Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic 1.HC **Spoiler Thread**

Pross

FJS wrote:

Pross wrote:

FJS wrote:

sportvan wrote:

[quoteI'm sure it's happened before, but it must be rare for a rider on a Conti team win a race as big as this?

JTL was the last rider I remember winning big on a continental team.

The Tour of Britain was no .HC race though.

Sayar and Gabrowski in the Tour of Turkey, that Iranian bloke with the long name at Lankawi

To be fair Blythe's background is slightly different (just in case anything is being implied!)

Nothing implied at all. I just can't think of any other examples

No, I meant by the OP. I don't think he likes NFTO.

takethehighroad

Not at all, was just intrigued, reminded me of Sheffield United getting to the semi finals of the FA Cup.

I know about Blythe's background as well, but fact is he currently rides for a Conti team, and it must be rare for Conti teams to win .HC races

pollys_bott

TakeTheHighRoad wrote:

...it must be rare for Conti teams to win .HC races

Ciolek winning MSR last year stands out, no?

FJS

Pollys Bott wrote:

TakeTheHighRoad wrote:

...it must be rare for Conti teams to win .HC races

Ciolek winning MSR last year stands out, no?

MTN are ProConti (like IAM, Cofidis, Netapp, etc), not just Conti. But yes, a ProConti team winning a monument must be as rare as a Conti team winning a .HC race

eh

Sky don't have Plan B remember, Rowe was there to work for Swift but punctured at the wrong time, as alluded to in the interview where WIggins name was missed out from the list of people who'd helped.

As far as I can tell Wiggins was there to make up the numbers and for a bit of PR, I didn't see him contribute much if anything. Bigger questions have to be asked of Swift however, he seemed really slow to react at the end, just like in the Nationals. Supposed to be a sprinter, but consistently beaten in sprints from small groups.

As an aside the race route is pretty rubbish, nowhere near selective enough, 90% of the time it is going to end in a bunch sprint.

tailwindhome

So the wrong rider won the wrong race in the wrong weather over the wrong course.

And Wiggins was wrong about something too.

jimmythecuckoo

Two things stood out for me yesterday.

Firstly, Sky are having a bit of a nightmare since Stannard won Het Volk.

Secondly the NFTO haters will have been choking on their roast dinners yesterday.

Besides that I was only moderately entertained.

If the UK wants a classic take it to the Lakes or the Highlands or something.

FJS

jimmythecuckoo wrote:

If the UK wants a classic take it to the Lakes or the Highlands or something.

Why not both? France has Paris-Roubaix as well as Paris-Tours; Italy Lombardia as well as Mian-San Remo; Belgium De Ronde, Fleche Wallone, and LBL as well as Gent-Wevelgem, Paris-Brussel, Scheldeprijs, etc.

Pross

eh wrote:

Sky don't have Plan B remember, Rowe was there to work for Swift but punctured at the wrong time, as alluded to in the interview where WIggins name was missed out from the list of people who'd helped.

As far as I can tell Wiggins was there to make up the numbers and for a bit of PR, I didn't see him contribute much if anything. Bigger questions have to be asked of Swift however, he seemed really slow to react at the end, just like in the Nationals. Supposed to be a sprinter, but consistently beaten in sprints from small groups.

As an aside the race route is pretty rubbish, nowhere near selective enough, 90% of the time it is going to end in a bunch sprint.

And yet in 2 runnings we've had one bunch sprint and one race that was split to pieces, coincidentally the first had teams that wanted it together for a sprint and the second had a team determined to split it up and get their best finisher into a small group. What that suggests to me is that the race is determined by how it is ridden and not by the route.

Cannock Chase

jimmythecuckoo wrote:

....If the UK wants a classic take it to the Lakes or the Highlands or something.

Have you sat and thought out the logistics of that one..??

Paulie W

The riders make the race not the parcours and they made this one pretty enjoyable - if the weather had been fine with no wind and there had been a full quota of strong WT teams then a bunch sprint would have been the likely outcome but it wasn't and there weren't.

