Olympic cycling events

[Mulger bill]

Fabs. WTH????

[gassyndrome]

Big finish by the old fella!

[foo on patrol]

Never underestimate the tenacity and will power of us old fellas'

A deserved win and runner up for a well ridden race!

Foo

[HAKS]

It's not pretty, but we'll see how fast it is soon enough.

Forgive my ignorance, who's in the commentary box with Phil?

Twas Scott McGrory. Not completely sold on him, he made some pretty wacky comments which i wouldn't have expected to come from a past cyclist.

at GB building a custom bike for Cav, Wiggo and Froome in the hope it would get them gold. Custom don't mean much when you are 1min behind

[snark]

Forgive my ignorance, who's in the commentary box with Phil?

Scott McGrory.

[briztoon]

Well that was a stuff up by the Aussies (and Germany, not so team GB as they played their card, but just didn't have the numbers to pull it off). I didn't agree with the team selection, particularly Cadel being there.

There should have been two different, but clear tactics which dictated team selection. One team up with GB and Germany to get the sprinters to the line and let them sort it out. Or two, try and break team GB and put Gerrans and Goss in a breakaway group. Unlike Cav, Goss can get over small hills with the better all round riders.

No good having the "strongest ever" Aussie road race team, if your best shot at a medal isn't there at the end.

I know it's easy to criticise in hind sight, but Goss should have been in the medal hunt and he wasn't.

[find_bruce]

Actually Briztoon there were plenty of us armchair experts criticising with foresight.

Didn't see or hear from Evans or Gerrans & still cannot see what plan would have used their current form.

Forgive me if I don't get excited about a win by an unrepentant drug cheat.

Really sad about Cancellara & I hope he is ok for the TT.

Still there was a bright spot from the race - we get to laugh at Cavendish whine, like the prat he is, about how other countries didn't help drag him to the line.

[familyguy]

Still there was a bright spot from the race - we get to laugh at Cavendish whine, like the prat he is, about how other countries didn't help drag him to the line.

Wait...so Cav is sore that the other teams did what Sky just did for three weeks?

Jim

[LG]

Has Uran never been in a 1 up sprint before? Pretty basic error to let Vino get the jump. Hopefully he's learnt and rides on a barrier next time.

[waramatt]

Cav is a whingeing Pom - pretty good effort, since he's a Manxman, and the Isle of Man is not, under British law, considered to be part of the United Kingdom...

I'm no cycling expert, but it seemed to me that the Pom tactics of staying at the head of the peloton and keeping the pace steady so Cav didn't get dropped on the hills simply backfired on them and the breakaways put too big a gap on Team GB.

That's cycling.

[find_bruce]

Cav is a whingeing Pom - pretty good effort, since he's a Manxman, and the Isle of Man is not, under British law, considered to be part of the United Kingdom...

I'm no cycling expert, but it seemed to me that the Pom tactics of staying at the head of the peloton and keeping the pace steady so Cav didn't get dropped on the hills simply backfired on them and the breakaways put too big a gap on Team GB.

That's cycling.

Interesting theory, but I seem to recall Cavendish was riding for Great Britain, not the British Crown Dependency of the Isle of Mann

[Alex Simmons/RST]

Pretty basic error to let Vino get the jump.

I suppose that depends on how much Vino paid for it.

[grasshopper]

Well I enjoyed it, except for Vino getting it. Would not have guessed it would draw such crowds. I guess Wiggo and The Times campaign helped, compared with the Hun and co.

[stickgc]

Laughed when I read this quote from Horner;

"At one point when my crank arm broke off, I changed my bike and chased back on, I'm doing 80k's an hour at the bottom of the circuit and there's a car on my left and a car on my right, and I'm getting ready to shoot the middle, and the two cars on the right pull over and stop, and I got just about enough room for me to get through ... and the mechanic opens the door on the road side, not on the grass side but on the road side! I was literally bike-going-sideways locked up and I missed the door by a few inches."

Sounds like fun!

[brentono]

"Who Dares Wins"
Congratulations to the medal winners in the Olympic Road Race.
Great showing of 6th for Australia's Stuart O'Grady.


