Julien Absalon

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lukesdad

lukesdad

Guest
(Could of put this in mtb but thought some of you might like a heads up on the olympic XC race) IMO the most talented racer on the planet in the last decade, goes for his 3rd straight gold. The 4 time world champion will not have it all his own way though, with Bejing s bronze meddalist Nina Shurter being his main challenger with 2 world cup wins this year. Keep an eye out for Britains Liam Kileen he s been unlucky in the last 2 olympics but could medal if he s at the top of his game.

At 31 this could be JA s last olympics I'd love to see him win it again, the guy is pure class and could really have shaken up the road scene if he d so chosen.
 
dan_bo

dan_bo

How much does it cost to Oldham?
Location
Not fkin Failsworth or fkin Blackpool either
He's scary good. Would be nice to see Liam pull something out of the bag as well- isn't there a chance of a medal in the wimmins' MTB?
 
OP
OP
lukesdad

lukesdad

Guest
Annie Last ? I think she'll find it tough to medal, interestingly all the top riders will be on HTs (goes for the men too) with Annie on the Boardman B 56 its a nice looking piece of kit IMO.
 
OP
OP
lukesdad

lukesdad

Guest
It does indeed, interestingly looks like the field will be split between 26ers and 29ers with JA preffering the 26.
 
VamP

VamP

Banned
Location
Cambs
lukesdad said:
Annie Last ? I think she'll find it tough to medal, interestingly all the top riders will be on HTs (goes for the men too) with Annie on the Boardman B 56 its a nice looking piece of kit IMO.
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Except the winner ;)

Loved the race, obviously being Czech helps ^_^

edited to add winning bike spec - impressive weight for a FS 29er
 
RecordAceFromNew

RecordAceFromNew

Swinging Member
Location
West London
raindog said:
Absalon got stick from alot of his compatriots for pulling out of the race.
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Eh? Didn't he crash / get a puncture?

VamP said:
Except the winner ;)

edited to add winning bike spec - impressive weight for a FS 29er
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Despite sub 10kg he was still carrying around 2kg more than the others, and that did not stop him seemingly the fastest uphill most of the time (not to mention winning the final sprint). Impressive!
 
raindog

raindog

er.....
Location
France
RecordAceFromNew said:
Eh? Didn't he crash / get a puncture?
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He didn't crash, he had to slow and put a foot down somewhere, then got a slow puncture. He stopped to change the wheel, but didn't go out again as he would've finished down the order. He said what's the point in coming in 20th when you're an olympic champion, and the majority of punters commenting on the net said his attitude lacked respect and he should've finished the course whatever.
That's not my opinion by the way - I couldn't give a toss. ^_^
 
VamP

VamP

Banned
Location
Cambs
RecordAceFromNew said:
Eh? Didn't he crash / get a puncture?



Despite sub 10kg he was still carrying around 2kg more than the others, and that did not stop him seemingly the fastest uphill most of the time (not to mention winning the final sprint). Impressive!
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Yeah, he's a big lad too, but it didn't show on the climbs did it? He has sacrificed world cup form this year to be at his absolute best for the Olympics and it has paid off for him.

Absolon did puncture, but could have got it fixed and continued. He said after that there's no point in racing for 10th place. I think that was the focus of the criticisms...
 
GrumpyGregry

GrumpyGregry

Here for rides.
VamP said:
Except the winner ;)

Loved the race, obviously being Czech helps ^_^

edited to add winning bike spec - impressive weight for a FS 29er
Click to expand...
Am I right in think that all three wheel sizes 26", 29-er and 650B were represented on the podium?

Conclusive proof of something, though I've no idea what.
 
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