GB for Worlds - 3 places
Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
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Who would you pick? Cav might be interested but the course doesn't suit him. If he goes, he'll need two helpers to carry water and keep him out of trouble. Maybe Geraint Thomas and David Millar?
Otherwise I can't think of anyone who'd be able to survive the distance and by all accounts, the circuit is too hilly for Cav. Copenhagen next year suits Cav. Ironically Cav needs to climb the rankings because his success means GB goes up the rankings and he gets a better support team.
Having said all of this, would the Sky-sponsored GB squad bury themselves just to put Cav in the rainbow jersey for a year, letting HTC bask in glory?0 -
Kléber wrote:
Having said all of this, would the Sky-sponsored GB squad bury themselves just to put Cav in the rainbow jersey for a year, letting HTC bask in glory?
Cavendish is nothing if not a pro - He's get his chequebook out and buy some support.Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0 -
Have the rankings changed? I could have sworn 10th to 19th get 6 riders?0
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iainf72 wrote:Kléber wrote:
Having said all of this, would the Sky-sponsored GB squad bury themselves just to put Cav in the rainbow jersey for a year, letting HTC bask in glory?
Cavendish is nothing if not a pro - He's get his chequebook out and buy some support.
First names on the pay-roll - Eisel and Siutsou.Twitter: @RichN950 -
iainf72 wrote:
we had been warning about this ...... last year they scraped into top 10 so got the 9 riders. Problem GB have is once outside the top 10 they have to rely on the UCI European Tour to even get 6 riders and the ranking is abysmal there.0 -
1. Cavendish
2. Thomas
3. Millar
Will Kennaugh be in the Under 23's?0 -
Cheesyman99 wrote:Will Kennaugh be in the Under 23's?
Nope. No Pro Tour riders are eligible for the U23 race.0 -
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surely in the interest of fairness every country should get an equal amount of riders otherwise its a joke
5 riders per country would be much better.
the way it is now its so ridicously weighted in favour of the italians, french, spanish that they are most likely to win
a team of 9 against a team of 3 hardly seems fair!0 -
So, they need the European ranking place to get 6 places? You mean shitty little races?
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They should ask Cav if he genuinely think he has a chance. Whatever his faults he's usually pretty honest about his own chances. If he feels he has then I would suggest Thomas and either Hunt or Hammond to look after him. If he feels he can't then probably Thomas, Kennaugh and either Hunt, Hammond or a fairly fresh Sky rider such as Stannard. The odds are stacked against any chance of a medal though unless Cav does go and the race somehow stays together.0
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Cavendish needs to ride, regardless of whether he's going to win or not (and I don't think the course is as hard as is being made out), in order to better understand how the Worlds works. This should give him more of a chance next year.
The team should be him and the two riders he thinks can do a job for him.0 -
On a single lap the course wouldn't be too bad but the sheer number of times they have to go up that 1km 10% job and the other smaller climb will grind it down and make it one for the hard riders.0
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It looks like a course that a Milan-San Remo winner could cope with.0
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What's "fair" got to do with anything?
Problem is, where do you draw the line on rider numbers? You can't give every nation 9 riders, otherwise you'd end up with 500 bikes on the start line! Bottom line is numbers have to be limited and therefore a qualifying procedure is appropriate - what's the point of having 9 Namibians or 9 Egyptians in the bunch (nothing against them BTW - just illustrating a point)???
I don't see any other way of filtering out the weaker riders (who would be off the back within a lap in any event).
Cav aside, GB riders just haven't won enough races and this is the result.
As per previous posts, if Cav thinks he has a genuine shot (personally, I think the course looks a bit too hard), then he'll have to rely on 'hired help' on the day, with HTC Columbia riders most likely to do the 'freelancing'.
It's fair to say that this situation is a direct consequence of Sky's "everything for Brad at the Tour" philosophy, although it's fair to say other Brits on other teams haven't exactly been tearing up trees either this year.0 -
andyp wrote:It looks like a course that a Milan-San Remo winner could cope with.
Without taking anything away from Cavendish, (and I don't think this does) he was pretty much delivered to the line like hanibal lecter by his team at his Milan-San Remo win.
He would need something similar in the worlds.0 -
I agree. I was just reminding some that he's not as bad on the hills as he claims.0
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I'm not so sure - The Poggio and Cipressa are both much longer, but about 4%. It's much harder to sit in the wheels on a 10% climb. - Let's see whether Petacchi even gets to ride.......andyp wrote:It looks like a course that a Milan-San Remo winner could cope with.
