2013 National Championships thread (spoilerific)
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Decent coverage, but showed nothing at all of how the groups were formed in either race. Also it gave the impression that Fenn and Stannard weren't out on their own for long, when in fact it was for the majority of the race.0
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Had to go out before the finish of the GB champs so decided to avoid all cycling sites and watch the highlights without knowing the result. Gobsmacked to return and find this thread almost twice the size it was.
I'll catch up on the thread momentarily but I really enjoyed the race. Shame it wasn't on for longer though. They could have easily dedicated a full hour to the men's race and another hour to the women's and TT races.
Really happy with both both Armitsted and Cav winning. Great effort by Cav, Stannard and Millar. Obviously Cav and Millar rode as a team which was the only way the Sky stranglehold was going to be broken.
Pleased to see the sporting way that Cav and Millar didn't try to take advantage of Stannard's puncture.
Right, now to catch up on what everyone has been saying.0 -
DeadCalm wrote:Pleased to see the sporting way that Cav and Millar didn't try to take advantage of Stannard's puncture.
Sporting and clever, I reckon - I wonder if the calculation was that Kennaugh was already struggling on some of the ramps and Stannard would be shattered from getting back on, so why not ease off a little and take on some fuel (Millar certainly had an energy gel, to judge by the highlights)? Looks like the plan was always for Millar to attack from longer out and Cav to mop up if anyone else did the chasing, so waiting up was unlikely to cause too many issues for their plan and likely to leave both of them fresher at the end.0 -
Turfle wrote:Decent coverage, but showed nothing at all of how the groups were formed in either race. Also it gave the impression that Fenn and Stannard weren't out on their own for long, when in fact it was for the majority of the race.
Think they tried to cram too much into an hour with the TTs and road races. Was nice to see so many of my club's jerseys in shot at the start of the women's race (best finisher was a very respectable 13th). It was better a few years back when BBC had live coverage of the race on red button, surely with the rubbish repeats of 70s and 80s shows on ITV4 they could make room for some live coverage?0 -
Good shout. That final kilometer Millar definitely appeared to be setting a tempo to ensure Cav would take it in a sprint. Although, until the last kilometer or so I think they were working more as a team. Cav wasn't going to chase down that last attack from Millar for example.frenchfighter wrote:0 -
DeadCalm wrote:
Good shout. That final kilometer Millar definitely appeared to be setting a tempo to ensure Cav would take it in a sprint. Although, until the last kilometer or so I think they were working more as a team. Cav wasn't going to chase down that last attack from Millar for example.frenchfighter wrote:
Cav also had an attack of his own that opened up the door for Millar's own jump, so definitely working together.0 -
Someone mentioned up the thread the range of abilities in the Nationals which results in a high attrition rate.
Amateur and full time firefighter Damien Shaw clung on to the break for 3rd place in the Irish race
“I was hanging out of the lads. I just wanted a medal; I didn’t give a sh1te what colour it was.”
http://www.stickybottle.com/latest-news ... ur-it-was/“New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!0 -
Enjoyed the highlights despite them being far too short. Nice to see more than you could see out on the road, but agree that they could have been better put together with more time to show how the road race developed over time.
Great couple of days for cycling in Scotland and really good to see the crowds out.
Glasgow looked great and Stewarton came out well too. Will get a couple of runs home through Glasgow Green later this week.
Although not all roads on the TT and RR course were in perfect condition, they'd been vastly improved over their normal state, so a longer term benefit too
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DeadCalm wrote:
Good shout. That final kilometer Millar definitely appeared to be setting a tempo to ensure Cav would take it in a sprint. Although, until the last kilometer or so I think they were working more as a team. Cav wasn't going to chase down that last attack from Millar for example.frenchfighter wrote:
Cav basically said as much when someone commented it was Sky against the world and he said it was more the world against Sky.0 -
The photo is from a German website. I haven’t cropped it or reduced its size. And don’t know what bit of ‘belly’ you are all referring to!ALIHISGREAT wrote:
makes more sense now haha!frenchfighter wrote:
Talking about this:ALIHISGREAT wrote:
Apart from that little bit of belly you can see though the gap in his skinsuit.frenchfighter wrote:
Ditto.Art Vandelay wrote:Knedlicky - love that Griepel pic - where did that come from?
