So it's nearly the end of the season. Riders will be looking forward to a nice next few months spent at home with their families, relaxing and doing things they couldn't do during a full summer of work. There is still one obstacle however: The esteemed World Championships!
The women were up first and at one point it looked like there could be a Canadian eclipse with 4 of their riders showing in the top 5. As soon as the big guns rolled out though. things changed a little bit. Emma Pooley was the big British favourite being the reigning champion but the course was too flat and easy for her meaning it would play into the hands of the stronger riders more. She did however, ride to a Broze medal which shows positive signs for the future. Namely the Olympics Time Trial course which is also as flat as a pancake.
Silver went to Linda Villumsen of New Zealand, only 3 seconds ahead of Pooley. A further 20 seconds ahead though Gold was claimed by Judith Arndt who had been chasing the coveted rainbow jersey since 1997. Her well calculated ride made her the dominant winner and, interestingly, she had done it without the use of a radio. Take from that what you will but she seemed focussed on her goal the entire way through and she certainly got the result she wanted oh so much.
Next was the mens race. Going into it Fabian Cancellara had been the unchallenged Time Trial king with 4 world titles to his name. This season did not go all his own way though. He won time trials in the Tour De Suisse and Tirreno-Adriatico yes, but he had hopelessly lost to heir apparent Tony Martin in the Tour De France and Vuelta á Espana. Couple this Martin's storming form shown from a GC win at Paris-Nice and a Time Trial win at the Daupiné Libre and you could sense a changing in the wind coming.
Sure enough it was Martin who came off the ramp and destroyed the field. He caught and passed acclaimed Time Trialer and last years silver medalist David Millar even before halfway. In the end he won by well over a minute. But who would it be over that was the question...
It was between our very own Bradley Wiggins after posting the best time as he finished, and Sparticus himself Cancellara. Wiggins has been on form all year in Time Trials as well as climbing and as Fabian came round the last corner it was a real nail biter as to whether he would make it to the line before Wiggins' time passed or not. It ended up that it was Great Britain got a second consecutive silver medal and Brad had helped towards a double-dethronment of the Swiss powerhouse.
Martin though, still a young rider, looks set for big things in the coming years. Consider this though: Judith Arndt rides for HTC-Highroad. As does Tony Martin. One of the favourites for the womens road race is Ina Teutenberg of HTC-Highroad and the big favourite for the mens rainbow jersey is Mark Cavendish...you guessed it, of HTC-Highroad. Why then, has no company seen the opportinuty to save this historic and successful team? Who knows how the mind of a businessman works...
Saturday, 24 September 2011
Sunday, 11 September 2011
British epiphany in Spain and Gilbert shows he's human in Canada
When, just 20 months ago, a new team formed from a little known area in cycling terms called Great Britain did nobody expect two of its recruits to be standing on the final podium in a grand tour.
But here we are today. The Vuelta á Espana is one of the most prestigious races in the world and today Bradley Wiggins and Christopher Froome of Team Sky took the 2nd and 3rd places in the final general classification. It was anticipated that Brad would be the team leader and would earn his place in the time trial while having to hang on through the climbing stages. Froome began as the main man to martial Wiggins up the climbs and did a stellar job by setting a very high pace for the last few km's and then letting Brad take over. This would be the formula for the rest of the tour.
Then came the time trial where Wiggins was expected to take the lead after performing better than he had hoped on the early mountain stages; but it was Froome who placed 2nd on the stage behind Tony Martin and took the red jersey. Speculation was rife as to wether he would still ride for Wiggins or not and he ended up sacrificing himself and potentially a win for his leader. It turned out that Brad did not have the legs to stay with the eventual winner Juan Jose Cobo on the gruelling 23% Angrilu climb and unfortunately it appeared as though Chris Froome was stronger and if Team Sky had ridden for him after that oh so impressive time trial, then he could have worn the red jersey into Madrid.
A lot of people are saying that Dave Brailsford made a big mistake to stick with Wiggins as theeir guy for the GC but the fact of the matter is that they could not have known how strong Froome was. While Wiggins is a proven 3 week rider, Froome was a revelation in giving this class of performance and what would Sky have done if his fitness level had dropped off towards the end leaving them with no cards to play. Ultimately the critics have to ask themselves, would you rather have two riders on the podium albeit not on the top step, or have one rider in 4th or even lower?
Look at it from a different perspective...British cycling has reached new heights today. Before Team Sky there were only one or two cyclists at a time (E.g. Robert Millar, Chris Boardman, David Millar, Mark Cavendish) that could do anything on the European road scene. Now, much like the Leopard Trek did for Luxembourg in the Tour de France, we have two riders whose names will be spoken of worldwide. Along with the likes of Ben Swift and Geraint Thomas, these riders have out in world class performances on world wide stages and brought Britain to the fore in professional cycling; all in a time scale that other teams and countries could never dreamed of doing!