Swift looks to me to suffer from EBH's problem - he just cant react quickly enough in that situation. He was looking for Blythe to go, Blythe went and Swift's response was just slow enough that he couldnt get on Blythe's wheel.

jimmythecuckoo

FJS wrote:

jimmythecuckoo wrote:

If the UK wants a classic take it to the Lakes or the Highlands or something.

Why not both? France has Paris-Roubaix as well as Paris-Tours; Italy Lombardia as well as Mian-San Remo; Belgium De Ronde, Fleche Wallone, and LBL as well as Gent-Wevelgem, Paris-Brussel, Scheldeprijs, etc.

Very true.

But whatever we choose needs to stick.

The Wincanton Classic fell over for a number of reasons all those years ago. One of them was moving it around from Brighton to Newcastle to Leeds. Fans need a parcours to identify with I feel.

frenchfighter

Photo by Bryn Lennon

mm1

jimmythecuckoo wrote:

FJS wrote:

jimmythecuckoo wrote:

If the UK wants a classic take it to the Lakes or the Highlands or something.

Why not both? France has Paris-Roubaix as well as Paris-Tours; Italy Lombardia as well as Mian-San Remo; Belgium De Ronde, Fleche Wallone, and LBL as well as Gent-Wevelgem, Paris-Brussel, Scheldeprijs, etc.

Very true.

But whatever we choose needs to stick.

The Wincanton Classic fell over for a number of reasons all those years ago. One of them was moving it around from Brighton to Newcastle to Leeds. Fans need a parcours to identify with I feel.

This course (or slight variations of it) has produced 5 different and entertaining races (Olympics x2, Olympic test event, RLC x2), one thing I'd like to see is a couple more laps round the Surrey hills and a finish that's closer to the climbs rather than that long drag back into London, perhaps finishing at the top of Ranmore. Would need to be far more established and even then I'm not sure that it would get the crowds.

rick_chasey

Race categorisation & sky aside, did anyone else think it was a bold early sprint from Blythe?

Very sharp timing.

FJS

Rick Chasey wrote:

Race categorisation & sky aside, did anyone else think it was a bold early sprint from Blythe?

Very sharp timing.

Yeah, I wrote so earlier in this thread. I don't know whether someone checked from how far out he started sprinting, but it was a risky move, almost like a very late attack rather than a sprint

snowley

I thought he went far too early but then when I saw Gilbert really pounding the pedals and not making any ground I knew he had it.

Pretty impressive kick given the effort made.

FJS

Just watched it again; he started just after the 300m mark, which is quite far for a small group sprint.
Swift reacted immediately BTW, but going round Alaphilippe and Gilbert a bit wide cost him

Cannock Chase

If the UK wants a classic take it to the Lakes or the Highlands or something.

...then I'm not sure that it would get the crowds.

As challenging and scenic a course may be, there's no point in situating a race where the majority of spectators are going to be five thousand sheep and a dog.

It's a measure of how far cycling has come in the UK when we can regularly start and finish a race in central London.
The course is varied enough to give a fifty-fifty chance of finishing in a breakaway or bunch sprint.
Keeping it as it is will hopefully attract both the top sprinters and strong breakaway specialists.

hammerite

FJS wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Race categorisation & sky aside, did anyone else think it was a bold early sprint from Blythe?

Very sharp timing.

Yeah, I wrote so earlier in this thread. I don't know whether someone checked from how far out he started sprinting, but it was a risky move, almost like a very late attack rather than a sprint

And I know it was a pretty meaningless sprint for the second bunch, but Russ Downing also went from a long way out and didn't fade (although some of the others crossed the line faster).

