Australia and Gt Britain - cycling

Olympic cycling's a funny game. Australia won one Gold medal at Sydney in
track/road cycling but six at Athens. At the 2006 Commonwealth Games
Australia won 11 Gold medals to England/Wales/Scotland's 4. Now it looks
like Australia won't win any cycling Gold medals at Beijing (possibly even
no medals of any colour) while GB has virtually scooped the pool.

On Aug 18, 10:03 pm, "Claude" wrote:
Olympic cycling's a funny game. Australia won one Gold medal at Sydney in
track/road cycling but six at Athens. At the 2006 Commonwealth Games
Australia won 11 Gold medals to England/Wales/Scotland's 4. Now it looks
like Australia won't win any cycling Gold medals at Beijing (possibly even
no medals of any colour) while GB has virtually scooped the pool.

And you're not even counting the Isle of Man which should win a medal
today.

-ilan

On Aug 19, 8:52*am, wrote:
On Aug 18, 10:03 pm, "Claude" wrote:

Olympic cycling's a funny game. *Australia won one Gold medal at Sydney in
track/road cycling but six at Athens. *At the 2006 Commonwealth Games
Australia won 11 Gold medals to England/Wales/Scotland's 4. *Now it looks
like Australia won't win any cycling Gold medals at Beijing (possibly even
no medals of any colour) while GB has virtually scooped the pool.

And you're not even counting the Isle of Man which should win a medal
today.

Only if hell froze over was that ever going to happen. No way would
they be allowed to do that twice. Although I think Bradley Wiggins
has ridden a few sixes, Cavendish is simply a speedster and you have
to have a lot more than that to do well in the Madison. Some people
have said Wiggins was too tired but that's an excuse - you knew they
were out of their depth when the sprinter (Cavendish) slung in the
stayer (Wiggins) half way down the back straight in a sprint lap
FFS!!! It would be nice to see the Brits taking the Points and
Madison seriously, but results aren't so easy to come by as in the
other events because tactical nous and bunch riding skills are
paramount. Not to take anything away from the achievements of Hoy and
Co., but the fact is that GB is mostly useless at two of the most
technical events. The trouble is, of course, that the lottery money
is unlikely to extend to rewarding wins in sixes which is where you
need to be to stand a chance in these events. Or practice like mad
for it which is what the Argentinians probably did. I think it would
have been a bad thing for cycling if Wiggins and Cavendish had got a
medal in the Madison...

Cheers

UD

Uncle Dave schreef:
have said Wiggins was too tired but that's an excuse - you knew they
were out of their depth when the sprinter (Cavendish) slung in the
stayer (Wiggins) half way down the back straight in a sprint lap
FFS!!!

It could have been tactical, to take advantage of the slowdown after the
sprint to take a lap. But I think it just was unfortunate timing, how
the race goes. Did any of the couples miss a relay ever? I know it
sometimes happens in sixes, even on purpose for tactical reasons, but
perhaps in this one-chance event the pressure is more constant and
couples can't afford to miss one.