Cycling (Road Race and Time Trial)

[butchersapron]

Horrid even.

 

[Orang Utan]

Otley lass, by eck!

She doesn't much sound like it.
Are all the GB cyclists toffs? Indeed, Team GB seems heavy on the toff quotient

 

[Espresso]

She doesn't much sound like it.
Are all the GB cyclists toffs? Indeed, Team GB seems heavy on the toff quotient

You must have heard Cavendish speak. If he sounds like a toff to you, then yup; all the rest of them must be fairly toff-ee.

 

[Orang Utan]

I haven't heard him speak, no. <goes off to check YouTube>

 

[Orang Utan]

Not a toff

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

She doesn't much sound like it.
Are all the GB cyclists toffs? Indeed, Team GB seems heavy on the toff quotient

I read that half of the GB Team went to private school

 

[editor]

She doesn't much sound like it.
Are all the GB cyclists toffs? Indeed, Team GB seems heavy on the toff quotient

She went to a state secondary modern school. With a posh name, mind.

 

[editor]

Nicole Cooke went to Brynteg Comprehensive School in Bridgend. Not posh.

 

[Frumious B.]

They seem to be getting a few punctures, is that a bit odd.

Not really. You always get more punctures in the rain. And they use ultralight tyres with no puncture proofing.

 

[The Boy]

Nicole Cooke went to Brynteg Comprehensive School in Bridgend. Not posh.

I;m not familiar with the English (and Welsh?) education system so forgive me, but doesn't that just mean she did shit on her 11+?

 

[gunneradt]

After Cav was found to be not good enough on the day and with team GB having no plan B, can the girls win Gold again on the road, Cooke won Gold four years ago but is she past her best ?, can Armitage step up to the plate ?, can Pooley cause a surprise she won Silver in the TT in the last Olympics, so we have got a breakaway specialist in Cooke who could go from a long way out, a sprinter in Armitage for a dash and a time trialist in Pooley who could go from mid distance.
I'm sure the girls will have a plan but they will also be flexible and play what's in front of them depending how the race unfolds.

Cav is a sprinter - he relies on being led in or at least being helped to be in a position to win

 

[gabi]

Christ this BBC coverage is terrible in its bias.

They're currently interviewing the friends of the cycling silver medallist repeatedly asking them how it feels to know an 'Olympic Champion'.

Good achievement - but since when is 2nd place 'Champion'?

 

[ericjarvis]

I read that half of the GB Team went to private school

Most of the top cycling prospects world wide get hoicked out of the mainstream education system in their teams. For instance the UCI runs a speacial school in Switzerland to train promising cyclists whilst also giving them a general education that fits around the training. Some of the GB team went there.

Swiss finishing school... posh. Scholarship kids... not posh.

 

[twistedAM]

I read that half of the GB Team went to private school

Not in cycling surely? The Poshingtons probably do stuff like rowing, archery, shooting and horsey stuff.

That was a good race today.

 

[RubyToogood]

Great race.

I love it when a plan comes together. Finished lunch at my mum's in time to get back to Putney for the homeward run, watch Lizzie et al go tearing past to wild applause, then back into the Methodist Church to watch the end of the race and enjoy their tea and cakes.

Thank you Putney Methodist Church!

 

[RubyToogood]

And incidentally, if I'd picked one of the vantage points marked on the race route map I'd have seen nothing because of the crowds. (I went for an unremarkable stretch of the high street instead). Also, the traffic was very light, even for a Sunday.

 

[twistedAM]

Shit, just looked at the odds for the ITT. Wiggins is 1/3.
Tony Martin has come into 4/1, second favourite, with Spartacus drifting to eights. Froome at 10/1.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Not in cycling surely? The Poshingtons probably do stuff like rowing, archery, shooting and horsey stuff.

That was a good race today.

Maybe that was just a rumour. Found this

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/ol...Olympic-athletes-bridge-the-class-divide.html

 

[Nigel Irritable]

Not in cycling surely? The Poshingtons probably do stuff like rowing, archery, shooting and horsey stuff.

Cycling's not a particularly posh sport in Britain, but it isn't a particularly working class one either, unlike in its heartlands.

 

[Nigel Irritable]

Because he finished 29th.

That's not how cycling works.

 

[Me76]

Stupid question alert. Why was everyone sprinting for fourth? I noticed yesterday and today. Is it just about pride or is there something I'm not aware of?

 

[Frumious B.]

If it was me I would sprint for 4th on the assumption that Vino will lose his gold medal in a few years when dope testing technology improves.

 

[Orang Utan]

The crap coverage has been commented on. Here's why: http://t.co/jQoRgAOk

 

[twistedAM]

The crap coverage has been commented on. Here's why: http://t.co/jQoRgAOk

Thanks for that. I resorted to the Cycling weekly forum who had journalists tweeting along the route.
I assume French people don't use twitter or mobile phones as the TDF wasn't affected.

 

[RubyToogood]

Just been to Putney to watch the pack whizz past, with the brazilian out in front and one apparently GB rider trailing badly.

Just watching the race back and realised that was Emma Pooley catching up after a puncture.

 

[RubyToogood]

Thanks for that. I resorted to the Cycling weekly forum who had journalists tweeting along the route.
I assume French people don't use twitter or mobile phones as the TDF wasn't affected.

Well I don't know that you get big crowds along the whole route on the TDF - they tend to gather at points where there's an official time check anyway, and are more strung out in between. I mean, these races went round and round Box Hill, which had a lot of people on it, rather than going through one populated place and then out into the sticks.

I don't think there's any other Olympic event that the public can just wander up to, so people were really making use of it.

 

[plurker]

Having been crammed in at Putney for the mens' yesterday and hardy seeing anything, I made the effort to get out to Richmond Park today. Well worth it, as it was practically deserted. Here's the medallists and one lone fan who was stopped jogging for a minute to applaud them.

 

[Frumious B.]

I know picking over the bones of the mens' race is futile, but...from what I've read the Germans agreed to work with Team GB beforehand. But our boys were miffed when Tony Martin dropped out, they weren't expecting it. And according to Boardman Greipel sat up and said "we're not riding for you any more." So the Germans seem to be saying "we gave everything we had" but the Brits are saying "you could have given more but you wanted to tire us out before the run in".

But the best bit is Boonen saying that the Belgians would have ridden for us if we'd asked nicely:

Boonen said Britain had not, as expected, canvassed around for help.
“They were pulling, and they were acting like they didn’t need any help and so everyone just let them control the race”

I'm not sure how that squares with Gilbert being sent up the road to tire us out. And didn't Boonen try to join the leading group before he got his puncture?

I suppose Spartacus would have won if he hadn't crashed. He must be even more disappointed than Cav - mucking up two gold medal chances with a silly bike handling mistake.

But...were we robbed by the IOC who failed to provide time checks??? If they had, wouldn't the Germans have brought the race back together?

 

[gabi]

The crap coverage has been commented on. Here's why: http://t.co/jQoRgAOk

This still doesn't explain why the BBC News channel is *still* describing Armistead as 'Olympic Champion'

A Dutch rider won it. Jesus christ.

 

[Orang Utan]

She got a medal. That's champion.