Olympic Road Race

My team is loaded with sprinters too, well my stars are, may yet change my domestiques and put in a breakaway guy

Put my team together just now, everything's pretty much sprint biased but I can't decide on which two to pick from Goss, Griepel, Sagan and Boassan Hagen! EBH, Goss and Gripel are number one riders on their teams, Sagan has no team, Goss can't win a thing right now but has a decent lead out in Rogers, Gerrans, O'Grady but Gripel should have Martin and Degenkolb leading him out! Decisions decisions!

Boonen crashed twice in Poland, and after the second one (stage 3) I read that he'd "damaged some ribs" - but he completed the last 4 stages I think so I'm assuming he's OK...

How many transfers do we get before the TT?

Stage listing shows TT as having unlimited transfers.

email/story about this tomorrow, but basically: yes it's the same as a one-dayer, but bonuses awarded by country.

there's no team limits, you can pick any number of riders from a trade team. the star/ds split still applies though.

everyone that's been added to the game for the games is in an 'olympic riders' team

Cool - looking at the lists its easier than I thought it would be to pick a proper team, there are even a few TTing DS that should make the top 10, although they are fairly expensive. I can't decide if guys like Cav will last 9 times over Box Hill, especially if they're riding hard on the last 2 or 3 to catch a breakaway. So at present I have a couple of strong sprinters and a couple of good all-rounders likely to last the distance that can sprint well from a small group. I've only really started watching non-TDF cycling this year, and these kind of days are few and far between, so I don't really fancy my chances.

It's hard to predict, it could go the way of a full field sprint with a Cav win, a small field sprint between Sagan/Goss/Cancellara or some other strong sprinter types or a small group/breakaway in which case it could be anyone!

I caught an article saying that Michael Rogers doesn't think it'll come down to a full field sprint, he's mentioned trying to get into the break so it could be interesting.

The worst possible outcome for GB would probably be to have a German, American and Australian in any break that gets away as then they're not likely to get any help bringing back the break. If it's minor nations and people like Italy in the break then they could have allies.

I see the break as an issue, but its getting the right guys to go, i guess all my stars are sprinters, and then some of my DS's are sprinters, but are the type of sprinters that could go in a break, as well as a couple of definite guys for a break.

I guess with 50 points for the win, and no more than 10 points for being in a break (and could be zero - was it Paris-Roubaix where there were more than ten guys in the break so none of them scored?) its better to focus on guys that might be there at the end, and treat breakaway points as a bonus - different to what we're used to over the last 3 weeks.

I've ridden it and the boxhill/zigzag road part is nothing like the climbs you get in the Ardennes classics at all!!

With about 55k between Boxhill and the Mall I'd be surprised if a breakaway can stay out unless of course all the sprinters teams bar GB have someone in it.

Germany(for Greipel),US(for Farrar),Australia(for Goss)and GB(for Cav) will want a bunch finish and assist in reeling in any breaks.

People like EBH,Gilbert,Sagan,Boonen(if he rides) and Spartacus will be more interested in a strung out field but 55k is a long way out to launch anything.

The roads on the way are quite wide and flat so difficult to see a launch pad for any kind of Chavanel/Voeckler/LuLuSanchez type raids and to be honest you'd expect the strength of Wiggo,Froome,Stannard and Millar to chase anything down?

No race radios also mean the peloton will be loathe to allow any escapees get too far away,and the narrow nature of the 'rural' part of the course will mean riders wanting to be at or near the front ensuring a high average speed and almost certainly a few crashes on the descents of each of the 9 boxhill climbs which at this moment in time are not very well maintained.

Besides,the sprinter's teams will hope for a breakaway before we even reach the countryside as the race starts on the Mall and there are bound to be a little selection of 'novelty' riders looking for a bit of glory on the way out.As long as no-one too strong joins them they'll leave it till after the climbs to reel it in.

I for one am really looking forward to it and predict a Cav/Greipel battle.....whilst looking for Chinese/Kiwi/Spanish breaks.

