# 2014 World Championships



## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

Begin with women's team time trial, Sunday 21 Sept at 4am US east coast time 10:00 CET. 

TV / internet info:
2014 UCI Road World Championships | Cycling Videos and News | Universal Sports

Race info:
2014 UCI Road World Championships Live Video, Results, Photos, TV, Course

... the triple T is one of my favorite events. They run it with trade teams instead of national teams, which is odd but still it'll be cool to watch these teams going amazingly fast in perfect synchronization.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

Rabobank women recon the TTT course:


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## crowaan (Aug 13, 2013)

OGE to win men's TTT and Specialized-Lululemon to win the women's.

Simon Gerrans to win the men's road race and Marianna Vos to win the women's.


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## OnTheRivet (Sep 3, 2004)

I'm going with the darkhorse BMC team for the mens TTT and Boels-Dolman for the women. Martin and Evie Stevens for the TT. Van Avermaet and Vos for the Road Race


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## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

Who is the woman doing commentary with Phil Liggett on the UCI channel at the TTT? She seems very knowledgeable.


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

Mike T. said:


> Who is the woman doing commentary with Phil Liggett on the UCI channel at the TTT? She seems very knowledgeable.


I'm not sure, but she's always on the commentary team for all the races UCIChannel shows.


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## crowaan (Aug 13, 2013)

Initially surprised by BMC taking the win but not as surprised after looking at their line up. They got lost in all the hype around the rematch between OGE and OPQS.

But those time gaps?


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

shame about Vos and the big crash


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

Mike T. said:


> Who is the woman doing commentary with Phil Liggett on the UCI channel at the TTT? She seems very knowledgeable.





Marc said:


> I'm not sure, but she's always on the commentary team for all the races UCIChannel shows.


Jose Been


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## Rich Gibson (Jul 26, 2013)

Creakyknees said:


> shame about Vos and the big crash


That was positively ugly. Was there any injury to the rider lying in the center of the road?

Rich


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

Rich Gibson said:


> That was positively ugly. Was there any injury to the rider lying in the center of the road?
> 
> Rich


Broken pelvis.

Vos was lucky to overcook it and get dropped when she did


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## crowaan (Aug 13, 2013)

An injured Vos would probably still be stronger than everyone else.

Men's TT on Wednesday, who've you got? I think Martin first, Wiggins second, and Dumoulin third without Cancellara competing.

Shameless plug: I wrote about it in my blog (link below)


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## evs (Feb 18, 2004)

Which rider in the crash broke her pelvis? What position was she in? That was a bad crash. Who was in the lead that rode in to the barriers? Looked like the second in line took a bad fall.


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

evs said:


> Which rider in the crash broke her pelvis? What position was she in? That was a bad crash. Who was in the lead that rode in to the barriers? Looked like the second in line took a bad fall.


It was van der Breggen who broke her pelvis. Annemiek van Vleuten was leading the line at the time.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

Good to see 2 American kids in the top 5 for the Junior ITT. Both are alumni of the Garmin dev team, run/ coached by a friend of mine down here in Tejas. 

velonews.competitor.com/2014/09/news/road/results-2014-mens-junior-world-time-trial-championships_346932


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

Is this much rain deluge-ing typical for Spain ever? Maybe I'm just used to seeing a dry parched Spain in Vuelta.


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## 4Crawler (Jul 13, 2011)

That was quite a crash. Was able to catch that on the UCI YouTube channel. 

But today, it says "Not Available in Your Country" on the live feed. I've tried both US and UK IP addresses but the same block. Anyone know where to find out what countries are not blocked?


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

4Crawler said:


> That was quite a crash. Was able to catch that on the UCI YouTube channel.
> 
> But today, it says "Not Available in Your Country" on the live feed. I've tried both US and UK IP addresses but the same block. Anyone know where to find out what countries are not blocked?


It varies depending on the country's (exclusive) broadcaster schedule.

For example UK had UCIChannel coverage up until today. Whereas today BBC is covering World's so you can (only) get BBC streaming in the UK

Like so: Road World Cycling Championships - BBC Sport


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## evs (Feb 18, 2004)

Was Van der Breggen the second in line at the time of the crash? Just wondering which rider in the video is who?


