topcat
Reged: 12/10/2007
Posts: 52
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i cant beleve all the GB team pulled out of the road race due to the weather! i dont blame the riders but i think the coaches have let the riders down. they knew what the weather would be like and should of taken this into account when preparing and spent more time aclimatising the riders. i bet more time and thought has been put into those riding the tack events as we have a good chance of winning medals there!
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electroshock
Reged: 26/09/2007
Posts: 64
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Seems typical of them to me. I'm glad that track cycling is starting to get coverage but cant help but think the whole british cycling thing is more political than anything else or perhaps just a kinda secret society type thing. Especially when you consider a certain Dr Hutch has not been invited to ride especially with the amazing form he has at the moment.
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EdwardPickering
Reged: 12/06/2006
Posts: 14
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I was at the road race, and Bellis and Swift did excellent rides, in my opinion. Bellis pulled out early, but he got into a break with Jens Voigt and Carlos Sastre - not shabby for a 19-year-old.
Swift lasted until the final lap, which is pretty impressive. What wasn't clear from the tv pictures was how much the pace gradually ratcheted up over the course of the race. I couldn't believe how fast they came through in the last few laps. Swift hung in there, even after the Spanish team really cranked it up. And he's only 20.
Yes our riders suffered in the heat, but so did everybody. I mentioned this in my story at http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/News_Eyewitness_mens_road_race_article_265286.html, but I've never seen pro riders looking so tired on a finish line. Not at Alpe d'Huez in the Tour de France, not anywhere.
I don't think BC could have done much more, given the riders we had available. Swift and Bellis were there for the experience, so mission successful as far as they were concerned. If anything, they exceeded expectations. As for Hammond and Cummings, they were just two of many top-level pros who pulled out. Given the hilliness, and the fact that yesterday was far more humid than any day in the previous weekm, I'm not sure spending an extra few days acclimatising would have made any difference.
Anyway, it doesn't matter, because Nicole's going to win today, isn't she?
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