LOVE THAT PHOTO. So much right with it. Just need it with less cut off and we are sorted.
The same website has this slightly different version:
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don’t know what bit of ‘belly’ you are all referring to!
Not the Greipel pic...the Cav pic.
Too me a while to figure it out.“New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!0 -
I did wonder why Stannard chased Millar down and gave Cav a free ride, but it makes more sense if he knew that Cav was never going to chase Millar.
What makes less sense is Swift and Kennaught working hard to bring Cav and Millar up to Stannard and Fenn. Can't imagine Stannard can have been too happy when his two teammates rocked up with two of the strongest riders in the race on tow.
Great win by Cav though. Does show that he's much more versatile than he's given credit for. I think the "problem" is he's such an amazing sprinter that no team would waste him with those sorts of tactics in a pro tour race when they can give him a train and get a much higher chance of a win from a bunch sprint.0 -
I got the impression at the time (but only from Twitter so hardly reliable) that Millar was doing most of the work to bring them back. And if Fenn knew that Cav was in the group behind he was hardly likely to contribute. I'm guessing Stannard / Sky figured that with three in a leading bunch of six they'd have the upper hand. Certainly, Twitter gave the impression that Stannard and Fenn eventually waited for the chasers although the TV highlights didn't really show that.Graeme_S wrote:What makes less sense is Swift and Kennaught working hard to bring Cav and Millar up to Stannard and Fenn. Can't imagine Stannard can have been too happy when his two teammates rocked up with two of the strongest riders in the race on tow.0 -
When the 4 were chasing, it was always Millar or Cav on the front doing the work... source: my eyes.0
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Here is Rapha's Jimmy Mach' s strava from Sunday.
Comms pulled him with 2 to go
http://www.strava.com/activities/625118790 -
Graeme_S wrote:I did wonder why Stannard chased Millar down and gave Cav a free ride, but it makes more sense if he knew that Cav was never going to chase Millar.
What makes less sense is Swift and Kennaught working hard to bring Cav and Millar up to Stannard and Fenn. Can't imagine Stannard can have been too happy when his two teammates rocked up with two of the strongest riders in the race on tow.
Great win by Cav though. Does show that he's much more versatile than he's given credit for. I think the "problem" is he's such an amazing sprinter that no team would waste him with those sorts of tactics in a pro tour race when they can give him a train and get a much higher chance of a win from a bunch sprint.
CW's Nick Bull with quote from Cav:
Nick Bull
@nickbull21
@fabrizioviani His words: "I'm a sprinter. I can't be dicking about getting into breaks in WorldTour races. I'm paid to sprint"0 -
So they do commentary throughout the race live but dont even show the race live. Doesnt make much sense to me.
Highlights were ok but very rushed.
Those hills were steeper than I expected - watching them power up them was something to behold - I can imagine it would have been awesome to watch in person.
Got to love Cavendish attacking like he did that time. He has such a funny posture on the bike!Contador is the Greatest0 -
TailWindHome wrote:Someone mentioned up the thread the range of abilities in the Nationals which results in a high attrition rate.
Amateur and full time firefighter Damien Shaw clung on to the break for 3rd place in the Irish race
“I was hanging out of the lads. I just wanted a medal; I didn’t give a sh1te what colour it was.”
http://www.stickybottle.com/latest-news ... ur-it-was/
QualityIt's a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired. You quit when the gorilla is tired.0 -
frenchfighter wrote:Those hills were steeper than I expected - watching them power up them was something to behold - I can imagine it would have been awesome to watch in person.
It was fantastic! Montrose St in particular is brutal, not very long by their standards but steep. I was walking up it (hard enough) on Friday morning with a wry smile knowing what was coming on Sunday :twisted: ! I've done the odd interval up there in the past, legs screaming in the small ring, so to see some of them power up it in the big ring was fearsome.0 -
Thanks for the clarification. It wasn't clear from what we saw in the highlights who was doing most of the work and I think Hugh Porter suggested that Millar and Cav had got a bit of a free ride from the Sky guys. Shouldn't be too much of a surprise that he was talking nonsense!nweststeyn wrote:When the 4 were chasing, it was always Millar or Cav on the front doing the work... source: my eyes.0 -
DeadCalm wrote:
I got the impression at the time (but only from Twitter so hardly reliable) that Millar was doing most of the work to bring them back. And if Fenn knew that Cav was in the group behind he was hardly likely to contribute. I'm guessing Stannard / Sky figured that with three in a leading bunch of six they'd have the upper hand. Certainly, Twitter gave the impression that Stannard and Fenn eventually waited for the chasers although the TV highlights didn't really show that.Graeme_S wrote:What makes less sense is Swift and Kennaught working hard to bring Cav and Millar up to Stannard and Fenn. Can't imagine Stannard can have been too happy when his two teammates rocked up with two of the strongest riders in the race on tow.