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## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

I think 1. Martin. 2. Cancellara 3. Wiggins.
Wiggins will pay for lack of road racing, and (relative) lack of form.
Martin has been peaking. Cancellara is strong too, he will surprise some - but he may be aiming for the road race.


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## JSR (Feb 27, 2006)

55x11 said:


> Cancellara is strong too, he will surprise some - but he may be aiming for the road race.


It would be HUGE surprise. He's giving the ITT a pass this year to focus on the road race.


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## love4himies (Jun 12, 2012)

55x11 said:


> I think 1. Martin. 2. Cancellara 3. Wiggins.
> Wiggins will pay for lack of road racing, and (relative) lack of form.
> Martin has been peaking. Cancellara is strong too, he will surprise some - but he may be aiming for the road race.


Well, Wiggins form was spot on today. He did what he came out to do and that was to get another gold medal. Congrats Wiggins.


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## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

love4himies said:


> Well, Wiggins form was spot on today. He did what he came out to do and that was to get another gold medal. Congrats Wiggins.


Just a superb ride. Now for the hour record next year.

I loved his comment -

Interviewer - "What was on your mind when you got out of bed this morning?"
Sir Wiggo - "Well, I knew I wanted a wee."

Typical Wiggo.

Hey it could have been a lot worse!


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## love4himies (Jun 12, 2012)

Mike T. said:


> Just a superb ride. Now for the hour record next year.
> 
> I loved his comment -
> 
> ...


I laughed at that. I think he would have preferred not to have given an interview and for a while I didn't think there was going to be one.


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## burgrat (Nov 18, 2005)

Great ride by Wiggins. So impressive to beat Martin who is a machine in the TT. Certainly surprised a lot of people and shut up the nay-sayers. Wiggo's palmares are incredible. I think he would destroy the hour record with his form, track background, and determination. I hope he attempts it.


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## jmorgan (Apr 13, 2012)

burgrat said:


> Great ride by Wiggins. So impressive to beat Martin who is a machine in the TT. Certainly surprised a lot of people and shut up the nay-sayers. Wiggo's palmares are incredible. I think he would destroy the hour record with his form, track background, and determination. I hope he attempts it.





> @inCycleTV: Cycling News: Wiggins to target Hour Record in 2015 - "I'll only do it once" says former Tour winner http://t.co/vEptaPYd1h


He just averaged 50km/h, he should have no problem destroying the record.


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## deviousalex (Aug 18, 2010)

55x11 said:


> I think 1. Martin. 2. Cancellara 3. Wiggins.
> Wiggins will pay for lack of road racing, and (relative) lack of form.
> Martin has been peaking. Cancellara is strong too, he will surprise some - but he may be aiming for the road race.


Seeing how Cancellara isn't even competing in the ITT 2nd place would be quite an accomplishment.

I'm actually really surprised that Cancellara is throwing everything into the RR this year. From looking at the course it seems like this is going to benefit the strong teams rather than single riders. Cancellara realistically doesn't have any team mates.


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## upstateSC-rider (Aug 21, 2004)

Think I'm more impressed with Rohan Dennis getting 5th than Wiggo winning.
Congrats to both.


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## star69 (Apr 4, 2014)

deviousalex said:


> I'm actually really surprised that Cancellara is throwing everything into the RR this year.


He hasn't been into the TT so much for a few years now. Killing yourself to get a third (at best) when you been a world champ hardly seems motivating.


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## BikeLayne (Apr 4, 2014)

Congratulations to Sir Wiggins. A great champion.


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## deviousalex (Aug 18, 2010)

It would be awesome if Wiggo could get a Roubaix or Flanders win next year.


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## evs (Feb 18, 2004)

Yeah, he did really well in the last Roubaix. Should be interesting now that he is targeting it as one of his last road races.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

deviousalex said:


> Seeing how Cancellara isn't even competing in the ITT 2nd place would be quite an accomplishment.
> 
> I'm actually really surprised that Cancellara is throwing everything into the RR this year. From looking at the course it seems like this is going to benefit the strong teams rather than single riders. Cancellara realistically doesn't have any team mates.


