Olympic XC
Comments
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A few pictures from yesterday.
You might have had a response from a pro cyclist on Twitter, you may even have chatted to a 'journo', but ultimately, you still know nothing. You're not an insider, no matter how much you wish you are.0 -
Nice to see a shot of Emily Batty in there, possibly the prettiest woman in the MTB race.BASI Nordic Ski Instructor
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I think you'll find the elite courses are fairly sterile even when they have plenty of natural features. The UCI will make sure that the course allows for a certain number of places for overtaking which means the long wide sections (pretty much all technical sections had three different routes that could be chosen). Also logistical reasons, especially at the Olympics, the course needs to be accessible for TV and spectators.
I was there yesterday, really enjoyed the race. We were stood on the main climb (breathtaker) and running across to the downhill, the climb was a fair slog for some of them - Bresset powered up it so fast on the last lap though.
The course doesn't need to be super technical, as they're there to do whatever obstacle as fast as they can, which makes it more technical in itself. Just ask poor Liam Killeen open ankle fracture and dislocation after a fall on lap 2 today.0 -
Vuelta95 - who is the Italian lady in the pink hat? She was one of the Italian coaches, stood on the breathtaker climb with a radio earpiece in. Seemed very friendly and the Polish fans all wanted their photo taken with her.0
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hammerite wrote:Vuelta95 - who is the Italian lady in the pink hat? She was one of the Italian coaches, stood on the breathtaker climb with a radio earpiece in. Seemed very friendly and the Polish fans all wanted their photo taken with her.
I'm not surprised the Polish were going wild that looks very much like Paulo Pezzo.
http://bikechicks.net/2012/02/24/paolo-pezzo/BASI Nordic Ski Instructor
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davidof wrote:hammerite wrote:Vuelta95 - who is the Italian lady in the pink hat? She was one of the Italian coaches, stood on the breathtaker climb with a radio earpiece in. Seemed very friendly and the Polish fans all wanted their photo taken with her.
I'm not surprised the Polish were going wild that looks very much like Paulo Pezzo.
http://bikechicks.net/2012/02/24/paolo-pezzo/
Ah OK. Impressive list of wins!
Paul Manning was stood right near us and not one person bothered him for a photo/autograph that I saw. I wonder how many of this years gold medallists won't get bothered in a few years time?0 -
hammerite wrote:
Ah OK. Impressive list of wins!
If you cycle at Lake Garda she has a bike shop in one of the villages. Paulo was always sexy but has really improved with age.
Paul Manning, you were really mixing it with cycling royalty.BASI Nordic Ski Instructor
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Some photos from yesterdays race, a great course to spectate at
~~~~~~Sustrans - Join the Movement~~~~~~0 -
The men's race was quite good.
At what point does a course become cyclo-cross rather than MtB? and can they use cross bikes?
The women seemed quite slow, especially on the technical bits.
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I don't think CX courses have rocks in them....
The Pro CX races in Belgium tend to be on grass/dunes rather than singletrack trails and rocks/roots. Hills are generally also longer and steeper in XC races. You don't need anything like as much technical skill to ride a CX course (though obviously it helps), as you get off and run over things instead. CX race are alos shorter, 60mins vs 90.We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
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Did anybody see the topless lady??~~~~~~Sustrans - Join the Movement~~~~~~0
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Is that a lady or just a man with long hair? Need a front on, or at least a side on photo to be sure before we all get ourselves excited!"I have a lovely photo of a Camargue horse but will not post it now" (Frenchfighter - July 2013)0
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From the snickering of the commentators, they clearly thought lady. As I think did the young kid doing the double take as he ran past.0
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She's facing the wrong way though (unless the clean BBC cut it out?) Surely the point of standing around topless is to get your face on the telly box, not just the back of you taking a photo...?
The low cut jeans and the fully black underwear is also making me question woman
Spending this much time on it is definitely making me question how hard I'm working though...We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
- @ddraver0 -
I figured she was trying to cheer the riders up
She certainly made the little boys day 8)~~~~~~Sustrans - Join the Movement~~~~~~0 -
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I went to Hadleigh Farm yesterday - I don't think I'd want to ride that course on my CX bike and I'm used to hurling myself around on singletrack - the men in particular were chucking themselves down the technical stuff - Liam Kileen was already off the pace and pushing just a little too hard. The venue and TV commentators were pretty woeful - no-one noticed Fontana's seatpost being the reason he tailed-off. The local commentator also key mentioning the rider "Gaybar" - thinking he was some obscure Czech to find he was the Austrian Gehbauer! Sven Nys made an impressive start from back of the grid to get into the top 15 for the first few laps but a puncture and a mechanical put paid to his chances.
FWIW there were too many young families and Gamesmakers about to make me think that's a bloke..Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..0 -
If you actually watch the clip (BBC iplayer, minute 35 onwards) you'll see a little boy run past, grinning as he realises that he's seen a ladies 'boobies'. :shock:
INMHO it was a young lady, taking a photo of the riders reaction as they came round the corner and saw her with her top off.
I could say that I saw her there, but I'm too honest, even on the interweb ~~~~~~Sustrans - Join the Movement~~~~~~0 -
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"It's just confusing"“New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!0
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I missed the race in english so i might have a look at that - Did Ed and Chris say anything different from what they said in the Womens?
Had to watch the NOS commentry (Sporza was tn working). Imagine if Lawro had the main commentary job on the football and you re about 1% close to what the NOS cycling commentators are like!We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
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ddraver wrote:I missed the race in english so i might have a look at that - Did Ed and Chris say anything different from what they said in the Womens?
Had to watch the NOS commentry (Sporza was tn working). Imagine if Lawro had the main commentary job on the football and you re about 1% close to what the NOS cycling commentators are like!
NOS cycling commentary is pretty poor.0 -
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LoL, good shotContador is the Greatest0
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Wellingtons. Fail.
Contador is the Greatest0
