Rio Olympic Track events *Spoilers*

slap_my_bass_up

Well that's a medal I wasn't expecting! New Zealand had too many big gaps between riders.

Omar Little

Outstanding!

bobmcstuff

That was great. Watched it in the pub we usually watch rugby at. Lots of people shouting at the screen!

ddraver

There for the 7s?

Hopefully they were watching the cycling!!!

dav1d1

That was brilliant, outstanding.

bobmcstuff

ddraver wrote:

There for the 7s?

Hopefully they were watching the cycling!!!

We were all watching the cycling - it was great!

I think much easier/better for the layperson than the road events.

FocusZing

Great result and a brilliant start to the track.

Richmond Racer 2

That were reet good

Super performances all round

ddraver

bobmcstuff wrote:

ddraver wrote:

There for the 7s?

Hopefully they were watching the cycling!!!

We were all watching the cycling - it was great!

I think much easier/better for the layperson than the road events.

(well i flipping hope the cyclists arent watching the 7s...)

Crozza

No tA Doctor wrote:

I'm fairly sure I nicked the sine-wave profile joke from 4 years ago....

genuine question - if they ride around the innermost blue line is the profile pan flat?

/killjoy

lostboysaint

Favourite bit of commentary last night was from Sir Chris of Thighs:

"People who just watch track cycling every four years will have switched on, seen us win gold and thought 'business as usual' ..........."



He went on to make a very good point about how (relatively) poor our team sprint has been at world level since 2012 - but it didn't matter, he'd already nailed the viewing public!

Midlands Grimpeur

genuine question - if they ride around the innermost blue line is the profile pan flat?

Yes it is flat, it's also painted so you have no grip, trying to ride on it for an extended period would likely end up in a crash!

Crozza

Thanks

another stupid question for you - why go all out and qualify 5 seconds faster than anyone else (breaking the WR in the process). wouldn't it be better to do just enough and save something back for the final?

lostboysaint

How do you know what's "just enough" unless you're the last up?

RichN95.

Crozza wrote:

Thanks

another stupid question for you - why go all out and qualify 5 seconds faster than anyone else (breaking the WR in the process). wouldn't it be better to do just enough and save something back for the final?

There's a semi-final to negotiate first and the best qualifier races against the fourth fastest, so the easier draw may allow them to win more comfortably on a day when they have to race twice. Both strategies have their merits.

coopster_the_1st

Crozza wrote:

another stupid question for you - why go all out and qualify 5 seconds faster than anyone else (breaking the WR in the process). wouldn't it be better to do just enough and save something back for the final?

Lots of little reasons:

- Psychology over the other teams. The other teams will know what their best time in training, etc. Beating that time changes the way others will race against you e.g. save energy against a team they cannot beat so they can go for it in the Bronze medal ride.
- Training. Each track is different so a near 100% effort in a race situation is great practice(especially the changes) for when they will be on the limit in the S/F or Final
- Motivation & confidence of the whole track team. They will know how well each team has been going in training so seeing them doing it in the event will give them confidence for their event. The team sprint winning Gold will be huge for confidence for the rest of the team

yorkshireraw

RichN95 wrote:

Crozza wrote:

Thanks

another stupid question for you - why go all out and qualify 5 seconds faster than anyone else (breaking the WR in the process). wouldn't it be better to do just enough and save something back for the final?

There's a semi-final to negotiate first and the best qualifier races against the fourth fastest, so the easier draw may allow them to win more comfortably on a day when they have to race twice. Both strategies have their merits.

Makes sense - and explains my earlier assumption that the 2 fastest from the '1st round' (effectively the semis) was incorrect - the top 4 quickest from qualifiers (as explained by Boardman on 'telly last night) are the ones who can race for the medals, with the winners from 1v4 and 2v3 racing out for Gold & Silver.

Still think (although it could be muddled memory) there used to be a bigger gap for the mens TP between the round and the final - maybe when they had morning/ evening sessions.

3:54 warm-up to make sure of the win and into the final for a sub 3:50?.....

tailwindhome

Martyn Irvine ‏@Martyn_Irvine · 2m2 minutes ago

Having a look at the track bikes in Rio. This looks like the most even playing field ever equipment wise. Turns out it’s not about the bike.

No_Ta_Doctor

TailWindHome wrote:

Martyn Irvine ‏@Martyn_Irvine · 2m2 minutes ago

Having a look at the track bikes in Rio. This looks like the most even playing field ever equipment wise. Turns out it’s not about the bike.

It's all about the magic skin suits this time. That and a bit of psychological warfare.

tim000

rounder wheels ;-)

fenix

Midlands Grimpeur wrote:

genuine question - if they ride around the innermost blue line is the profile pan flat?

Yes it is flat, it's also painted so you have no grip, trying to ride on it for an extended period would likely end up in a crash!

I've ridden the Manchester Velodrome many times and the coaches have us doing pace lines on the upper blue line - its not slippy. It'd be a bit of a design flaw to have slippy bits on the track....

cygnet

I think Crozza means the cote d'azur not the 'stayers' line

keyser__soze

Not all the team on Cervelos, Hindes and Barker (two very different types of athlete) still on UKSI bikes. Personal preference/stiffness for Hindes?

dinyull

Hoy said stiffness for Hindes.

kingstongraham

Team sprint is such a weird event to have at the Olympics. Not that exciting (not direct racing), over in a flash and really favours the big spending nations. There's so many more egalitarian events that could be included.

Richmond Racer 2

KingstonGraham wrote:

Team sprint is such a weird event to have at the Olympics. Not that exciting (not direct racing), over in a flash and really favours the big spending nations. There's so many more egalitarian events that could be included.

A nice sportive perhaps?

kingstongraham

Richmond Racer 2 wrote:

KingstonGraham wrote:

Team sprint is such a weird event to have at the Olympics. Not that exciting (not direct racing), over in a flash and really favours the big spending nations. There's so many more egalitarian events that could be included.

A nice sportive perhaps?

Too dangerous on the track I'd have thought.

RichN95.

KingstonGraham wrote:

Team sprint is such a weird event to have at the Olympics. Not that exciting (not direct racing), over in a flash and really favours the big spending nations. There's so many more egalitarian events that could be included.

Maybe a 1k time trial on a Qhebeka bike loaded with a 100kg of crops. Or a rickshaw race.

dinyull

Richmond Racer 2 wrote:

KingstonGraham wrote:

Team sprint is such a weird event to have at the Olympics. Not that exciting (not direct racing), over in a flash and really favours the big spending nations. There's so many more egalitarian events that could be included.

A nice sportive perhaps?

GB would be guaranteed another gold.

FocusZing