He can attack from range from a dwindled bunch, pretty damn effectively I'd say. All he has to do is follow the group and hope the wrong break doesn't get away without him.

Of course is form is a total questionmark.


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## crowaan (Aug 13, 2013)

If the course is too hard for the sprinters but not too hard, Cancellara has a good shot. He has a better sprint than all the climbers, so if it came down to a sprint from a select group he has a chance. Also is very good at choosing the right time to attack so he has a number of options for winning. Plus, he road for Trek so he does fine without a strong team.

Sagan is going to attack from too far out and ruin his chance.


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## deviousalex (Aug 18, 2010)

Creakyknees said:


> He can attack from range from a dwindled bunch, pretty damn effectively I'd say. All he has to do is follow the group and hope the wrong break doesn't get away without him.
> 
> Of course is form is a total questionmark.


With a downhill finish there are a lot of team tactics that can be played there. If you have Gerrans and Mathews in the final selection I'd be very shocked if neither won for example.


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

Well that wreck in the women's RR managed to catch virtually all the pre-race favorites.


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## love4himies (Jun 12, 2012)

Marc said:


> Well that wreck in the women's RR managed to catch virtually all the pre-race favorites.


It was brutal, our Canadian Karol-Ann Canuel was taken away by ambulance. I don't see any more Canadians left in the race, including Lex Albrecht, who I believe is a member of this forum.


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

love4himies said:


> It was brutal, our Canadian Karol-Ann Canuel was taken away by ambulance. I don't see any more Canadians left in the race, including Lex Albrecht, who I believe is a member of this forum.


Been a rough day...and now there's yet again a massive storm cloud moving in.


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## love4himies (Jun 12, 2012)

It's now raining. Crap.


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

Damn that was close at the end


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## love4himies (Jun 12, 2012)

It sure was. Still not sure why the lead group waited for the sprinters to catch up. And it seems like Vos lead out Ferrand-Prevot to allow her to take the win. Any ideas why?


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

love4himies said:


> It sure was. Still not sure why the lead group waited for the sprinters to catch up. And it seems like Vos lead out Ferrand-Prevot to allow her to take the win. Any ideas why?


If I had to hazard a guess...they're both Rabobank'ers might be part of it.

Was funny hearing Armitstead saying to the interviewer that "the race was too easy", and everyone was happy to have it be a sprint.


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## dnice (Jul 12, 2012)

first off--glad to hear mara abbott is ok. that looked truly awful...

i credit ferrand-prevot for finding vos's wheel in the sprint--that was some sharp bike handling and very savvy, but i don't think vos was leading her out intentionally. the leading foursome had a passenger, but i would think it would have been better to give borghini a free ride and stay ahead of the chase, than to get caught. we have seen in the men's races where a cancellara or cadel evans in a similar situation 'bossed' the group and made sure they all stayed away, but i didn't see any stern admonitions from vos, johannson or armitstead in this group. if nothing else, it's a tactic worth trying, no?

saw shelley olds criticism of evelyn stevens attack, and i would guess it was probably just poor communication on their part. and braunner came within inches of winning triple gold medals. unreal...


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## Rich Gibson (Jul 26, 2013)

love4himies said:


> It sure was. Still not sure why the lead group waited for the sprinters to catch up. And it seems like Vos lead out Ferrand-Prevot to allow her to take the win. Any ideas why?


They didn't intentionally wait for the chase group. They were thinking tactically and not paying attention. Gogulski gave a very good explanation.

Rich


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## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

I too don't get what the four were waiting. Did they really think they could still outsprint the rest? Did they have a teammate behind? Someone should have made a move. In fact, in men's racing (I am almost sorry to say this, but it's true) you would never see this, or at least I never saw this - the 4 riders broke away, with great difficulty after many attempts if I may say so, they had fantastic riders in the break, representing major countries (UK, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden), and they seem to work together Ok - it was mistake to attack long on descents, but still, they got away. And then in the final 1K, they just sat up. They never made a move. They just sat there, barely pedaling, looking back and waiting to be caught. What was the point?!

