Olympic RR **spoilers**

[tigger]

One thing yesterday clearly showed is that racing without radios is the way to go. Forcing riders to think on the hoof and make it up as they go along makes for much more exciting racing.

Yeah me too - also what the OP said earlier - smaller teams too. It was an exciting last hour despite the result.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Greipel says that the biggest problem was that the number of spectators everywhere on the course meant there was nowhere to pee...

 

[zizou]

One thing yesterday clearly showed is that racing without radios is the way to go. Forcing riders to think on the hoof and make it up as they go along makes for much more exciting racing.

It makes for different racing, not necessarily more exciting IMO - yesterday it meant alot of the riders in contention stuck with plan A and when that wasnt working out they didnt have the information to try something else, they just stuck with letting GB close things down to then try to capitalise on this when it came back together. One day races like this are much harder to control anyway and over the last few years i've never thought any of the monuments would have been improved and made more exciting if only race radios had been banned.

 

[Pedrosanchezo]

One thing yesterday clearly showed is that racing without radios is the way to go. Forcing riders to think on the hoof and make it up as they go along makes for much more exciting racing.

Certainly more exciting to watch. The TDF was pretty predictable and boring because team SKY dictated the pace and controlled the peloton. With smaller teams, and possibly no race radios, the race will likely be won by the form riders and those who have woken up feeling up for it that day.
The TDF for example was won by the best team. They were unstoppable in their numbers and collective strength.

I too feel a bit sorry for Cancelarra. He was looking very strong and will be a big miss should he miss Wednesdays TT. Wiggins should bag the gold. Fingers crossed.

 

[zizou]

Certainly more exciting to watch. The TDF was pretty predictable and boring because team SKY dictated the pace and controlled the peloton. With smaller teams, and possibly no race radios, the race will likely be won by the form riders and those who have woken up feeling up for it that day.
The TDF for example was won by the best team. They were unstoppable in their numbers and collective strength.

The last month or so showed that Wiggins, Sagan, Cavendish, Cancellara, Greipel, LL Sanchez and co are much more in form than Vino. Then there are a whole load of other riders like Chavanel, Boonen, Hesjedal (etc) above him too so he is a fair way away from being the fastest or strongest individual rider, even on the day. He won because he made the right tactical choices at the right time - i dont want that to sound like a criticism of him, it is meant to be praise. That is what makes cycling so interesting to watch - the "best" athletes / riders, even when they are at the absolute peak of their form, dont always win...cant say that about many other sports.

 

[Pedrosanchezo]

The last month or so showed that Wiggins, Sagan, Cavendish, Cancellara, Greipel, LL Sanchez and co are much more in form than Vino. Then there are a whole load of other riders like Chavanel, Boonen, Hesjedal (etc) above him too so he is a fair way away from being the fastest or strongest individual rider, even on the day. He won because he made the right tactical choices at the right time - i dont want that to sound like a criticism of him, it is meant to be praise. That is what makes cycling so interesting to watch - the "best" athletes / riders, even when they are at the absolute peak of their form, dont always win...cant say that about many other sports.

I agree but on one day anything can happen. Consistency means much less compared to a complete tour. Any of these pro's could, in theory, potentially win a race day. They are all capable but i agree the favourites are just that for a reason. I was surprised Sagan didn't go with the breakaway as he done so many times in 2012, much to his success. I also expected Boonen to try something similar to Paris Roubaix but i understand he had several bike problems causing him to lose the front riders.
Riders like Hesjedal could have planned to make a break as they are more than capable to start something but he even confessed after the race that he was in fact waiting for team GB to close the gap! It is becoming a bit to much like chess if your tactics depend greatly on another teams tactics.
Full credit to Vinokurov for the effort (and tactics) he put in. Like or dislike the man, he put in one hell of a ride to win that race.

 

[srw]

the pictures were fine. The lack of information was poor. The commentary was dire. And the commentary was a BBC thing through and through. I dare you to watch the Jill Douglas bit at the end without cringing. Vino couldn't disguise his contempt.

The pictures were lousy - one bike at the front and one at the back, and a helicopter that couldn't see through the trees. The lack of information was the fault of the picture supplier. In the context the commentary (Porter and Boardman) was, as the Guardian said, heroic.

But then I was watching the uninterrupted race on Virgin Channel 576, and didn't see any of the generalist stuff - which is always lousy.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

Apparently the lack of information was down to spectators daring to use their mobile phones http://t.co/L0xYGoc1


__________________________________________________________________________________
Sent partially submerged beneath a cat.

 

[VamP]

I wonder to what extent the result was shaped by the number of Astana riders in the break (4). Kreuziger certainly said that he felt strong enough to chase at the end, but that he would have felt stupid to chase Vino.

 

[BSRU]

The pictures were lousy - one bike at the front and one at the back, and a helicopter that couldn't see through the trees. The lack of information was the fault of the picture supplier. In the context the commentary (Porter and Boardman) was, as the Guardian said, heroic.

But then I was watching the uninterrupted race on Virgin Channel 576, and didn't see any of the generalist stuff - which is always lousy.

I do not understand the problem described, GPS is a satellite system that transmits to Earth, with the required receiver you can receive this signal, it does not matter how many GPS receivers there are it does not affect the GPS signal. The GPS network is a US owned and has nothing to do with the phone networks.

 

[srw]

I suspect that the system relies on mobile phone technology to send a message with location information from the riders and the motorbikes to a central control centre. I know that car "black boxes" are beginning to use the same technology, and it's what you need to get "live" GPS positioning online.

 

[Noodley]

It all sounds a lot of bollox to me. They couldn't even get the number of times they did the box hill loop correct on the graphic! Or what number loop they were on. If only Dave Millar was in the break, he woulda kept everyone up to date by text.

 

[Mr Celine]

More on the technical excuses in The Register.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

More on the technical excuses in The Register.

Yup, German owned o2 did it to give the Germans an advantage

 

[ColinJ]

Yup, German owned o2 did it to give the Germans an advantage

Yes, they failed using a lot less effort than they might otherwise have had to put in!