twistedAM
Left Of The Dial
She's an amateur rider and did you notice that none of the big favourites from the pro peloton came over to congratulate her apart from Cillie Ludwig of Denmark.
Olympic Cycling Events
- Thread starter Cid
- Start date
Cid
Proper break this time
It would change the tactics... I mean I enjoyed this, but I can see why it would be frustrating competing with one set of rules 99% of the time, then switching just for the Olympics.
Cid
Proper break this time
It's just a different type of race though... That's the issue. You get riders to ride according to one set of rules 99% of the time, then 1% of the time stick them in a different kind of race, of course they're going to get confused. If they were racing with no tech, they'd develop their tactics according to those rules. Chase down breaks, try and get advantages on climbs etc.
twistedAM
Left Of The Dial
They knew the rules beforehand. Having smaller teams was probably as much of a factor but again they knew this rule beforehand as well. And it's not as if the Olympics have changed the rules from previous editions. It was just a mega fail on the part of the pro peloton.
Big up to Anna Kiesenhofer who seems to have been forgotten in the post-race analysis.
Cid
Proper break this time
Knowing what the rules are is completely different from training to them though...
beesonthewhatnow
going deaf for a living
That was one of the best races I’ve ever seen. Anyone complaining doesn’t like cycling. Epic.
Lord Camomile
Yipchaa!
While I (somewhat perversely) do quite like the idea of having a race that is simply "nope, forget what you normally do, this is a different challenge!", can also see how yeah, it would be very frustrating.
Almost feels like maybe there could be two types of road race, one 'traditional' rules and one 'pure' rules. Feel like there are other sports that do something similar?
Almost feels like maybe there could be two types of road race, one 'traditional' rules and one 'pure' rules. Feel like there are other sports that do something similar?
baldrick
hmmmmm
Alastair didn't qualify. It's Jonny and a super speedy Alex Yee who seems to be showing everyone how it's done at the minute.My favourite Olympic cycling is in the Triathlon, someone PLS tell me the Brownlee Brothers are involved this time!I had no clue how the tactics worked at the time (and I've since forgotten) but watching the two of them very much bossing it in Rio during the cycling stage was eclipsed only by Max Whitlock's two golds in gymnastics.
Ted Striker
Foot's on the other hand
I saw that, and saw it commented on social media...Tbh I don't want to critique the actions of athletes on the back of a long day's racing (and one that ended as such a disappointment for them) - I'm barely able to crawl and wipe the snot from my face for a good few hours after a long ride! - but it was both a slightly melancholic sight, but also brought home the enormity of this David that slayed the utter goliaths of the Netherlands superstars...right from km0.
Amazing!
Ted Striker
Foot's on the other hand
It really brings home the best races are something that are beyond tarmac and profile. Typically it's "oooh, some cobbles and gravel" and it's a marquee event, where the annual victors are revered like Grand Slam champions.
This one, your allegiances and teammates and expected, usual support are ripped to shreds...And you have no radios...
And the prize is 4 (or 5, or 3
) years of gold-helmeted immortality, and a place in your countries legend as an additional entry onto the Gold board, and people beyond cycling nerds screaming your name at the resulting open top bus parade.This is really unique.
They should so do this event more often! /joking
Also, great to see a parcours that really wasn't an either/or for mountain goats or rouleurs (or sprinters, obvs, but they are ruled out of most non-panflat events). The closest thing to the Olympics is, I guess, the World Champs, and they can really shit the bed (and half the pelotons dreams of the stripes) with a too-mountainous or fast parcours.
twistedAM
Left Of The Dial
Could you imagine how brilliant the Tour de France would be without radios and power meters? It'd be three weeks of true excitement.
Cid
Proper break this time
Why? It might for a few years as all the teams worked out new tactics, but it wouldn't stay that way.
Cid
Proper break this time
I dunno, be careful what you wish for. You'd might end up with stuff like:
- Never publish any training data
- Never let strong breaks go
- Keep breaks in sight
It might just end up phenomenally boring. I don't watch any lower tier racing (do they even film any?), but they don't use race radios. There is presumably more variation in ability and training though.
twistedAM
Left Of The Dial
Bradley Wiggins has it spot on here. Calling it junior racing is big praise and not an insult (see the comments).
Bradley Wiggins: Olympic Games was like a junior race in the final
‘It was every man for himself’ says five-time Olympic gold medalist
www.cyclingnews.com
Cid
Proper break this time
Kiesenhofer is also a post-doc specialising in partial differential equations at the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne. Her courses include:
I think I need a cold shower.
I think I need a cold shower.
Great race - that last 10km seemed to last for ages.
So did the Dutch team and the Peloton en masse really not know there was another rider out front? Hard to belive.. or is the gripe that they didn't have timings..Seems like they just fucked up.
The Dutch rider who rather embarrassingly crossed the line in winning jubilation admitted she had never even heard of her. Despite her being on the same kind of circuits for years. Kind of like the mousy geeky girl in those American teen movies who somehow grabs the quarterback for the prom much to the horror of the popular girls.
Cid
Proper break this time
Great race - that last 10km seemed to last for ages.
So did the Dutch team and the Peloton en masse really not know there was another rider out front? Hard to belive.. or is the gripe that they didn't have timings..
Yep... Hence Van Vleuten's celebration... Lizzie Deignan also thought Van Vleuten had won after the race.
Cid
Proper break this time
No reason she would have heard of her... Not competing in the same races.
Cid
Proper break this time
She doesn't ride in any professional league, which is kind of why this caused such an upset. She had a pro contract for a year in 2017 (in which she appears not to have raced
).She's a time trial specialist, and has won the Austrian nationals (both TT and road race in 2019). Also finished 5th in the European TT championships. Other than that some UCI races ranked at 1.1/1.2 (3rd and 4th tier day races). And a 2.2 (a 4th tier stage race).
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