I would give Cavendish a ride, for the experience like you say, but woouldn't build a team around him.0 -
The problem is that if Cav is there, there's no incentive for other teams to keep the race together just for him to win. So breaks will constantly go with LLS, Cunego et al in them and the Dutch and Germans are not going to wind them in so Bos an Ciolek can get 2nd and 3rd.___________________
Strava is not Zen.0 -
andyp wrote:It looks like a course that a Milan-San Remo winner could cope with.
But MSR has what, one long gradual drag before half way followed by Le Manie, Cipressa and Poggio plus the 3 Capos. So 6 climbs in the last 150km or so. The Poggio is about 4km at 4% and the Cipressa 6km at 4%. I'm not saying this is easy but it's a world away from 11 16km laps that include a 1km 10% climb followed almost immediately by a slightly shorter climb of a similar gradient so 22 steep climbs in about 170km. It's unlikely to end up in a bunch sprint and with little team support I can't see Cav getting into a lead group, I'd love to be proved wrong though. I'd have though Thomas is our best bet but with a team of three chances are very remote.0 -
Surely the number of ranked riders from each nation should be taken into account.
Luxembourg - Schleck brothers are ranked 7th & 23rd
Kazakhstan - Vino 6th & Iglinsky 30th
Both those nations only have 2 riders in the 222 ranked riders. Yet will have 9 starters.
GBR have 7. Even Slovenia & New Zealand have 3 ranked riders.0 -
iainf72 wrote:
BTW, ground to reflect on the reason behind why GB is only 21st in the European ranking0 -
GB might as well send the kids for experience - Thomas, Kennaugh and Swift.
Even assuming be can survive the course, I can't see Cav controlling the race and will be amazed if it ends on a bunch sprint, especially with those two hills.0 -
Got to be Cav, Thomas and Millar. Its simple just take your strongest riders, and don't worry about the opposition. With 3 riders you can't control things so just take riders that can go with it.
NB: Hasn't Cav ridden flanders? Also course sounds a bit like the Aussie Commenwealth course from 4 years back and he went OK there.0 -
andyp wrote:Cavendish needs to ride, regardless of whether he's going to win or not (and I don't think the course is as hard as is being made out), in order to better understand how the Worlds works. This should give him more of a chance next year.
The team should be him and the two riders he thinks can do a job for him.
+1"If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm0 -
eh wrote:Got to be Cav, Thomas and Millar. Its simple just take your strongest riders, and don't worry about the opposition. With 3 riders you can't control things so just take riders that can go with it.
NB: Hasn't Cav ridden flanders? Also course sounds a bit like the Aussie Commenwealth course from 4 years back and he went OK there.
Yes. I watched the race this year on the Muur - Cav came through dead last and finished outside the time limit, so was technically a DNF. Personally, I'd be happy to see him participate and give it a go.0 -
Why not give every country the same number of riders, 4 or 5 or whatever the average is. If you are in the race you should have a level playing field with everyone else in the race. You don't see Ghana only allowed to play with 7 players at the football world cup because they are lower ranked than Brazil. Ridiculous system.Not climber, not sprinter, not rouleur0
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Because the sport is dominated by a handful of nations. You'd rule out several Italian, Spanish and Belgian contenders, whilst inviting a load of British, Kazakh and Swiss non-entities.Stuey01 wrote:Why not give every country the same number of riders, 4 or 5 or whatever the average is.
As for the course, it has Gilbert or Haussler written all over it. I'd even be tempted to make my PTP today 0 -
Kléber wrote:
Because the sport is dominated by a handful of nations. You'd rule out several Italian, Spanish and Belgian contenders, whilst inviting a load of British, Kazakh and Swiss non-entities.Stuey01 wrote:Why not give every country the same number of riders, 4 or 5 or whatever the average is.
So? Football is dominated by a few nations, as is rugby. Lots of players who are better than those from other nations get left at home. If you aren't good enough to get in your national squad then tough titties, you don't go to the worlds.
It's organised as a team sport so the teams should be equal in number.Not climber, not sprinter, not rouleur0 -
Stuey01 wrote:So? Football is dominated by a few nations, as is rugby. Lots of players who are better than those from other nations get left at home. If you aren't good enough to get in your national squad then tough titties, you don't go to the worlds.
It's organised as a team sport so the teams should be equal in number.
Cycling is not a team sport, at least not as football or rugby are. You can still ride well and even win with a small team; Vainsteins won in 2000. Belovoscik might have been there, but I can't remember a massive Latvian team. And why should something be organized as in football or rugby anyway?
+ I don't remember reading that argument about equal team numbers last year when Britain was at 9....0