Paulie W

FJS wrote:

Just watched it again; he started just after the 300m mark, which is quite far for a small group sprint.
Swift reacted immediately BTW, but going round Alaphilippe and Gilbert a bit wide cost him

I just watched it again and I still see a split second delay in Swift's response - maybe he wasnt expecting Blythe to go quite so soon.

eh

I don't buy it, the weather was truly awful and Cannondale only had 3 people chasing, yet it was only 34 seconds from being a bunch sprint. I stick with my my original comment that this race is 90% of the time going to end in a bunch sprint. It reminds me a lot of that dull German one day race also held in August.

rick_chasey

FJS wrote:

Just watched it again; he started just after the 300m mark, which is quite far for a small group sprint.
Swift reacted immediately BTW, but going round Alaphilippe and Gilbert a bit wide cost him

Blythe was also a little fresher too

DeVlaeminck

jimmythecuckoo wrote:

Two things stood out for me yesterday.

Firstly, Sky are having a bit of a nightmare since Stannard won Het Volk.

Secondly the NFTO haters will have been choking on their roast dinners yesterday.

Besides that I was only moderately entertained.

If the UK wants a classic take it to the Lakes or the Highlands or something.

Peak District is ringed by major cities within bike riding distance and to my mind probably better roads and terrain for a bike race than the admittedly bigger hills of the Lakes or Highlands. Something centred on Matlock and Bakewell area even maybe Sheffield would be ideal.

Pross

eh wrote:

I don't buy it, the weather was truly awful and Cannondale only had 3 people chasing, yet it was only 34 seconds from being a bunch sprint. I stick with my my original comment that this race is 90% of the time going to end in a bunch sprint. It reminds me a lot of that dull German one day race also held in August.

The Olympics (men's) RR on a similar type of circuit wasn't a bunch sprint. The smaller squad sizes at this race make it hard to control. Ultimately it will depend on who turns up - if you had Kittel, Cav and Greipel in the race it would probably end in a bunch sprint as 3 teams would want it to end that way.

I think the race will be a long term success for the very reason of its location and accessibility. Having an iconic finish on The Mall, in the centre of one of the world's major cities is huge. Other than Roma Maxima and the final stage of the Tour I can't think of anything comparable and whilst the route isn't the hilliest there are enough short climbs and narrow lanes to allow aggressive riding to split the bunch. Also, is there anything wrong with a race that might frequently end in a bunch sprint? No-one seems to mind Ghent-Wevelgem or Paris-Tours in the past. The changes to the latter actually opens up a space for a sprinter's classic.

Going forward the UK will have the Yorkshire race which will providing an antidote for those who want hills. I'm not sure what the obsession is with some people that a race has to be hilly to make it worthwhile.

r0bh

Paulie W wrote:

FJS wrote:

Just watched it again; he started just after the 300m mark, which is quite far for a small group sprint.
Swift reacted immediately BTW, but going round Alaphilippe and Gilbert a bit wide cost him

I just watched it again and I still see a split second delay in Swift's response - maybe he wasnt expecting Blythe to go quite so soon.

Swift was looking back at Blythe then the moment he looked forward Blythe attacked which gave him the split second he needed for Swift not to be able to jump on his wheel.

It was an entertaining race I thought, the selection was gradually made, then there was the uncertainty over whether Gilbert's attack would stick, and finally a good small group sprint.

Anyway, nice the thread is back to analysing the race not post-race interviews :roll:

Abdoujaparov

Tactically, a great sprint by Blythe, I thought. Swift pushes a big gear so kicking before him, and from behind, was the way to go. He nailed it.

Good race all around - cr*p parcours on paper, but it works if the bigger teams don't bring a top class sprinter. It would probably get duller if it became WT.

ManOfKent

One reason for the slightly strange mixture of teams is that two teams (I don't know which) pulled out only a couple of weeks beforehand and the organisers were scrabbling around for replacements. I agree with others posters that the timing makes it difficult to attract a strong field. Where (if anywhere) this event will fit into the UCI's revised calendar, remains to be seen.

It's interesting to read comments here consistent with the view I heard a while ago from someone linked to the pro scene, that Adam Blythe is a tool (not the exact word he used). I thought maybe he was just being uncharitable.

richa

Sir Brad doing a pull on the front.

chrisday

Pross wrote:

I'm not sure what the obsession is with some people that a race has to be hilly to make it worthwhile.

+one gazillion

Also share confusion at the concept of "only hilly counts", or that there's something wrong with races ending in sprints.