Maybe I am missing something, but each and every one of those riders had a 75% of medaling if they four stayed away, and 25% of becoming world champion. But once they were caught, their chances dropped dramatically. What kind of logic leads to - let's all sit up and wait for us to be caught?

I am confident they would have stayed away if they kept riding, and could have played it out between the four of them.


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## Rich Gibson (Jul 26, 2013)

55x11 said:


> I too don't get what the four were waiting. Did they really think they could still outsprint the rest? Did they have a teammate behind? Someone should have made a move. In fact, in men's racing (I am almost sorry to say this, but it's true) you would never see this, or at least I never saw this -


Not true. Sagan lost at least two medals in the TDF this way. He didn't want to take off because a rider on his wheel might hang on and sprint out around him in the last few yards. He kept waiting for the other riders to either help or lead...no one did and that was his undoing. Same thing today. It happens about as often as with the women. I've seen it at least four or five times this season with the guys.

For what it's worth it seemed to me that Marianne was not in condition this time. She spent most of her time the last five kms looking back at everyone else. I commented aloud at 2km she was toast.

Rich


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## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

IMO thay all thought that whoever lead out the sprint was going to get 4th and no-one wanted to lead out a gold medallist. They were between a rock and a hard place. The hard place was the group that caught them.

It was a poor overall race. No-one had the [email protected] to truly attack and make a real race out of it. They were all afraid of losing. And guess what? Armistead wanted to win so bad and because of that she was too afraid to put any effort out.


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

55x11 said:


> I too don't get what the four were waiting. Did they really think they could still outsprint the rest? Did they have a teammate behind? Someone should have made a move. *In fact, in men's racing (I am almost sorry to say this, but it's true) you would never see this,* or at least I never saw this - the 4 riders broke away, with great difficulty after many attempts if I may say so, they had fantastic riders in the break, representing major countries (UK, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden), and they seem to work together Ok - it was mistake to attack long on descents, but still, they got away. And then in the final 1K, they just sat up. They never made a move. They just sat there, barely pedaling, looking back and waiting to be caught. What was the point?!
> 
> Maybe I am missing something, but each and every one of those riders had a 75% of medaling if they four stayed away, and 25% of becoming world champion. But once they were caught, their chances dropped dramatically. What kind of logic leads to - let's all sit up and wait for us to be caught?
> 
> I am confident they would have stayed away if they kept riding, and could have played it out between the four of them.


Yea you do. Happened at least twice that I saw this season. Hell not-racing-in-order-to-win you see each and every "sprinter's stage" in the men's UCI peloton at every race all year long, only difference is that in the men's peloton those races almost never result in a break that stays away. The peloton lets 5 riders go up the road and burn themselves out only to reel them in at 30km.

Should note (and Armitstead did post race) also that Johansson was not working in that break. Vos figured she didn't have it. Armitstead didn't want to drag Johansson to the line when Johansson wasn't working and was waiting for the others to burn out.


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## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

Marc said:


> Jose Been


Thanks Marc. She's good. Here she is -

About me | Tour de José Media


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## dnice (Jul 12, 2012)

Yes! that is how one win's a world championship. Poland and kiwatkowski attacking and committing, then the brilliant final meters with the celebration as the field chased in futile.


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## Cinelli 82220 (Dec 2, 2010)

dnice said:


> Yes! that is how one win's a world championship.


Merckxian!

Cool as can be as he coasted across the line. Freewheeling for the last several metres and looking back at the losers! Wow. I thought no way but he timed it perfectly.

Earlier I thought the Poles were nuts because they were dragging the peloton for no apparent reason. Weird strategy or maybe no strategy? Worked in the end though so who knows what they were thinking.


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## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

THAT was a bike race. The men really put on a show and were not afraid to race. The woman should hang their collective heads in shame and they only have to look back at a vid of their race and compare it to the men's race to see why women's racing gets more recognition than it deserves.