Worst luck of the day, Fabian Cancellara robbed of a chance at Olympic time trial champion

[HAKS]

Worst luck of the day, Fabian Cancellara robbed of a chance at Olympic time trial champion

He's not out yet. No broken bones so giving it a few days. Hopefully he can still ride.

[brentono]

Worst luck of the day, Fabian Cancellara robbed of a chance at Olympic time trial champion

He's not out yet. No broken bones so giving it a few days. Hopefully he can still ride.

Swissteam announces that Cancellara has left hospital.
No fracture, shoulder bruising with bleeding into muscles.
TT participating pending

[brentono]

Culmination of a bad month, Cadel out of TT (virus infection continues)

[find_bruce]

Culmination of a bad month, Cadel out of TT (virus infection continues)

But it's ok - any member of the road team can step in. Surely with enough jingoistic spirit, O'Grady, Gerrans or Goss could learn to TT

[brentono]

But it's ok - any member of the road team can step in. Surely with enough jongoistic spirit, O'Grady, Gerrans or Goss could learn top TT

You could be right, no tactics required, just sit down and pedal as hard as you can.

[rockviewau]

Pretty basic error to let Vino get the jump.

I suppose that depends on how much Vino paid for it.

I did wonder about this.... Uran looked at Vino twice on the right, then a long look left, Vino never once looked like he was going left IMO. Im sure Uran played the respect the old man card and let him go....

[sogood]

Culmination of a bad month, Cadel out of TT (virus infection continues)

What an unfortunately few weeks for Cadel. But seriously, was it "stomach bug", virus infection or sinus trouble? All have been excused at different times during the last 3 weeks. I don't think he want's any one to know the real reason or for a lack of reason, and I don't blame him for wanting to keep some secrets. Just don't like to hear a slew of disconnected reasons being fed to the media and then rebroadcasted to the fan base.

[toolonglegs]

Culmination of a bad month, Cadel out of TT (virus infection continues)

What an unfortunately few weeks for Cadel. But seriously, was it "stomach bug", virus infection or sinus trouble? All have been excused at different times during the last 3 weeks. I don't think he want's any one to know the real reason or for a lack of reason, and I don't blame him for wanting to keep some secrets. Just don't like to hear a slew of disconnected reasons being fed to the media and then rebroadcasted to the fan base.

New child in the family... can play hell with the immune system ... plus a new child in the family can play hell with everything else too.

[sogood]

New child in the family... can play hell with the immune system ... plus a new child in the family can play hell with everything else too.

Speaking from personal experiences?

Actually, a child will not so much affect parents' immunity but introduce "bug" back into the family when they come into contact with kiddo social groups.

[The_Eggman]

Well that was a stuff up by the Aussies (and Germany, not so team GB as they played their card, but just didn't have the numbers to pull it off). I didn't agree with the team selection, particularly Cadel being there.

There should have been two different, but clear tactics which dictated team selection. One team up with GB and Germany to get the sprinters to the line and let them sort it out. Or two, try and break team GB and put Gerrans and Goss in a breakaway group. Unlike Cav, Goss can get over small hills with the better all round riders.

No good having the "strongest ever" Aussie road race team, if your best shot at a medal isn't there at the end.

I know it's easy to criticise in hind sight, but Goss should have been in the medal hunt and he wasn't.

Goss is a better climber than Cav. Not sure he's strong enough to go with Canc, Vino, Chavanel, Nibali, Gilbert, LLS, Gessink, et al. And no-one is going to be prepared to work with a bloke like Goss there in a break. You tow him to the finish and he blows you away in the last 300m.

The Aussie tactics were fine, up until we missed the break with Canc et al. We needed to have Gerro in that bunch. Once that ship had sailed though, I doubt even they had pitched in whether they'd have caught the break - 30 guys the calibre of Canc, Chavanel, Nibali, Gilbert, LLS, Gessink, Menchov, Vino ain't coming back easy - this isn't 4 journeymen looking to get some TV time in a 3 week grand tour. And O'Grady has a reasonable sprint pedigree, good tactical nouse and has won classics before. Wasn't a bad pony to back.

Shame Cadel hasn't come up for the ITT. Would have been great to have Durbo riding