2016 Worlds *spoilers*

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Comments

  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,549
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    Perhaps Roelandts should have gone for an earlier flyer. Who knows.

    Wasn't he needed to close down Leezer's attack?
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    Yeah he was but he is good at the "anticipatory" attack, 20-40km out.

    I imagine rather like Stannard v Quick Step, the pressure behind meant that playing tactics so early on was considered riskier than laying it on the line for Greg with Boonen in the hole.
    _
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    Marks outa 10?

    I give it a 7
    _
  • jscl
    jscl Posts: 1,015
    There must have been some spectators. One of my friends was there and flew out of Doha tonight with Vino sat next to him, so some people were there watching.
    Follow me on Twitter - http://twitter.com/scalesjason - All posts are strictly my personal view.
  • FocusZing
    FocusZing Posts: 4,373
    Good race, the right result the best current rider won. The venue wasn't great though. No fans, no scenery, there should be some hills and it should be held where people can/use bikes!
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    The disappointment was the choice of the final 100km.

    It could have been designed to be a windy echelon fest for a full 260km which would have been hugely entertaining and absolutely brutal, but instead we got the selection when most of you were still sleeping off Saturday night/on the club run.
    _
  • specialgueststar
    specialgueststar Posts: 3,418
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    when most of you were still sleeping off Saturday night on the club run.
  • specialgueststar
    specialgueststar Posts: 3,418
    tonyf34 wrote:
    Cav went to his natural thing of taking a favourites wheel when he doesn't have a traditional lead out, IF he had got onto Blythe's wheel and trusted in him more AB had enough gas/speed to get Cav to the line and they would have pissed it.
    l.
    aye - and they Blythe could have put that naughty Mathews in the sand
  • specialgueststar
    specialgueststar Posts: 3,418
    8th - brilliant30a65.jpg
  • specialgueststar
    specialgueststar Posts: 3,418
    7 - 8 for creating a lot out of not much
  • jscl
    jscl Posts: 1,015
    Haha, just seen this on the Belgian Boys Club FB Page this morning:

    9phzn0en
    Follow me on Twitter - http://twitter.com/scalesjason - All posts are strictly my personal view.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Very good.

    There's a photo somewhere of some men in Belgian coloured robes.

    https://flic.kr/p/MjQGBR

    Sorry can't embed images from phone. Pinched from @cyclingbetting
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Blythe did exactly as instructed, but Cav didn't follow!

    Cav says:

    I told Adam (Blythe) to come with a few hundred metres to go and when he came alongside, it spread everyone and everyone jumped and I had nowhere to go.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    Clip won't play in the UK but Boonen sounds more disappointed than I've ever seen him in the post race interview.

    Worse than after the 2007 Paris Roubaix.
    _
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    Also, on the Belgian tactics in the chasing group - namely putting themselves right towards the front of the group to disrupt, rather than just following. My understanding was always that though what they did was allowed by the letter of the law, it really wasn't the done thing at all.

    I wonder if this is the kind of thing riders talk about when there's "less respect" and "we need a patron".
    _
  • pb21
    pb21 Posts: 2,171
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    Also, on the Belgian tactics in the chasing group - namely putting themselves right towards the front of the group to disrupt, rather than just following. My understanding was always that though what they did was allowed by the letter of the law, it really wasn't the done thing at all.

    I wonder if this is the kind of thing riders talk about when there's "less respect" and "we need a patron".

    In the BBC commentary Millar didn't suggest anything other than normal tactics by Belgium in the chase group?
    Mañana
  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 19,436
    edited October 2016
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    Clip won't play in the UK but Boonen sounds more disappointed than I've ever seen him in the post race interview.

    Worse than after the 2007 Paris Roubaix.


    Boonen/Belgium can't have believed that he was going to win the sprint from that group.

    Podium is a great result for him
    Boonen, Sagan, Cavendish, Kristoff, Matthews, Van Avermaet, Viviani, Nizzolo, Korsaeth, Boasson Hagen, Blythe, Bennati, Hayman, Terpstra, Leezer, Guarnieri, Petit, Bonnet, Keukeleire, Kolar, Berhani, Roth, Naesen, Roelandts, Stuyven, Ait el Abdia
    “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!
  • graeme_s-2
    graeme_s-2 Posts: 3,382
    TailWindHome wrote:
    Boonen/Belgium can't have believed that he was going to win the sprint from that group.

    Podium is a great result for him.
    I can understand Cavendish's annoyance that if he'd made different decisions he feels he had the speed to win. Boonen seemed to have a pretty clear sprint and could only manage 3rd (which is impressive in that company). Cav got his tactics wrong and may have had the legs to win, but it looked like Boonen got his positioning right and just didn't have the legs. Seems a weird thing to be annoyed about afterwards.
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,150
    One of the unwritten rules that have seemed more important than the written ones in the past.