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## love4himies (Jun 12, 2012)

Mike T. said:


> THAT was a bike race. The men really put on a show and were not afraid to race. The woman should hang their collective heads in shame and they only have to look back at a vid of their race and compare it to the men's race to see why women's racing gets more recognition than it deserves.


Yes. It was a great race. 

Very happy for Poland, they really worked hard the whole race for this win.


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## thechriswebb (Nov 21, 2008)

Mike T. said:


> The woman should hang their collective heads in shame and they only have to look back at a vid of their race and compare it to the men's race to see why women's racing gets more recognition than it deserves.


Based just on this year's World Championship race, I would agree but I think this year was an anomaly. I usually find the women's races to be more exciting than this one was.


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

Mike T. said:


> THAT was a bike race. The men really put on a show and were not afraid to race. The woman should hang their collective heads in shame and they only have to look back at a vid of their race and compare it to the men's race to see why women's racing gets more recognition than it deserves.


For the 2nd or 3rd time in all of the men's Grand Tours all year there was actually an interesting tense race in the men's peloton.

The women's race, of what of the women's gets streamed/shown, was as noted an anomaly.


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## upstateSC-rider (Aug 21, 2004)

Cinelli 82220 said:


> Merckxian!
> 
> Cool as can be as he coasted across the line. Freewheeling for the last several metres and looking back at the losers! Wow. I thought no way but he timed it perfectly.
> 
> *Earlier I thought the Poles were nuts because they were dragging the peloton for no apparent reason. Weird strategy or maybe no strategy? Worked in the end though so who knows what they were thinking*.


Guess when you're strong enough you don't need much a strategy.


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## JSR (Feb 27, 2006)

I only saw the last few Km. Nice win by Kwiatdowski, but what happened to the Americans? Four DNFs after I predicted that TJV couldn't be dropped?

JSR


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## Rashadabd (Sep 17, 2011)

Nice to see Kwiatkowski pull off the win here. He's such a fun guy to watch race. I am looking forward to seeing him in the rainbow jersey next year. I kind of hope that OPQS (Ettix) allows him ease back on the grand tour leadership responsibilities to focus more on races like Ardennes and the Strade Bianchi where is he is brilliant and among the best out there.


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## il sogno (Jul 15, 2002)

He is truly deserving of the rainbow jersey. A rising star.


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## 32and3cross (Feb 28, 2005)

Mike T. said:


> THAT was a bike race. The men really put on a show and were not afraid to race. The woman should hang their collective heads in shame and they only have to look back at a vid of their race and compare it to the men's race to see why women's racing gets more recognition than it deserves.


Utter bullshit. Most of the times their is the more exciting race esp at worlds, but let them have one less than stellar one and out come the misogynists.


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## MMsRepBike (Apr 1, 2014)

I think both men's and women's races were crap.

The men's was good? Not even close. Go watch the last 5km or 3km again.

There's a rider out front, with serious threat of winning and a chase pack behind him. The chase pack is full of allstars that could win the race. Gilbert is giving it 100% and flicks his elbow very strongly. What happens next? Nothing. Bunch of freewheeling wheel-sucking losers behind him. Watch Gerro, what does he do? Nothing. Nobody does. They all just sit on Gilbert's wheel as he dies and wheel-suck their way into losing.

Bunch of losers if you ask me.

And Gerro "wanted to cry crossing the line." Maybe if he would have done something he would have won. The kid deserves the win, and Gilbert is the only one in that front group that gets any of my respect.


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## looigi (Nov 24, 2010)

Nobody contesting the finish got there without having done a lot of wheel sucking throughout the race and without giving it their all at the end, each rider having only so much all to mete out. The end is always a chess game and only one guy gets it right. It's easy to criticize, especially from the comfort of an armchair.


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## MMsRepBike (Apr 1, 2014)

looigi said:


> Nobody contesting the finish got there without having done a lot of wheel sucking throughout the race and without giving it their all at the end, each rider having only so much all to mete out. The end is always a chess game and only one guy gets it right. It's easy to criticize, especially from the comfort of an armchair.


how about you go watch it again?


