) has to be done on a standard old fashioned bike, as could have been available to Merckx. Cancellara's TT bike wouldn't have been allowed. The record for modern TT/pursuit bikes stands at 56.375 km (Chris Boardman).

So we have 49.7km record:

And 56.375km record:

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

You are smoking crack, Timmy. Martin's good, but he ain't Spartacus good. Beating him at Tour de Suisse is one thing, beating him at Worlds is another.

Spartacus wants the roads, martins wont - realistically anyway. He will concentrate on the itt. I think he can beat him.

Martin is really gaining ground on spartacus in the itt. On a whole I agree Fc is better, but martin is easily the next best in the world.

 

[The Hitch]

a) the hour record takes place indoors so factors like wind assistance come into play. Rubén Plaza did the final TT of the 2005 Vuelta at 56,2km/h but nobody expects him to break the hour record
b) nobody even mentioned the hour record while he was riding, it was just how much will he win by
c) no, he didn't beat the world hour record, because it wasn't an attempt at the hour record, and it was a race to a set distance, not to a set time.

But since he did it outside, it makes the task even harder, especially since there were hills in the tt, he had wind against him (and with him) and the bike wasnt as good.

I know he didnt officially beat the "world hour record" but this might be the furthest anyone has ever gone in an hour (not counting people doing a 60km descent halfway into a road race, if that ever happened).

 

[Libertine Seguros]

But since he did it outside, it makes the task even harder, especially since there were hills in the tt, he had wind against him (and with him) and the bike wasnt as good.

I know he didnt officially beat the "world hour record" but this might be the furthest anyone has ever gone in an hour (not counting people doing a 60km descent halfway into a road race, if that ever happened).

But it isn't, is it? Boardman went further on his Superman hour record, as did Obree, Indurain and Rominger on their hour records. And because the TT circuit was a loop, there were uphills but there were also downhills, and wind assistance always changes things (Sosenka's BHE record at EuroSpeedway Lausitz was questioned for this reason too since normally they did their records at a velodrome).

It didn't make it any more exciting a visual spectacle to know that he was going very fast, because there was no record to aim at (it was distance not time), and even so the commentators never mentioned any speed records for him to aim at (again, I think the fastest recorded in a major event ITT is still Plaza in the '05 Vuelta. That was certainly the record when it was set, and it was faster than Cance at the Worlds). We just watched him do something that, while very special, wasn't exactly inspiring viewing.

 

[The Hitch]

But it isn't, is it? Boardman went further on his Superman hour record, as did Obree, Indurain and Rominger on their hour records. And because the TT circuit was a loop, there were uphills but there were also downhills, and wind assistance always changes things (Sosenka's BHE record at EuroSpeedway Lausitz was questioned for this reason too since normally they did their records at a velodrome).

It didn't make it any more exciting a visual spectacle to know that he was going very fast, because there was no record to aim at (it was distance not time), and even so the commentators never mentioned any speed records for him to aim at (again, I think the fastest recorded in a major event ITT is still Plaza in the '05 Vuelta. That was certainly the record when it was set, and it was faster than Cance at the Worlds). We just watched him do something that, while very special, wasn't exactly inspiring viewing.

Ok, fair enough. I thought the record was 48 but turns out Boardman did 56. All right then. Make the next world tt 56 km, and see if Canc can do it in under an hour

Ps wind is always more of a nuicance than a help. It is better to have no wind, then to have wind against you half the time, and with you half the time.

 

[royalpig180]

I know the Worlds is still a little ways off, but I'm wondering what will be the best way to watch the Worlds live in the US?