Now we can look forward to generations of talent flying the flag for us. Bradley Wiggins, David Millar and Mark Cavendish are the current big names but the likes of Froome, Swift, Thomas, Dowsett will all continue to develop and provide the stars of the future.
______________
In other news, Phillipe Gilbert showed he was human in the second Canadian world tour classic around Montreal as a late breakaway unexpectedly succeded. Gilbert still managed to sprint to 3rd but that by his standards is a big loss. While the Belgian, who regained his place at the top of the world tour rankings the other day with his win in Quebec, had to settle for third it was Movistar's Rui Costa who took his opportunity to sprint to victory ahead of Pierrick Fedrigo of Francaise De Jeux. The question still looms over whether Gilbert thinks he could do anything in the world championships in Copenhagen later this month or if he'd rather concentrate on the final classics of the season.
______________
The Tour of Britain started today with a sprint stage that was a formality with Mark Cavendish easily winning and taking the first leaders jersey. Such was HTC's dominance that leadout man Mark Renshaw held on for 2nd place. Teams had to work together and fight to chase down the breakaway which, with only 6 riders per team, was more difficult than usual. Team Sky, Rabobank and HTC-Highroad all harboured interests in the final sprint though so together they reeled in the two breakaway riders in time but not before all the KOM and intermediate sprint points which go to Russel Hampton of Sigma Sport-Specialized and Pieter Ghyllebert of An Post-Sean Kelly respectively. Lets hope some of the smaller British teams can continue to show their faces during the week to come.
Thanks for reading!
But here we are today. The Vuelta á Espana is one of the most prestigious races in the world and today Bradley Wiggins and Christopher Froome of Team Sky took the 2nd and 3rd places in the final general classification. It was anticipated that Brad would be the team leader and would earn his place in the time trial while having to hang on through the climbing stages. Froome began as the main man to martial Wiggins up the climbs and did a stellar job by setting a very high pace for the last few km's and then letting Brad take over. This would be the formula for the rest of the tour.
Then came the time trial where Wiggins was expected to take the lead after performing better than he had hoped on the early mountain stages; but it was Froome who placed 2nd on the stage behind Tony Martin and took the red jersey. Speculation was rife as to wether he would still ride for Wiggins or not and he ended up sacrificing himself and potentially a win for his leader. It turned out that Brad did not have the legs to stay with the eventual winner Juan Jose Cobo on the gruelling 23% Angrilu climb and unfortunately it appeared as though Chris Froome was stronger and if Team Sky had ridden for him after that oh so impressive time trial, then he could have worn the red jersey into Madrid.
A lot of people are saying that Dave Brailsford made a big mistake to stick with Wiggins as theeir guy for the GC but the fact of the matter is that they could not have known how strong Froome was. While Wiggins is a proven 3 week rider, Froome was a revelation in giving this class of performance and what would Sky have done if his fitness level had dropped off towards the end leaving them with no cards to play. Ultimately the critics have to ask themselves, would you rather have two riders on the podium albeit not on the top step, or have one rider in 4th or even lower?
Look at it from a different perspective...British cycling has reached new heights today. Before Team Sky there were only one or two cyclists at a time (E.g. Robert Millar, Chris Boardman, David Millar, Mark Cavendish) that could do anything on the European road scene. Now, much like the Leopard Trek did for Luxembourg in the Tour de France, we have two riders whose names will be spoken of worldwide. Along with the likes of Ben Swift and Geraint Thomas, these riders have out in world class performances on world wide stages and brought Britain to the fore in professional cycling; all in a time scale that other teams and countries could never dreamed of doing!
Now we can look forward to generations of talent flying the flag for us. Bradley Wiggins, David Millar and Mark Cavendish are the current big names but the likes of Froome, Swift, Thomas, Dowsett will all continue to develop and provide the stars of the future.
______________
In other news, Phillipe Gilbert showed he was human in the second Canadian world tour classic around Montreal as a late breakaway unexpectedly succeded. Gilbert still managed to sprint to 3rd but that by his standards is a big loss. While the Belgian, who regained his place at the top of the world tour rankings the other day with his win in Quebec, had to settle for third it was Movistar's Rui Costa who took his opportunity to sprint to victory ahead of Pierrick Fedrigo of Francaise De Jeux. The question still looms over whether Gilbert thinks he could do anything in the world championships in Copenhagen later this month or if he'd rather concentrate on the final classics of the season.
______________
The Tour of Britain started today with a sprint stage that was a formality with Mark Cavendish easily winning and taking the first leaders jersey. Such was HTC's dominance that leadout man Mark Renshaw held on for 2nd place. Teams had to work together and fight to chase down the breakaway which, with only 6 riders per team, was more difficult than usual. Team Sky, Rabobank and HTC-Highroad all harboured interests in the final sprint though so together they reeled in the two breakaway riders in time but not before all the KOM and intermediate sprint points which go to Russel Hampton of Sigma Sport-Specialized and Pieter Ghyllebert of An Post-Sean Kelly respectively. Lets hope some of the smaller British teams can continue to show their faces during the week to come.
Thanks for reading!
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