I've been trying to work out who the 'protected' sprinters will be on some of the larger teams. Spain and Italy are interesting as both have two (Ventoso/Rojas and Viviani/Modolo) and a few others don't have clear leaders.

pain actually have a very strong team as usual, Rojas, Ventoso, Valverde and Sanchez could all win and I expect a Sanchez kamikaze break on the run in to the finish.

Hi Dave,
RE how does it work.
Thanks for posting here, as my original post seems to have been hijacked in lieu of mug shots.

Does anybody know where to find a simple list of teams.
i.e riders plus country, instead of all this picture rubbish?

Cycling fever have a start list by country.

RR

http://www.cyclingfever.com/editie.html?detp=view&_ap=startlijst&editie_...

TT

http://www.cyclingfever.com/editie.html?detp=view&_ap=startlijst&editie_...

Ta

Miller in the break so the other teams have to chase it down, then a blast from the other 4. That's what I'd do, but my recent results show I know naff all.

Dave i know you'll prob be updating the list, but noticed Albasini is missing from the riders game list.

I cant make olympic transfers, just get a banner saying the transfer window for the final stage of the tour is closed, is my login screwed or am i just being impatient?

You need to make sure you pick the 'Olympics' from the competition drop down menu otherwise you're trying to make transfers to your Tour de France team hence the big red 'Window Closed' message.

Ah thought i was probably being an idiot. Thanks

Want to score big for a Zico Waeytens win.....pick him twice

Hmm... trying to make my changes and it says "window closed". Is this just temporary as the roster is being updated?

See above

Nope, I was in the right competition, and actually in the middle of making my transfers. Went to go to the next page of riders and the "Window Closed" sign came up. A few mins later I tried again and my team had been reset to what I had saved earlier. All's well now... just got a little scared that the window was actually over and I'd be stuck w/ the old team.

Mickael Bourgain . Only man in peloton faster than Cavendish?

Over 1km maybe, I'll be surprised if he completes the first 249km with the main field though

You would have said the same from Cav a few years ago. Just playing pre race games.

Am I right in saying the Transfer Window shuts after the race is started?

Hmmm, yeah, by about 35 minutes. Doubt it'll help anyone though. There's only points on offer for breaks smaller than 10 that are away at halfway, I doubt that anyone who's away after half an hour will still be there at 125km, historically Olympic races tend to be full of breaks and usually quite big ones.

I'll put my cards on the table then

Cancellara
Boassen-Hagen
L.Sanchez
Boonen
Terpstra
Bauer
Duggan
Bourgain(if he's there in the Mall then watch out)
Gallopin

I think it's going to be like a one-day classic to be honest.

I've gone fairly sprinty - but its a long way so fairly strong guys.
Sagan
Boasson Hagen
Cavendish
Boom
Kwiatkowski
Impey
Demare
Bazayev
Elmiger
I figured if its not a sprint I'm rubbish at predicting who'll be up there, so I may as well assume it will be!

Group of 12 so no breakaway points if this one sticks to half distance.

Got Park, but no points as it's 12
Bourgain dropped out. Had him as well

Damn! I forgot they put Bourgain in the road race so he could go on the track. Should have put in Demare!

Putting all my eggs in a sprint shaped basket.

Cavendish
Sagan
Goss
Viviani
Arashiro
Demare
Impey
Gallopin
Terpstra

Had hoped for Gallopin and Terpstra in a break but there's time yet.

Not sure if all of my guys will cope with the distace;

Sagan
Cancellara
Cav
Henderson
Demare
Isaychev
Cardoso
Richeze
Impey

you have 5 the same as me Drheton, think we have gone for same kind of tactic

Thinking/hoping it will be a sprint and gone with my gut...

