Well done Bettini & Dura-ace Electronic Gear & BBC2!

Roberj4

Wow what a race!

With so many favourites just before the final lap. Well-done Bettini with a smack in the face to the organisers (what about on the podium!!!!).

What a coup for Shimano, any body notice Schmacher riding Dura-ace electronic gear change, it must be on the market next year.

If only he’d come first (I was shouting for him) amazing!

Then (knock me down!) after watching this on Euro Sport, you turn over and BBC 2 been running the coverage (better commentary) from 4.30, what’s going on there??????

Sorry missed early forums on the BBC coverage.

off the back

U prob saw millars quote on Bettini - Millar was in the bunch and at the front on the hill. He said "Bettini was so strong it was a joke, he was playing with us." ....... hmmm

Roberj4

Your right.

I did catch Millers comment. Did you notice the camera following Bettini up on the last climb, end of lap 2 about third row back from the front looking around at those who were in agony!!! Then just accelarate with the pack, very cocky!!!!

A fair point Mr Miller.

heathrow86

I watched both Eurosport & BBC coverage of the worlds and I must say the BBC was much better, they had Hugh Porter & Sean Yates commentating and unlike Eurosport they didn't ramble on when there is nopthing to say. Plus they covered both the men & women races from the start unlike Eurosport. Its a shame they can't do it with other races.

Roberj4

Yep BBC was better coverage (no digital break up) and mush better commentary. Hugh Porter is so good. Just can't believe this was showen on the Beeb. Has one of the BBC Director's 'found cycling' and demanded this event to be shown or is this a popularity vote/increased viewing figures after the 'TDF' hit London (what a brilliant weekend that was, but not for cabbies!!!).

off the back

Yeah when the attack happened it was slightly surreal. The second row of the peleton has riders faces contorted in pain and agony then in front Bettini and Schumacher barely look out of breath and ride across the gap.

Sorry but I do not believe it :-( I would need to see some power meter readings to believe what I saw.

Roberj4

Schumacher looked very comfortable but being the local boy must have been sweating it and had so much local support. Typical Evans arriving in 5th, gets to the front then pulls off expecting someone to follow through. Never attacks, far to calculated for a rider.

Scleke (sorry can't spell) should have won, he put so much effort in, last 4K and was so fustrated when he crossed the line. He'll get the true vote.............

afx237vi

2 against 1 then, because I thought Porter and Yates were poor. Didn't exactly make it sound like an exciting race, did they? Minute after minute of dead air does not convey a good atmosphere. Most of the time they sounded as if they couldn't think of things to talk about.

The Italians or French commentators make a Vuelta flat stage sound exciting. Put some enthusiasm into it!

Plus, for a directeur sportif, I was pretty amazed by Yateses inability to recognise riders. Yes, they look different on TV, and they aren't wearing trade jerseys, but I was still surprised. I think he called Freire and Bettini in both of the big groups that went away.

I started watching Eurosport with 3 laps to go and Harmon was just reeling name after name of rider as he spotted them. Even Sean Kelly was more animated than the BBC pair.

Good on the BBC for showing the whole race, but Harmon and Kelly really are great at what they do.

woody-som

the bbc covered both races last year as well. Shame they don't actually advertise it better, as I saw a guy who I cycle with yesterday afternoon, and he didn't know the womens race had been shown or the mens race was on today.

Coverage is very good though, the worlds, ToB, maybe they'll do a few more. and ITV were getting spoilt

Roberj4

Any thoughts on the Dura-ace Electronic Gear change used by Schumaker.

I wanted him to win to see how much this would have been 'milked' by the marketing dept at Shimano.

off the back

Interested to see how well it would work in 6hr in rain in Belgium in March with 5deg :-)

cougie

We were talking about the Campag electronic shifters in know-how last week. 2/3 wouldnt touch it, and 1/3 would (devout Campophiles I suspect ?)

I did notice the slowmo of the sprint - everyone gritting their teeth and breathing through their ears - Bettini looking a lot more relaxed.

vermooten

Roberj4 wrote:

Hugh Porter is so good.

No he's not, he's rubbish. Much prefer Harmon and Kelly.

SteveR_100Milers

Was interesting to see Valverde suffering (again), he died on the Herdweg trying to keep Freire in the hunt. Really does suggest he is now not on whatever he was allegedly on.

