http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2007/worlds07/index.php?id=/photos/2007/worl
Post by MagillaGorillaPost by Max Payneds07/worlds074/fs068
One thread should be enough on that if you must, but it's unfortune that the
Italians have not said a single word about her marvelous solo breakaway in
their forum. She earned it, and it reminds me about what they say in 1992
when Watt won. They called it an evil lesson that any rider can win against
all odds, not just the creme at the front. A lesser relatively unknown rider
went solo off the front taking the gold and the glory. More then likely it
will be the highlight of her cycling career, but what an inspiring finish, I
though she had the right stuff! However, Marta should try out some Banana
boat Aloe Vera with vitamen E, great stuff to use on hot sunny days, and
would of hidden that from the camera!
http://tinyurl.com/duhlc
GBMT
Well, not to get too philosophical, but another lesson that can be
gleaned is that one day race results are meaningless. But we already
know this from Fondriest's rainbow jersey. They amount to a roll of the
dice. However, in a big Tour, you can't fake it over 2-3 weeks.
Normally yes, one day race results seem to be meaningless, but the worlds is
a one day slugfest. Even the DNF list is chalk full of talent. It seems like
a lottery, but then not exactly. It's the only race of the year where all
the creme comes together in one place, and the start list is indeed
impressive. Of course the heavy favorites are good choices to place your
bets. While I got 1st and 2nd right on the TT, Vos is the only 1 of 3
choices I made that came up a winner on the RR, she took 2nd. So it's
somewhat predictable if everything goes according to Hoyle. But the worlds
is a war of attrition, and some top riders never race the worlds because of
it's intense pace. Luperini almost never races the worlds because of the
fast pace, and it's usually never selective enough for the climbers like it
was in 1995 at Duitama Columbia.
However stage races are the real test of a great all around rider, so those
winners are the real champions. I think yes, in a way the worlds is a
gimmick to a certain extent much like the road race at the games, in the
sense so much pride and prestige is placed on this one day race. Regina won
the worlds, but she's hardly lived up to the glory and prestige placed on
her shoulders. That's quite a bit of weight to carry, wearing the rainbow
jersey all year long. I think Vos has lived up to expectations, but not
Regina. Arndt has, since she is such a solid rider all year long, great in
every sense. But great team work helped Regina win, as did great team work
helped Marta win. Cantele been strong all year, so she was marked, but Marta
was not taken seriously, after Vos caught Cantele, Marta slipped away and
Vos didn't chase, so it was an evil lesson as they say. Pooley, Worrack,
Melchers, Cantele, especially Pooley did a lot of work at the front all day,
Pooley being the revelation this year, a pure climber in the making, but it
didn't make any difference in the end.
There is so much to be gained by winning the worlds and the games in terms
of market value, same with the world cup, but even the world cup is not a
fair assessment in the world rankings because a number of variables are not
taken into account. I think Alfred and Jeans rankings are more fair and
realistic account of who the best riders are. Geographics play an unfair
role making it easier for some riders to excel or attend all the world cup
events, while others are excluded.
Post by MagillaGorillaSo was Watt a worthy champion?
IMO, I am going to say yes. After she sprinted pass Maria Purvis of Great
Britain, the video shows Watt setting her Advocet for a TT ride. She
obviously planned her move well, and from what I read and heard, Watt should
of been taken seriously because she was riding well all year both in track
and a good TT rider. I don't think the peleton did their homework on Watt or
they would of chased her down. Neither Inga, Leontien or Longo did anything
when Watt left the main field. It could be Watt was keeping a low profile in
her training leading up to the games, but I had read her excellent times
were known to some at the time. There were people who actually favored Watt
to win that race, believe it or not. Watt was away for a very long time and
nobody took up the chase. From the perspective of race officials at the
time, they said all the top riders were sapped, including Inga Thompson.
Only Longo was able to chase. I haven't researched Watt's palmares yet, so I
am not a expert on Watt, but I talked to her several times, and provided her
with a copy of that race on DVD, it was the biggest moment of her life. She
expressed to me that she feels she was a worthy champion.
Well, given that she could never really
Post by MagillaGorillarepeat her performance in Barcelona, I would say no.
Well, you might of read about all her troubles since that time going into
the next Olympics. CN actually covered Watts troubles in great detail over
several years about her problems with Lucy Tyler, some of the problems with
all the coaches and the Ausse sports institutions and all the endless court
proceedings. Watt went through hell for years, so it's no surprise that she
couldn't fully focus on her racing. I think she was depressed a lot during
the years following Barcelona.
Same with Sara
Post by MagillaGorilla"I've sucked since Athens" Carrigan. Carrigan's win was a fluke - much
like Alexi Grewal's gold medal against a diluted "Olympic" field. When
Grewal went to Europe, he was clearly out of his league.
Sara raced at Altitude, and really trained hard coming into the games, after
a injury previously. She broke away and keep the pace high until the end
doing quite a bit of work alone, but she did really benefit from drafting
Arndt, enough to recover and easily take the win, but Arndt was spent it
seemed, and not happy with the German Federation obviously the finger thing,
so I don't know why or at what point Arndt gave up at the end, but she
didn't ever try to counter Sara's move for the line, so a combination of
being spent and angry too I guess since her pal Rossner was kept out of the
games, but Sara seemed to have earned this win as well. However, yes, it's a
one day war of attrition and Sara had the right stuff on that day, she
peaked perfectly for that day and made the right move at the right time. But
obviously Sara has not been able to carry that level of racing into the next
year. Sara is not like Arndt, who seems to be good all year long no matter
what. Very few riders are totally awesome all the time so consistently like
Judith Arndt. Many riders rise to the occasion never to be heard of again.
Sara may never have another great event like that ever again, as where
Arndt, you can bet on it! Arndt is one of the greatest all around riders
ever. She's easily in my top ten.
Post by MagillaGorillaYeah, those cole sores or whatever it is on Marta's upper lip should
have been dealt with by her handlers prior to propping her up on the
podium. It was probably just a bad case of chapped lips, I'm sure, but
it shows incredible ignorance of marketiing PR on a worldwide stage by
her people.
Yup, pass the lip balm. That does look really bad, they should of fixed
that.