Cav (obvious)
Sagan (will be there at the end if its a bigger group than a break away)
Greipel (impressed the last sprint he won in the tour and the hills he had to get up for that, so applies as with sagan)
Modolo (cheap and 2nd to Cav in the test, one of them that could top 5 or be nowehere)

Kwiatowski (could go in a break, or if the field is reduced he is quick enough to place well)
Impey (decent enough sprinter and wont need to do any work but stay with the field, also could go in a break)
Arashiro (same as Imey)
Terpstra (if teh race is blown apart he is the safest/cheapest option to do well in my eyes)
Kolobnev (again can get over hills and shouldnt need to do much work, handy 5th place on stage 3 in Wallonie this week against some decent sprinters on an all rounders stage

Mark Cavendish (SKY)
Peter Sagan (LIQ)
Andre Greipel (LOT)
Gregory Henderson (LOT)
Ramunas Navardauskas (GRM)
Ian Stannard (SKY)
Jack Bauer (GRM)
Daniel Schorn (APP)
Gedminas Bagdonas (OLY)

I didn't bother with breaks and didn't listen to my own advice and take LL Sanchez in again. Gone sprint heavy with some back up guys for points/bonuses

Went Goss over Griepel only because he's potentially got more sticking power and if the races blows apart he's got a chance of 5 bonus points from Gerrans/Rogers. Plus, he'd a perennial 2nd place finisher whereas Griepel could be all or nothing, like on the Champs-Elysee.

Got

Cav
Goss
Sagan
LLSanchez

Impey
Arashiro
Bourgain
Park
Kolobnev

Bourgain dropped out. Ooops
Park dropped from break.

But I don't think DSs will score much in this race. All depends on the stars. Hope Cav wins and Goss does better than Greipel.

Put Park in for the sprint but he went in the break instead.

Expecting another break to go on the 5th or 6th ascent.

Bourgain was always going to drop out, he was listed in the RR just to get an extra place on the track

Any info on who's in the break? The list above doesn't seem right as a graphic was showing LL in the break

Nibali, Gilbert, Van Avermaet, Gesink and Elminger have launched an attack.

That's a strong group, GB might have a race on their hands now.

Edit: bah, that groups been brought back just as I typed that... typical.

BBC coverage leaves a lot to be desired. Not least the near complete absence of time checks! The one stat that really means something to the viewing public and they have only managed to give 2 or 3 time checks at the top of Box Hill and thats it!

And I could barely hear Hugh Porter at the start over the crowd noise!

Mark Cavendish (SKY)
Peter Sagan (LIQ)
Luis Leon Sanchez (RAB)
Elia Viviani (LIQ)
Lars Bak (LOT)
Luca Paolini (KAT)
Niki Terpstra (OPQ)
Daryl Impey (GRE)
Alexandr Kolobnev (KAT)

mine
Intermediate gp looking very dangerous

Juegos Olímpicos línea: 2 grupos

Kilómetro 140.

Grupo 1: Westra (Holanda), Schar (Suiza), Roelandts (Bélgica), Brajkovic (Eslovenia), Beppu (Japón), Menchov (Rusia), O'Grady (Australia), Castroviejo (España), Pinotti (Italia), Duggan (Estados Unidos) y Kristoff (Noruega)

Grupo 2: Nibali, Gilbert, Chavanel, Rast, Fuglsang, Kreuziger, Boom, Paolini, Elmiger,...

Bunch Sprint for me please

Sagan
Greipel
Cavendish
Chavanel(just in case)
Kwiatkowski(good TDP form)
Sohrabi(cheap as chips)
Vandenbergh(same as above plus covers Boonen/Gilbert win)
Demare(outside chance of top 20)
Impey(dark horse)

I suspect its not the BBCs fault that there aren't many time checks but done on purpose to make sure that no-one can give the riders any more time checks than they receive from the race directors.

Also, its bloody hard to identify people when they're not in trade team jerseys.

The coverage isn't the best.....The support on the side of the roads isn't much better......Everyone with union flags...check, DO NOT put a foot over the white line....

