Tour of Oman Stage 6 TT - *Spoiler*

calvjones

He's got to be up there for P-N this year; no serious hills (athough he'll have to overcome Valv),

Does P-N have bonifications? If so, he's a shoo-in!

afx237vi

Rendell has done a similar type of gig on the Tour of Langkawi a couple of times.

Pross

FransJacques wrote:

Ian said: "Wasn't there an interesting race in the desert?"

Having a bash at people with "flair" or "style" or who is a little flamboyant is another pass time in this country, please refer to my post in thread on Hammond (not Richard). Oh yeah, besides Cowell,

Clarkson is another idiot who teaches people that stereotypes and bitter comments at other nationalities are OK

. Most clever people will say "oh but it's funny cuz it's not serious obviously". But it's prime time TV and 11-14 year old kids will see it and want to copy it to be cool. And JC does harp on and on about national differences - the Italians, the French, the Germans. No wonder that people who want to make cool posts on the net will follow suit. It's good work escapism.

In terms of the stage, very little news as of yet. Cancellara seems to have had a zen moment in terms of getting to know the Omanis. My year in Riyadh taught me tons. There was actually quite a road scene there with TTs, RRs and stage races.

Will be interested to see how close to second place BH was in the end.

You must have been watching too much of him then

2oldnslow

" My year in Riyadh taught me tons. There was actually quite a road scene there with TTs, RRs and stage races."

Still is FJ Riyadh Wheelers have a full programme right through the winter. Was out for a couple of hours myself this morning about 25 degrees C when I finished at 10:30 so winter is a pretty comparative term

LangerDan

FransJacques wrote:

Cancellara seems to have had a zen moment in terms of getting to know the Omanis.

I'm having that line for my next race!

"You lose again?" "No - I was having a Zen moment in terms of getting to know the inhabitants of the Corca Dhuibhne Gaeltacht"

So much classier than "I'm too old, fat and slow"

galatzo

Matt Rendell loves Columbian :shock:
It's not commentary enhancing

To be fair it was very difficult to commentate on the limited pictures, a bleak landscape, no background noise and co-commentator to discuss matters with.

Sorry Matt

andyp

Some amusing comments on Twitter about this.

Scott Sunderland wrote:

Topical quote "An envious man thinks that if his neighbour breaks a leg, he will be able to walk better himself” H.Schoeck (Der Neid)

Which elicited the following from Lionel Birnie;

Lionel Birnie wrote:

Where is Scott Sunderland getting these quotes? From the back of a cereal packet? Nice way to dampen down any criticism of Team Sky. Oh yeah

Sunderland seems to have acquired a copy of the same book Bruyneel uses for his insightful quotes. :roll:

DaveyL

That appears to be the equivalent of the old Scottish saying, "Get it right up ye"

Lionel is correct if the desired effect was to dampen criticism of Sky. But I think SS is quite happy to talk a bit of smack, given the amount of heat his team has taken this week.

Kléber

andyp wrote:

Sunderland seems to have acquired a copy of the same book Bruyneel uses for his insightful quotes. :roll:

That'll be "A Wise African Proverb A Day" by Paul Sherwen

shinyhelmut

FF,

to make things easier for the rest of us could you post a list of subjects we're allowed to start threads on and another list of races we're allowed to follow. We wouldn't want to bore you after all...

iainf72

DaveyL wrote:

That appears to be the equivalent of the old Scottish saying, "Get it right up ye"

Lionel is correct if the desired effect was to dampen criticism of Sky. But I think SS is quite happy to talk a bit of smack, given the amount of heat his team has taken this week.

If Scott carries on down this path, I might have to tweet him every single time they don't win with a new picture from failblog....

Interesting Edwald won a TT where having to get help from other teams doesn't come into it. Not that I think Millwheel care at all.

DaveyL

Yes - they probably care as much about their external perception as all the other teams.

Pokerface

So - anyone know why they seem to have ridden road bikes in the TT today?

I would have thought it was long enough to ride a TT bike?

frenchfighter

It is so it is fairer for the low budget teams.

Pokerface

In that case they should all be riding fixed wheel, aluminium frames, no clipless pedals, etc.

If most guys in my local cycling club can afford a road and TT bike, why can't the lowly pro teams also?


I don't get what you're saying.

frenchfighter

I don't know. It could be to do with saving expense/hassle of transport too.

I think it was more to do with Qatar, like last year, due to the 'local' teams.

andyp

I think the decision was more to do with logistics than fairness, i.e. the cost of flying out over 120 additional time trial bikes is too much for the race organisers.

Pokerface

They didn't even use clip-on bars!

Pross

No, it's down to logistics as I understand it. Same as with Qatar, all teams agreed to use road bikes to cut down on the amount of gear they had to ship out. I think it extends to no aero helmets etc.

Pokerface

It makes EBH's win over Cancellara a little less impressive - only because thee big C is unbeatable on a TT rig.

frenchfighter

Well...are you saying Fabu's talent comes more from the bike?!

Pokerface

Not MORE from the bike - but in conjunction with the bike, that position, etc. Some riders are better on a TT bike than on a road bike. Not taking anything away from him as a rider. He's one of my fav's - no matter what he rides.

stagehopper

Must be pointed out that Cancellara is pretty damn superb on a road bike so not sure that TT theory stands Pokerface.

Good win for EBH but early season form caveat etc.

On Matt Rendell - not the easiest job commentating on Oman as mentioned previously. If you're not a fan try his http://www.realpeloton.com podcats as they're excellent.

Jez mon

Well done to EBH!

Boonen's claim that he wants to match Cancellara in TTs is looking a bit weak...

iainf72

Jez mon wrote:

Boonen's claim that he wants to match Cancellara in TTs is looking a bit weak...

Boonen can do short TT's really well. Came 2nd in the Paris-Nice prologue a few years ago.

Whether he can match Lui.., I mean Fabian is another story.

Pokerface

Not being facetious, but has Cancellara ever won a TT on a road bike? I know they don't ride TT's very often on road bikes, but anyone know if he has?

Jez mon

Not sure if Fab has ever won a TT using a road bike BUT, a quick glance at his Palmarés shows he is very quick on a road bike, his classics wins prove that.

frenchfighter

Apparently he suffered more than in the Worlds...but then he was flying on another level.

Pokerface

He's a big boy. I would have thought that he isn't as aero on a road bike as some of the smaller guys - even if he has a bigger engine. I think that's what I'm trying to imply.

frenchfighter

calvjones wrote:

Just out of interest, why is Pozzato in your sig line at all? Most of the other riders I can kinda see the point of, but let's face it, Pippo is a bit of a wheelsucking, self-loving, all mouth-few-race-wins dick isn't he?

To me cycling is about more than winning. Yes it is important yet at the same time I can really appreciate riders who attack, who entertain and who give it their all however futile. I respect that and it harks back to the old-school days.

There are a few riders now-a-days that have this 'old-school' approach, this sense of pure cycling, devoid of commercialism and all out win at all costs mentality. A lot of them are on my signature for that reason.

With Pozzato, although he isn't my 'favourite-favourite' on that list, and is in fact quite near the bottom, he is on there for the following reasons:
-He has style, both in terms of kit and equipment but also in terms of how he holds himself on the bike. Not only does this make for better viewing, it provides me with better photos.
-He is an attacker.
-He competes a lot (94 race days last year - that is 7th in the list out of every single rider)
-He is consistently a more than competent rider (his ranking for CQ for the past 5 years is: 45, 29, 27, 22, 17).
-He is an interesting character