    Did anything happen to Degenkolb after his meltdown?
  • graeme_s-2
    graeme_s-2 Posts: 3,382
    KingstonGraham wrote:
    Did anything happen to Degenkolb after his meltdown?
    He quit the race and went and had a good cry?
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,463
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    Also, on the Belgian tactics in the chasing group - namely putting themselves right towards the front of the group to disrupt, rather than just following. My understanding was always that though what they did was allowed by the letter of the law, it really wasn't the done thing at all.

    I wonder if this is the kind of thing riders talk about when there's "less respect" and "we need a patron".

    I think if they had been riding to the front and putting the brakes on it would have been a bit questionable but all they were doing was following the front rider through and then pulling off with them rather than taking a turn or chasing after anyone who tried to nip off the front. I'm pretty sure that would always have been seen as 'legitimate'. I'm sure the Germans could have forced them out of the wheels and made life a lot harder, especially if they'd had a bit of help but most of the countries in the group had someone up front.

    It was great team riding by the Belgians with the only thing missing being someone to finish it off for them, Boonen was never going to win the sprint in that company.
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,150
    Pross wrote:
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    Also, on the Belgian tactics in the chasing group - namely putting themselves right towards the front of the group to disrupt, rather than just following. My understanding was always that though what they did was allowed by the letter of the law, it really wasn't the done thing at all.

    I wonder if this is the kind of thing riders talk about when there's "less respect" and "we need a patron".

    I think if they had been riding to the front and putting the brakes on it would have been a bit questionable but all they were doing was following the front rider through and then pulling off with them rather than taking a turn or chasing after anyone who tried to nip off the front. I'm pretty sure that would always have been seen as 'legitimate'. I'm sure the Germans could have forced them out of the wheels and made life a lot harder, especially if they'd had a bit of help but most of the countries in the group had someone up front.

    It was great team riding by the Belgians with the only thing missing being someone to finish it off for them, Boonen was never going to win the sprint in that company.

    I think Debusschere was doing a bit more than that - wasn't it when Degenkolb found himself riding off the front of the group because his wheel hadn't been followed that he got really annoyed?
  • dish_dash
    dish_dash Posts: 5,647
    Belgians totally within their rights to disrupt the German chase and they did it with aplomb. IMHO it was the best part of the race...
  • dish_dash
    dish_dash Posts: 5,647
    Desert
    121118_UCIDOHA16_men_elite_road-9.jpg

    Boonen calls it...
    122426_622254105.jpg

    123722_622230606.jpg

    My man... shame EBH let him down...
    132431_UCIDOHA16_men_elite_road-11.jpg

    Poor Boonen
    155857_621979248.jpg

    Top of the world...
    160655_UCIDOHA16_men_elite_road-26.jpg
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    KingstonGraham wrote:

    I think Debusschere was doing a bit more than that - wasn't it when Degenkolb found himself riding off the front of the group because his wheel hadn't been followed that he got really annoyed?

    That's the kind of thing I'm referring to.

    I just note it as an indication to me that peloton standards are changing.
    _
  • jscl
    jscl Posts: 1,015
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    KingstonGraham wrote:

    I think Debusschere was doing a bit more than that - wasn't it when Degenkolb found himself riding off the front of the group because his wheel hadn't been followed that he got really annoyed?

    That's the kind of thing I'm referring to.

    I just note it as an indication to me that peloton standards are changing.

    Riding is becoming very negative. You see it a lot.
    Follow me on Twitter - http://twitter.com/scalesjason - All posts are strictly my personal view.
  • dinyull
    dinyull Posts: 2,979
    Has anything been said about the amount of punctures reported at the time of the echelons first forming? Seems like Rowe, Thomas and now Renshaw all suffered about the same time afaik.
  • dish_dash
    dish_dash Posts: 5,647
    Dinyull wrote:
    Has anything been said about the amount of punctures reported at the time of the echelons first forming? Seems like Rowe, Thomas and now Renshaw all suffered about the same time afaik.

    Didn't the winds kick up a bit of a sand storm alongside the echelons... I think that all the grit on the road caused all those punctures... Pez photo from around that time...

    worlds16menrr-13desertstorm.jpg

    Though on current form we aren't supposed to believe any excuse that Sky give. Good thing no one asked Dave what happened... :roll: :wink:
  • FocusZing
    FocusZing Posts: 4,373
    Nice selection of shots dish_dash.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    Dinyull wrote:
    Has anything been said about the amount of punctures reported at the time of the echelons first forming? Seems like Rowe, Thomas and now Renshaw all suffered about the same time afaik.

    Happens a lot anyway during echelons - being made to ride in the gutter will do that. Doubly so when it's in the desert...
    _

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