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Still a few days away, and got the ITT first, but already quite excited about the race. Looks to be the best course for a few years now.
So will the likes of Sagan, Cancellara and Gilbert be able to hang on over the tough climbs? They all look to be on form, especially Cancellara. Or will it be one for the GC boys? Nibali, Rodriguez, Valverde maybe? Froome seems to think he's in with a chance, Wiggins in the same team too could make things interesting!
So who's your pick?
Wiggo, innit.
Is Vinokourov coming back for this one?
I seriously hope not! Froome reckons he's leading team GB. Will Wiggo do an Olano?
The [s]Sky[/s] GB tactics are likely to be attritional. Ride at a pace that gradually grinds all the other teams, and their sprinters, in to the autobus.
If they can ditch Sagan, then Froome. If they can't then Sagan.
I can't wait either way - looking forward to TT too. 🙂
should be ace! jonathan edwards is the presenter on the beeb coverage!? i thought he jumped into sandpits
Be tough for team GB to set the pace, it's a long race and they have a smaller squad than some of the other countries. They'll definitely need some help.
Edit: and as for team sky, well Porte and Eddie B will be on other teams and will likely be marked men for team GB.
Double edit: Then there's the Colombians!
I'm for Porte myself.
Froomie will get paced down, so too Wiggo.
Valvi could do it if he makes the break up to Fisole but doubt it.
Or..
TenDamn, I think he's got a really good chance of it, so I'm going..
Porte
TenDamn
Dan Martin would be my guess.
Dan Martin is a good bet, he's definitely targeting that race and seems to be in excellent form (he did a good column about it in Procycling this month.) Doesn't really have a strong team to support him so will need to ride his luck a bit.
Can the Spaniards or Italians get their strong teams sufficiently organised...? Almost a bit disappointed not to see Contador in the Spanish team this year, thought it would have been a good course for him.
they have a smaller squad than some of the other countries
8 man squad for the GB team. Isnt that as large as it gets?
Some randomer, probably from Kazakhstan.
Is it being shown on any free view channels?
I'd imagine Dan will sit in on the GB team for as long as possible, if he's anywhere near his L-B-L form then it should be interesting.
Bert's not racing? Pity as you say.
Love to see Stannard have a dig like he did at MSR
8 man squad for the GB team. Isnt that as large as it gets?
Max is nine, but think it depends on how successful your national riders have been, so less successful nations have fewer, more successful nations have an extra rider.
Don;t ask me how they work it out - I didn't think GB had been doing too badly of late!
uselesshippy - Member
Is it being shown on any free view channels?POSTED 15 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST
It's on the BBC red button.
details here:
http://www.cyclingquotes.com/news/2013_world_championships_qualification/
Spain: 9 riders
Colombia: 9 riders
Italy: 9 riders
Netherlands: 9 riders
Australia: 9 riders
France: 9 riders
Great Britain: 8 riders
Switzerland: 8 riders
Belgium: 7 riders
United States: 7 riders
Czech Republic: 7 riders
Slovenia: 7 riders
Germany: 7 riders
Poland: 6 riders
Slovakia: 6 riders
Morocco: 6 riders
Venezuela: 6 riders
Iran: 6 riders
Ukraine: 6 riders
Austria: 6 riders
Ireland: 4 riders
Portugal: 4 riders
Denmark: 4 riders
Estonia: 3 riders
Lithuania: 3 riders
Costa Rica: 3 riders
Eritrea: 3 riders
Algeria: 3 riders
Brazil: 3 riders
Mexico: 3 riders
Canada: 3 riders
Kazakhstan: 3 riders
Hong Kong: 3 riders
Malaysia: 3 riders
Russia: 3 riders
Sweden: 3 riders
Norway: 3 riders
Croatia: 3 riders
Turkey: 3 riders
Latvia: 3 riders
New Zealand: 3 riders
South Africa: 2 riders
Finland: 1 rider
Luxembourg: 1 rider
Belarus: 1 rider
Tunisia: 1 rider
Argentina: 1 rider
Ecuador: 1 rider
Hungary: 1 rider
Bulgaria: 1 rider
Serbia: 1 rider
Moldova: 1 rider
Romania: 1 rider
Greece: 1 rider
Great Britain: [s]8[/s] 7 riders
Kenya: 1
😉
There are some odd ones in that list. Belgium and Germany with 7 riders and Morocco, Iran, Venezuela with 6?