Unfortunately I missed the cruclal moment on that last lap as my kids were fighting so not sure why Friere missed the boat..what happened to him?

Monty Dog

Harmon has enthusiasm and knowledge in abundance - Porter's a bumbllng amateur in comparison. So Bettini puts a 'race face' on and you're all sure he's 'on something' - and this from some of the same people who didn't bat an eyelid when we saw it in July for 7 years?

Kléber

We don't know about Bettini's use of doping products, so there's no point speculating. But we can clearly see from his stance that he has a nuanced approach towards doping, he has yet to condemn doping, dopers and refused to sign the UCI's charter.

Of course, many dopers signed the charter, only to get rumbled later on. The legal strength of the charter is probably akin to damp toilet paper but to publicly challenge it takes balls and invites a lot of questions. Il Grillo deserves a grilling...

iainf72

off the back wrote:

Yeah when the attack happened it was slightly surreal. The second row of the peleton has riders faces contorted in pain and agony then in front Bettini and Schumacher barely look out of breath and ride across the gap.

Sorry but I do not believe it :-( I would need to see some power meter readings to believe what I saw.

Can explain how it should've panned out then?

Faces contorted with pain? Ever seen Paco Mancebo ride? And he was full of extra blood.

And also people go on about Evans or whatever, but he was hanging with Bettini right until the end, and of course Bettini is going to win, he's got a fearsome sprint.

campagone

heathrow86 wrote:

I watched both Eurosport & BBC coverage of the worlds and I must say the BBC was much better, they had Hugh Porter & Sean Yates commentating and unlike Eurosport they didn't ramble on when there is nopthing to say. Plus they covered both the men & women races from the start unlike Eurosport. Its a shame they can't do it with other races.

I must disagree, I put the interactive coverage of the womens race on yesterday and the commentator was rambling on about something or other not to do with the race, so I switched back over to Eurosport. I've watched cycling on Eurosport all season so I think I'll stick with them. The only complaint I have is when aderts come on, but I also have a motorised satellite so I get the coverage from the host broadcaster aswell

andrewgturnbull

[grumpy spoiler reminder]

Jeff Jones

Roberj4 wrote:

Schumacher looked very comfortable but being the local boy must have been sweating it and had so much local support. Typical Evans arriving in 5th, gets to the front then pulls off expecting someone to follow through. Never attacks, far to calculated for a rider.

Evans did attack with 1km to go, but it wasn't good enough to gap the rest. He only just made it across to the break but it took a monumental effort to chase (with Kolobnev). Given that he couldn't win a sprint against those guys, a late attack was his best option.

I thought the Russian was just as strong as Bettini, but wasn't quite as tactically smart. Schumacher and Schleck deserved to finish where they did - they were good but not good enough.All in all, I think it was a fair podium.

The Spanish and Dutch messed things up though.

andrewgturnbull

jjones wrote:

Roberj4 wrote:

Schumacher looked very comfortable but being the local boy must have been sweating it and had so much local support. Typical Evans arriving in 5th, gets to the front then pulls off expecting someone to follow through. Never attacks, far to calculated for a rider.

Evans did attack with 1km to go, but it wasn't good enough to gap the rest. He only just made it across to the break but it took a monumental effort to chase (with Kolobnev). Given that he couldn't win a sprint against those guys, a late attack was his best option.

I thought the Russian was just as strong as Bettini, but wasn't quite as tactically smart. Schumacher and Schleck deserved to finish where they did - they were good but not good enough.All in all, I think it was a fair podium.

The Spanish and Dutch messed things up though.

Hi there.

Kolobnev was _very_ strong. Especially considering he'd just spent a lap off the front with Rebellin, while Bettini sat back in the bunch. I think Bettini underestimated him in the finish - he had more trouble coming around him then he (or I) expected.

Cheers, Andy

ps What I want to know is who were the guys in suits that Bettini aimed his bike at when he crossed the line - the orgainsers?

Mr Bumble

I was just reading the news on the BBC website before heading out for a spin....

but when i saw that they were streaming live over the net I ended up ditching my ride for an excellent race. OK the BBC coverage was not elctric excitement like the Italian or French commentators but it was a damn sicght better than anything cyclingtv has ever served up!

Really grateful to see the BBC giving cycling this coverage...

