GB Squad - prospects

NervexProf

Insightful article here: http://tinyurl.com/6le2no

BeaconRuth

I wonder why they stopped at Hoy, Wiggins, Pendleton, Cavendish and Cooke as the other riders tipped to win gold? Surely the probability of Romero and Reade winning golds is higher than even some of those (given the unpredictability of certain events, not doubting their ability).

Ruth

andyp

They probably ran out of space in the article!

I hope Team GB live up to expectations - if they do we could see 5 golds (men's pursuit, women's pursuit, team pursuit, women's sprint, male sprint) and maybe more.

Bright times.

ricadus

They are being clever. If you tip for 7 medalists but "only" get 3 or 4 then it will seem like falling short, whereas tipping 4 and perhaps coming away with 7 different cycling medalists will seem like a bonanza to the general public and those handing out New Years Honours or future funding. Well, actually it would be a bonanza, but you know what I mean – it's a spin thing.

velodromeorguk

given her form and the fact she's on a halfords bike that weighs a ton really make cooke a favourite?

ricadus

Hard to say since she's missed the recent big races so we can't compare her form against the likes of Arndt, Dopmann, Brändli, the Australians, etc. Then again Vos has been absent too, but of the two my money would be on Marianne.

flattythehurdler

Marianne is better prepared I'd say

BeaconRuth

flattythehurdler wrote:

Marianne is better prepared I'd say

Can I ask why you would say that?

Ruth

squired

My lasting memories from Olympics past is our big favourites doing absolutely nothing, so I'm expecting very little this time. If our cyclists do destroy the competition I'm sure there will be rumblings from other countries about our "preparation" as we are too dominant. At the moment our track cycling programme seems to be the best there is, but eventually others will catch up. Lets hope we reap the rewards while we still have that advantage.

andyp

BeaconRuth wrote:

flattythehurdler wrote:

Marianne is better prepared I'd say

Can I ask why you would say that?

Ruth

I think flatty is suggesting that Marianne has been 'prepared' in the European professional peloton sense, i.e. she's followed a doping programme. Allegedly.

andrewgturnbull

andyp wrote:

BeaconRuth wrote:

flattythehurdler wrote:

Marianne is better prepared I'd say

Can I ask why you would say that?

Ruth

I think flatty is suggesting that Marianne has been 'prepared' in the European professional peloton sense, i.e. she's followed a doping programme. Allegedly.

Hi andyp - I see subtlety is your strong point...

What do you think the other nations think when they look at the GB track team?

Cheers, Andy

iainf72

andrewgturnbull wrote:

[
What do you think the other nations think when they look at the GB track team?

They clearly think the positive mental attitude, cod liver oil and cherry juice pays off nicely.

andyp

andrewgturnbull wrote:

Hi andyp - I see subtlety is your strong point...

What do you think the other nations think when they look at the GB track team?

Cheers, Andy

I was merely explaining what I think flatty was suggesting. He can answer for himself though.

Whilst only a fool would think there is no doping in the women's peloton, I think it is likely to be much cleaner than the equivalent men's peloton given the financial rewards, of lack thereof, in womens cycling.

Sadly, for modern sport generally, where one team is utterly dominant then many choose to be suspicious and suspect doping. I see no reason why the UK track team should be viewed any differently. I, for one, hope there anti-doping rhetoric is genuine though.

afx237vi

andrewgturnbull wrote:

What do you think the other nations think when they look at the GB track team?

Cheers, Andy

"Those crazy Brits, spending all those millions on sending their riders around in circles. When are they going to realise road cycling is where the real action is at!"

Or something like that. In a slightly sniffy French accent.

Yorkman

andrewgturnbull wrote:

andyp wrote:

BeaconRuth wrote:

flattythehurdler wrote:

Marianne is better prepared I'd say

Can I ask why you would say that?

Ruth

I think flatty is suggesting that Marianne has been 'prepared' in the European professional peloton sense, i.e. she's followed a doping programme. Allegedly.

Hi andyp - I see subtlety is your strong point...

What do you think the other nations think when they look at the GB track team?

Cheers, Andy

They probably think - didn't their current road race champion recently have unusually high haematocrit levels?

eskimo Joe

Cant remember what rag I saw it in ( im offshore so look at most of them to pass the time) But supposedly Chris hoy is partnering Cavendish in the Madison . That must be news to him or maybe its a fiendishly cunning plan to use 2 sprinters

ricadus

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympic ... 534962.stm

This is a interesting article because of the language it uses and the way it obsesses on performance targets (i.e. educated gueses) and refers to "Team GB" like some kind of auxiliary supplier of freelancing temps contracted to the department of UK Sport. Little mention of the athletes or events themselves, its focus is the chain-of-command's demand for medals.

Politicians as the commissioners and assessors of performance, eh? Just ultimately wanting to bask in the reflected glory of others' effort I say. All this office-talk of contracts and evaluations and "moving forward" -- so middle-managementesque and trying to give an impression of being in control.

:-)

"I indicate 48 medals for Britain - it does not mean they will win 48, they could win less or more," Barra told BBC Sport.

I wonder how much this consultant was paid to reach this non-committal conclusion?