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## den bakker (Nov 13, 2004)

MMsRepBike said:


> I think both men's and women's races were crap.
> 
> The men's was good? Not even close. Go watch the last 5km or 3km again.
> 
> ...


why would Gerrans give Valverde a long leadout? Why would Valverde give Breschel a long leadout? etc. Yes yes they could all place nice and take equal pulls. Sure that's going to happen. 
I'm sure Gilbert now has an all warm fuzzy feeling having your respect. 
Belgium was the only team with two. Hence how it played out.


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## dnice (Jul 12, 2012)

gerrans is a cyclist; not a racer. big difference. if he thinks it's too risky to take a pull when the man is 5 secs up the road with only 500m to go, then he doesn't deserve gold. i am SO GLAD that the winner was the man who took the risk rather than the one who played it safe.:thumbsup:


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## BacDoc (Aug 1, 2011)

Interesting comments here on the Elite Mens Road Race!

A bunch of wheel sucking losers! Sounds more like the average poster on RBR than the competitors in the World Championships.

Damn! You guys run a tight ship!


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## Dan Gerous (Mar 28, 2005)

Gilbert was indeed the only one to try to bring back Kwiatkowski but, he was working for his teammate that day. Sure, it doesn't make sense to burn yourself to bring back the solo flyer in front only to then get smoked in a sprint but, as Gilbert said criticizing the others, at World's, only the win matters (I guess it's easier to say when you won it in the past).

While I undertsand those who didn't want to work, I tend to agree with Gilbert. Nobody will care about who got 2nd or 3rd a day or two after the race. By not working with Gilbert, Gerrans, Valverde and others decided not to fight for the win... Their loss, they shouldn't complain they didn't win as they all didn't try to win until the end.


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## TricrossRich (Mar 26, 2014)

MMsRepBike said:


> how about you go watch it again?


I think the point that looigi is trying to make is that everyone who made it to the final battle, including Kwiatkowski sucked wheel all day long to get to that point... Team Poland pulled him all day, which is why he had the power to make the jump he did. Its not like Kwiatkowski rode the race alone. Gerro and the other guys in that group were all making calculated decisions, "if I burn the candle at this end to help the group catch the break, will I have enough at the other end of the candle to win the sprint that will ensue?" This is cycling... quite frankly, this is racing in general... even in automotive racing speed comes at the expense of reliability. A few years ago, everyone thought Audi was crazy for taking a diesel race car to LeMans... It didn't produce quite as much power, but the mileage was so much better that they could pit less and win the race. NHRA top-fuel race mechanics re-build a motor every run down the track and run them at the ragged edge... if they still together, they win the race, if they don't, they lose. Its all a chess match..

Its easy to sit here and say Gerro should have gone harder or Valverde should have... but maybe they knew they didn't have the legs 150+ miles with over 10K of climbing will sap you quick. Am I happy that Kwiatkowski won? for sure... he did it like a champ, and he put himself in the pain cave to keep cranking and hold everyone off... that's awesome... but I'm not gonna fault he other cyclists for making a calculated decision that didn't pay off...


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## kbwh (May 28, 2010)

Men's race boring?
I wouldn't say so, but then again I love Milano-Sanremo.

The composition of the chasing group was such that there were two Belgians and theothers were alone. Nobody except Gilbert wanted to tow van Avermaet up to The Flowerboy. Playing chess with lactic acid coming out your ears is not easy.


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## superg (May 9, 2010)

Thanks, I was wondering about who she might be. Her pronunciation is exquisite.


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## troutmd (Sep 7, 2007)

I kind of enjoyed watching the WC this year. Using the relatively same course put me on the edge of my seat for the last lap fireworks when they approached the dam crossing. Then through the short tunnel --- up the last climb --- down a twisting decent seemingly with some wet tarmac lurching somewhere --- then into town with a smattering of the road furniture, with the sprint to the finish. Agree with kbwh and the Milan-San Remo analogy.

Congrats to Kwiatkowski. New stars always prime the pump for the future of cycling.


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