I was pining for the Boogieman to win- and just about hit the roof when he stayed with the group.

Nice to see Evans placing himself on the top level.

Jeff Jones

andrewgturnbull wrote:

Kolobnev was _very_ strong. Especially considering he'd just spent a lap off the front with Rebellin, while Bettini sat back in the bunch. I think Bettini underestimated him in the finish - he had more trouble coming around him then he (or I) expected.

Yes that's what I thought. Kolobnev used up quite a bit of energy on the previous lap and was still amazingly strong at the finish.

ps What I want to know is who were the guys in suits that Bettini aimed his bike at when he crossed the line - the orgainsers?

Eiither the organisers or the UCI commissaires. He had good reason to be annoyed at both, but wasn't specific in his press conference.

LangerDan

Mr Bumble wrote:

Nice to see Evans placing himself on the top level.

After the year he's had, it would be good to see him take the ProTour title in Lombardy. I've been critical in the past of his penchant for following wheels but if , as he says, he's at 100% just trying to stay with some of the opposition, thats fully understandable.

iainf72

LangerDan wrote:

After the year he's had, it would be good to see him take the ProTour title in Lombardy. I've been critical in the past of his penchant for following wheels but if , as he says, he's at 100% just trying to stay with some of the opposition, thats fully understandable.

How long has he been in great shape for - Since April'ish? I know he had some down time in August but he appears to have held his form for ages and ages.

timoid.

iainf72 wrote:

LangerDan wrote:

After the year he's had, it would be good to see him take the ProTour title in Lombardy. I've been critical in the past of his penchant for following wheels but if , as he says, he's at 100% just trying to stay with some of the opposition, thats fully understandable.

How long has he been in great shape for - Since April'ish? I know he had some down time in August but he appears to have held his form for ages and ages.

Which would suggest that he's not pulling blood out during the season. Which is nice.


Personally I wanted Schleck to win, but knew nobody would beat Bettini out of a small group like that.

RyanBrook

woody-som wrote:

the bbc covered both races last year as well. Shame they don't actually advertise it better, as I saw a guy who I cycle with yesterday afternoon, and he didn't know the womens race had been shown or the mens race was on today.

Coverage is very good though, the worlds, ToB, maybe they'll do a few more. and ITV were getting spoilt

Yeah, I had no idea it was on. Gutted I missed it.

Moomaloid

I was so so pleased to see the coverage on bbc 1 but then gutted to see that the programme covered every event... i'd caught some of the time trial on friday and was bored silly...lol so i was hoping for a full programme of road race but hey ho...

Duffers has always been awful... and Sean, jeez... a true legend yes but get rid!!! Periods of silence coz they can't think of anything to say and then Sean dropping in a cpl of words..Woooo!!! Attenborough needs to watch out or Yates may be doing programmes discussing the state of the worlds rain forests soon...

Anyways, it was a real pleasure to watch such an exciting roadrace this year even if the end result did make my heart sink... Bettini quite obviously has something to hide... for me Schleck and The russian dude were the real hero's of the day... and Cadel up there again!! He deserves a medal just for the amount of races he has lost to suspected dopers...

I was actually most impressed by the girl in the Great Britain team who was in it at the death... if she was more slightly more astute in her racing tactics she'd have got a result but she is definately one for the future!

Anonymous

Moomaloid wrote:

I was so so pleased to see the coverage on bbc 1 but then gutted to see that the programme covered every event... i'd caught some of the time trial on friday and was bored silly...lol so i was hoping for a full programme of road race but hey ho...

Duffers has always been awful... and Sean, jeez... a true legend yes but get rid!!! Periods of silence coz they can't think of anything to say and then Sean dropping in a cpl of words..Woooo!!! Attenborough needs to watch out or Yates may be doing programmes discussing the state of the worlds rain forests soon...

Anyways, it was a real pleasure to watch such an exciting roadrace this year even if the end result did make my heart sink... Bettini quite obviously has something to hide... for me Schleck and The russian dude were the real hero's of the day... and Cadel up there again!! He deserves a medal just for the amount of races he has lost to suspected dopers...

I was actually most impressed by the girl in the Great Britain team who was in it at the death... if she was more slightly more astute in her racing tactics she'd have got a result but she is definately one for the future!

Brilliant impressionist though.
Have you heard him do Hugh Porter?
Faultless.