I'm certain the front two sat up / waited for them. We watched them pass at the start of University Avenue with a 20s gap, then ran over to Gibson St to watch them come down the other side and they were together. I can't believe that they could have closed that gap in such a short distance if the front two were still going hard. Plus highlights seemed to show them going slow and then re-group at the top of Great George St, just before the Gibson St descent.
Either, as above, Sky thought 3 out of 6 was better odds, or something minor happened to delay the front two. That said though I saw a fairly even spread of the work from the chasing four, Millar and both Sky riders, plus even Cav! In fact I saw Cav leading them up the St Vincent St climb!0 -
Did Wardell's wheelie make it onto telly?"In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"
@gietvangent0 -
disgruntledgoat wrote:Did Wardell's wheelie make it onto telly?
Sadly not. Def the talking point of club rides on the way home.
For those who don't know, Rab Wardell is a multiple Scottish champ for MTB & CX. Knowing he was going to get pulled by comms at the end of the lap he was on, he climbed Montrose St doing a wheelie.
@Frenchie - the ITV 4 commentary was recorded after the race specifically for the highlights. During the race Brian Smith was in his team car, whilst Hugh P was doing on site commentary with me at Glasgow Green.
@Dgstewart - the lap that the 6 came together was the fastest of the day by approx 20secs (actual honour going to Swift). Millar and Cav did most of the work catching them into the headwind up St Vincent's etc. From the moto bike time checks Stan & Fenn would have realised that their lead dropped from over 1 minute (where I saw the at GG) to almost 20 secs (the point you saw them) in 1.5 laps so probably decided to take GT George St easy and regroup. They had been out there as a duo for half the race, no point knackering themselves.
Also with "Scotsman" Fenn withdrawing soon after it was probably part of the OPQS/Garmin/BMC/Movistar plan to send of them up the road with whomever from sky made a break and sacrifice them for a Millar / Cav win.0 -
Ok makes more sense, thanks. How were you getting your updates to commentate on the Green?Contador is the Greatest0
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nweststeyn wrote:When the 4 were chasing, it was always Millar or Cav on the front doing the work... source: my eyes.
This.0 -
frenchfighter wrote:Ok makes more sense, thanks. How were you getting your updates to commentate on the Green?
Out on the course race radio from lead moto & comms car, plus twitter/text updates from some well respected locals round the course.
Next to us at the finish we had all the telemetry screens for times / ave speeds as the riders crossed the start finish line. Plus with a only a wee bit of walking you could see almost 3km of the course and still be in range for radio mic pick up.
To have live pictures for broadcast or to put up a big screen at GG they would have needed a couple of helicopters and possibly a plane to beam pictures from motorbikes to edit truck. Having paid a fortune to shut down the city for 24hrs there simply was not the budget for choppers too, next year for the Commy Games yes, but iMHO ITV aren't going to pay for an experiment that BBC will benefit for next year.
A couple of big screens &PAs out on the course next year would be great. What was very noticeable was that almost no-one saw the decisive last lap breaks Stannard, Millar & Cav at the top of Montrose St / Cathedral st because all 3,000+ of them on the climb were rushing to the finish line, where there was easily already 10,000.
Doubt we will ever see a national champs like it again.0 -
Cool, thanks for the info and insight.Contador is the Greatest0
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nweststeyn wrote:When the 4 were chasing, it was always Millar or Cav on the front doing the work... source: my eyes.
Well most of the time [source: my photos]. I also felt that Cav and Millar allowed Stannard to let off some steam as the gap was 15 secs in one lap and 45s or so in the next. Would make sense, right?0