You can see the parts where the real cyclist are....screaming and shouting lycra clad guys with NO flags waving

Then round the rest of the course, people in their sunday best summer outfits with a flag, clapping and saying "jolly good chaps, keep it up"

tony martin dropped by main bunch????

and where's viviani, breschel, henderson? dropped with martin according to the official live feed

Tony Martin jumped off to save some for the TT

T Martin DNF

Viviani will most likely jump off as he'll be using this as a warm up for the track

From biciclismo

Juegos Olímpicos línea: Sublime GB

Juegos Olímpicos línea: Solo 28´

A 75 kms de meta:

Westra (Holanda), Schar (Suiza), Roelandts (Bélgica), Brajkovic (Eslovenia), Beppu (Japón), Menchov (Rusia), O'Grady (Australia), Castroviejo (España), Pinotti (Italia), Duggan (Estados Unidos) y Kristoff (Noruega)

a 28" Nibali y Paolini (Italia), Gilbert (Bélgica) Chavanel (Francia), Bauer (Nueva Zelanda), Rast (Suiza), Fuglsang (Dinamarca), Kreuziger (República Checa), Boom (Holanda) y Grivko (Ucrania)

a 1:25 Pelotón

Both groups off the front are together now with around 45 seconds of a gap

The amount of information and the lack of time checks available for the TV coverage from this race is quite a good advert for allowing race radio. It really hadn't benefited the racing much either.

Riders radio's are banned. So what GB and other teams have done are link up some guys all round the course with radios and stop watches. So they are getting time checks and information all the way around. Might aswell give them radios in their own ears.

I take it back, the Box Hill time checks have been showing up and proving useful to keep track of events.

Aye, the teams are clever enough to work around lack of time checks and no radios so just let them have the radios. It hasn't benefited the race, hasn't limited GBs ability to judge their chase and hasn't allowed a group to get away.

Who is it sat in front of Cav in the GB train? Can't identify the jersey, is it Eisel?

Gone
Cav
Greipel
Goss
Modolo
Impey
Plus 1 USA, GB, GER and Spain ds

Yeah I think the baby sitter has arrived to give Cav a hand

Wonder if EBH will help with the leadout...

Could be anyone gets to play leadout. Cav seems to jump on a wheel then swings out at the moment.

EBH will be going for a medal for himself. But other team sky members who have no hope of a medal might jump in and help shut this break down

Gilbert, Fuglsang, Brajkovic, Boom, Gesink, Kolobnev, Kreuziger, Van Garderen, Nibali, Chavanel, Rui Costa, Cancellara, Valverde, Leon Sánchez, Vinokourov, Urán, Henao, ...

at 1.00

Got 2 of those

LLSanchez, Kolobnev

One minute gap and it sounds like Sanchez and Cancellara are up in the front group along with Valverde. This could come right down to the wire.

I just thought, There were more than 10 in the break at half way......No bonuses for them

I think the group may stay away....

Ive just got Kolobnev up the road

I aint got anyone up the road and unless Germany pull their finger out, there will be no sprint. So I hope something starts moving behind

Froome gone.....All he's done today is sit in Cav's wheel

Froome drops out of the peloton, that's not going to help!

The break has a minute with 26km to go, Its over now

Wonder if Froome is planning on going after the TT over Wiggins?

Gap keeps going up, GB look cooked and the break is just full of great riders. Tempted to call it and say Cav's screwed but there's time yet.

Bernie driving on the front

GB need to sit up and say, we're done and hope that others start pulling along else its totally fecked

Peloton not working well. Cav's out of it now.

Another GB rider drops off, I think only Wiggo, Millar and Cav are left

If GB sit up then its done, nobody other than Germany want to bring this back. Australia, America, Switzerland, Belgium and Norway all have guys in the break. Italy too and Spain.

Christ, looks like an Italian or maybe Kolobnev gone head first into the barrier.

It was Cancellara!

I need a Spain win, cause i won't be scoring anything else at this rate! No riders in the break for me.....

Nah it was Canc and he's fecked his arm.....Guess who's not going to be in the TT teams for Wednesday

This is shit to watch without time checks and even the commentators aren't getting times

Still 57 seconds with 10km to go, Boonen with a problem, its all over for Cav, the group looks to have too much of a break.