Its not purely to do with UCI points, but also within the UCI areas, e.g Europe, America, Asia, etc:
"The top-5 American nations qualify:
The 5 first nations of the classification by nation of the UCI America Tour on 15 August 2013 excluding the nations qualifying via the UCI WorldTour classification: the 1st and 2nd nations qualifying can enter 9 riders, with 6 to start (rank 1); the 3rd, 4th and 5th nations can enter 5 riders, with 3 to start (rank 2).”
Colombia has already qualified via the WorldTour, so is omitted from the America Tour nations ranking for this purpose. That gives the United States and Venezuela 6 riders, while Brazil, Mexico and Canada each get 3 spots. "
It's a tough race to call
The GB management must feel the same .... with both Cav and Froome in the team they are leaving thier options open, no ??
The GB management must feel the same .... with both Cav and Froome in the team they are leaving thier options open, no ??
Though Cav is in good form and has been preparing for the Worlds, I can't see him being there at the end. Suspect he'll put in a big shift on the front for as long as he can before letting the other guys take over when the race starts to splinter on the climbs.
People are debating whether Sagan can hold on over the climbs, so Cav surely hasn't got a chance. Just there to work for the team probably until they start the circuits.
Sounds like the team allocations goes through a similar UCI "process" to the one used to determine the ProTour licences!
I'm rather looking forward to it. Not least because I'm flying out to Florence on Thursday 🙂
Pretty flat course though, the hills around Flo' aren't that bumpy, more like the South Downs with a bit more hight in them. Only one climb thats got a bit of sting in it and it isn't that long, Cav could easily cope.
In my heart of hearts I'd like an Italian to win, it would be just perfect however Nibs' is the only one on form but could be too pooped, could be a good course for Chavanel..
Hmmm.. maybe Chavanel..
^^ no hotels left in Flo', I tried to get over there... and mates Appt is full to the brim with his team mates... 😥
Over 3000m of climbing, which makes up nearly 30% of the course apparently. No massive climbs but it will be tough for the guys who don't like hills. Folk who do well in the medium mountain grand tour stages are in with a shout if they can stay with the attacks or get into a break, Sagan, Chavanel etc.
Good article in [url= http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/froome-weve-got-to-get-rid-of-the-sprinters-one-by-one ]cycling news[/url] about a chat with Froome. Be great to see him trying to drop the strong men on the climbs. Sounds like they are steep enough.
Chavanel may be worth a punt!
I think it will go to one of the classics riders. Sagan and Gilbert are too obvious and are going to be marked men. So I’ll go for Kreuziger as an outside bet with Stannard the best placed Brittish rider and Bosan Hargen being the best of the Sky lads.
If I was going to place a big each way bet my money would go on Sagan though, he just rode away from a top class field in Montreal and looked unstoppable.
Jees, it's 272km long! Even if the hills aren't monsters, hitting a 3 mile, 6% climb, 10 times over that distance is definitely going to take its toll.
These needs climbing prowess AND endurance... should be a good one.
It's not going to be easy!
[img] 
[/img]
It's an Ardennes classic, just need 8 degrees and horizontal rain.
when is it ?
Sunday.
Ta.
Ladies ITT on now on [url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/24038887 ]the bbc[/url].
It's today 🙂
Having seen the previous races my money would be on Cancellara. Doesn't look like the steep bits are long enough to drop the bigger guys. And it's going to be a wet one. Excited!
boy its wet
Newly laid tarmac for the whole course too, could be interesting in heavy rain. Thunderstorms forecast too.
very tentative over the cobbles !
that descent looks lethal 🙂
all the teams bar the Italians in tatters
That downhill hairpin looks a bit slippy, yet they mostly still whipped round it.
Cav & Wiggo pulled out now 🙁
Difficult to say without knowing the details of why, but wiggo packing after half the race is a bit, well, meh! isn't it. I get the feeling cav's buried himself in shit conditions for half distance and was always going to get off, but bw doesn't come across as a team player when these things happen. Looks horrendous out there but that's where you're supposed to tough it out as a pro, isn't it?
Three hours and forty minutes and just over halfway! Foul conditions.
Wiggo working hard for Froome went well then !! or has he buried himself all morning ? ive not watched yet as its so usually boring early on in these long races
Wiggo making a habit of being crap in the wet. Although a shocking day tbf. If I had to put money on I'd say Cancellara.
Wiggo has given his all to deliver team mates to the line on many occasions, I think it is well of the mark to suggest he isn't a team player.
Wiggo gone, cav gone roche gone, evans off, cav did the 1st 100k on the front. Wiggo went to the back and was not seen again.