I nearly went Henao instead of modolo this morning as they are the same price but didnt and stuck with my gut... Fail! Well this will not even break a score of 10 for me

Vino and Henao going for it, should be a Vino win?!

Ah, its now Uran! Not Henao!

Doesn't help with the commentary team being shit aswell

Oh look its X rider......oh wait, its Y.....no its Z

Uran (they are saying Henao) off the front and they don't know of his ability, like he's just a no-body they've never heard of

Why is Wiggo even still pushing, save your energy mate.

I knew this was not going to be Cav's. If you want a sprint win, don't put a loop with a climb and make them go round it 9 times

Right, that sums it up

For the bronze. I could clearly see it was someone from Norway.

But they said, Oh its Denmark, Not I think it could be Spain, Infact its someone from Holland

FFS, Idiots

IOC forced them to make it harder than they'd initially planned so they had to add in extra loops. Was it Westra or Gesink in third?

I blame the Germans personally

1. Alexandr Vinokourov (Kazajstán)
2. Rigoberto Urán (Colombia)
3. Alexander Kristoff (Rusia)

Yeh then Hugh Porter is saying Greipel came in 4th haha

I took Kristoff out this morning

Where's that from, cause Kristoff is not Russian....lol

Don't know your coverage but here in America the coverage was really, really good. Time gaps were solid, they noticed it was Uran and not Henao right away, and they nailed that it was Kristoff as well. Most importantly, it was on from start to finish on network TV. Big step up.

4. Sergey Lagutin (Uzbkistán) m.t.

I think I will have scored a VERY high massive total of 0 points today.

I have to say, it was a boring as F**K race, everyone just left GB to it, you can't do that with only a few riders in each team.

Then the broadcast dies and i've had to come off the red buttom to that Grey-Thompson woman

One thing, Canc looks in serious pain, he'll not be at the TT by the looks of it

Gonna be some low scores today!

I'm expecting plenty of low scores today. Not sure I'll even get a point.

Really enjoyed the race actually. Suspenseful, at least, much more so than it would have been had it come down to a sprint finish with 3 GB riders leading Cav out.

anyone know where Kolobnev came? he is my only hope for points

21st

Damn

HAHAHAHA, the gold goes to Vino and then second was COL "who's that" then a Norwegian, Cav was 11th......

Anyone else hearing this stuff coming through over everything else??

saved by kristoff!! my only points for the day!

I don't know, just winding you up, He might have been 5th

Right, I'll have to love you and leave you to work out the top 20. I was supposed to be at an 80th birthday party for a relative and it kicked off at 1pm.......OPPPS

Juegos Olímpicos línea: ¡Oro para Vinokourov! (Top 20)

Clasificación:
1. Alexandr Vinokourov (Kazajstán) 5:45:57
2. Rigoberto Urán (Colombia) m.t.
3. Alexander Kristoff (Rusia) a 8
4. Taylor Phinney (Estados Unidos) m.t.
5. Sergey Lagutin (Uzbkistán) m.t.
6. Stuart O'Grady (Australia) m.t.
7. Jurgen Roelandts (Bélgica) m.t.
8. Gregory Rast (Suiza) m.t.
9. Luca Paolini (Italia) m.t.
10. Bauer (Nueva Zelanda) m.t.
11. Lars Boom (Holanda) m.t.
12. Jakob Fuglsang (Dinamarca) m.t.
13- Rui Costa (Portugal) m.t.
14. Luis León Sánchez (España) m.t.
15. Roman Kreuziger (República Checa) m.t.
16. Sergio Luis Henao (Colombia) m.t.
17. Andriy Grivko (Ucrania) m.t.
18. Alejandro Valverde (España) m.t.
19. Philippe Gilbert (Bélgica) m.t.
20. Sylvain Chavanel (Francia) m.t.

Had 14th. Kolobnev got nothing but he was attacking before. GB should have had someone in the break, Millar maybe.

At least the TT is more predictable.

Bollocks. Seemed like too many just thinking GB would do all the work.