Looks like Dan Martin is out too. Thought he'd be in with a chance. Half the field out. As is most of the American team by the looks of it.
Really hope Cancellara or Sagan do the business. Weather is horrendous , they should have came to East lothian.
It's pretty grim out there. I wouldn't want to be looking at another 60 miles of it.
Away from the telly now, is Sagan still there? Last I heard was he'd dropped out of the lead group due to a bike change.
Froome out.
Froome out ,thats Kenyas chance gone then !
I know the conditions are grim, but it's rather a poor performance by the British Team. It now sounds like Froome is out, leaving them with no chance at all.
Wiggo I can understand, having ridden the time trial, but everyone else should have been up for it.
Mikey74 - have you ridden 270km is a day before? Let alone 270km at race pace in the pissing rain with no prospect of winning?
pretty embarrassing for team GB
Mikey74 - have you ridden 270km is a day before? Let alone 270km at race pace in the pissing rain with no prospect of winning?
What I have, or have not, done is irrelevant. They are professional riders representing their country. They ride in these conditions on a regular basis. If this was a stage in a Grand Tour would they have quit?
If the British team manned-up, they would be in with a shout. As all their top riders have thrown in the towel, they've definitely have no hope.
Edit: For the record, I've ridden 120 miles in the pouring rain on the Dunwich Dynamo, which was at night. I know it's not the same distance but then again I'm no professional.
You would rather they'd all carried on riding round after getting dropped by the bunch, to finish 45th, 79th and 101st? I don't think the Kenyan's chances of winning were materially affected by any of them dropping out (at the point they dropped out). To be honest their chances were always fairly speculative, and clearly either Froomey didn't have the legs or he got caught up by the crashes - it's not clear from what I've seen why he got dropped from the front group. As documented Wiggo isn't good in the rain - he had a bit of a disaster getting dropped whilst Cav was still on the front, I guess his head wasn't in it. Realistically nobody else would expect to still be up there at this point.
Full GB team has quit. Very poor performance by all.
If this was a stage in a Grand Tour would they have quit?
No, but that is exactly the point: this is not a stage in a stage race.
Full GB team has quit. Very poor performance by all.
Cav played a blinder to be fair....
Edit: For the record, I've ridden 120 miles in the pouring rain on the Dunwich Dynamo, which was at night. I know it's not the same distance but then again I'm no professional.
Wow - you've done less than 200km in the rain. FWIW - I've ridden 300km in the pissing rain a couple of times and I don't blame then for dropping out.
Cav played a blinder to be fair.
Only watched the live coverage. What did he do?
"You would rather they'd all carried on riding round after getting dropped by the bunch, to finish 45th, 79th and 101st?"
Yes.
Some one has to don't they. It makes them look like fair weather riders. If the 2nd string riders can be still riding why can't the best ones. They should be the ones still riding if only to show their faces and some respect for the event. Haven't hear that any of the brits have actually crashed.
Having said that it hasn't struck me that any of the Brits had a chance. No big hills for Frome.
I would assume that they have been encouraged to quit. :lol:what do we have at the moment. 2 second div riders at the front.
pmcclure - Member
Only watched the live coverage. What did he do?
Rode at the front for the first 100km. He's a classy former champion.
If the 2nd string riders can be still riding why can't the best ones.
Which 2nd string riders are you referring to?
I'm not sure those complaining about the Brits stopping riding after they got dropped understand the nature of the event. How many other riders who've been dropped do you think are still riding? It's not like we've got a long tradition in this sort of race - who here has only been following road racing recently, and thinks it's always like the race a couple of years ago Cav won?
This
who here has only been following road racing recently, and thinks it's always like the race a couple of years ago Cav won?
made me think of this
Nibali down. Disastrous for the Italians who seemed to have it all going to plan.
Disastrous might be a bit strong given the current head of the field.
I don't think Visconti is up there to take the win though. Presumably Nibali was hoping to jump across at some point. But fair enough, maybe not disastrous. Nibali back in know though.
How unfortunate for Nibali to have a mechanical which needed attention from the team car just at that point.
I think you might be right about Visconti - amazed at not only how quickly that came down, but also that Nibali managed to get back on (and right up to the head of the field) whilst they were doing it.
Something important surely has to happen soon.
This last lap is gonna be bonkers.
Here we go...
(and I posted that just a few seconds before the commentator said it)
Come on.
This is getting boring.
How difficult would It have been to have a Km;s to go icon on the screen. 😕
Still think It's goin to be Cancellara.
Get on with it then...
Sagan..... possibly.