Spartacus not looking good.

Jack Bauer in 10th has given me some points

Good race ruined by poor commentary, worse than itv4! Uran might still get gold after drugs test.

I hope the BBC live race coverage improves for tomorrows women's road race - even the commentators had no information about who was in the breakaway or the time splits. Griepel's team take the booby prize for lazy racing.

Official top 20

1 87 VINOKUROV Alexandr 4:25:50 4:47:27 5:45:57 +
2 52 URAN URAN Rigoberto 4:25:50 4:47:27 5:45:57 +
3 122 KRISTOFF Alexander 4:25:20 4:47:06 5:46:05 +
4 29 PHINNEY Taylor 4:25:20 4:47:27 5:46:05 +
5 120 LAGUTIN Sergey 4:25:50 4:47:27 5:46:05 +
6 24 O'GRADY Stuart 4:24:57 4:47:06 5:46:05 +
7 18 ROELANDTS Jurgen 4:24:57 4:47:06 5:46:05 +
8 40 RAST Gregory 4:24:57 4:47:06 5:46:05 +
9 8 PAOLINI Luca 4:24:57 4:47:06 5:46:05 +
10 82 BAUER Jack 4:24:57 4:47:06 5:46:05 +
11 31 BOOM Lars 4:24:57 4:47:06 5:46:05 +
12 96 FUGLSANG Jakob 4:24:57 4:47:06 5:46:05 +
13 43 COSTA Rui Alberto Faria 4:25:34 4:47:06 5:46:05 +
14 3 SANCHEZ GIL Luis Leon 4:25:50 4:47:27 5:46:05 +
15 85 KREUZIGER Roman 4:24:57 4:47:06 5:46:05 +
16 51 HENAO MONTOYA Sergio Luis 4:25:50 4:47:27 5:46:05 +
17 88 GRIVKO Andriy 4:24:57 4:47:06 5:46:05 +
18 4 VALVERDE BELMONTE Alejandro 4:25:50 4:47:27 5:46:05 +
19 17 GILBERT Philippe 4:24:57 4:46:23 5:46:05 +
20 54 CHAVANEL Sylvain 4:24:57 4:47:06 5:46:05

Gutted for Rigoberto - he learn a tactical lesson today

10th and 18th ! Never saw that coming..... #neverjumponthebandwagon again

A whopping 0 points...ironic that my TT team would have scored 42!

Could have watched the race on Eurosport with the Harmon and Kelly......

Oh. I saw it coming but always difficult to predict who's going to be in a split and the famous names like Gilbert and Chavanal hardly scored anything. If I'd gone all out for the split I might have got 1 or 2 more if I was lucky. If it had come down to a bunch sprint I would have lost out big time. Pity Kolobnev wasted too much energy earleir on though!

I said this in March in a discussion about Millar on cyclechat. Some of the names aren't relevant now of course.

If there is any kind of split on one of the earlier or middle ascents of Box Hill and Cav and a few of the other 'pure' sprinters are the wrong side of it we can expect quite a few teams to work hard to keep it that way. Belgium will I'm sure, they've got loads of options - maybe too many; Spain, if Freire is in the right place; Australia, with Goss and Gerrans and probably some others as well. Not sure we're going to have many allies in bringing back a split and with Wiggins concentrating on the TT, Millar, who knows, and only a couple of other riders a bunch sprint is far from assured. Hunt and Stannard couldn't bring back a split at GW nor could a 5-man Sky team at MSR. The Olympic course is nowhere near as tough as either of those two races and that is our ace in the hole, but there will be a lot of effort put in by some big countries to get rid of Cav; 'blocking' tactics, which I think may have been employed at the descent during GW or high-tempo riding to get rid of Cav rather than to stop attacks and then there's always the possibility of crashes, badly timed punctures etc. It's going to be an interesting tactical race with a lot more difficulties for Brailsford than Copenhagen. I'd probably say 70% bunch sprint; 25% split in the peloton and 5% mediumish break succeeds.
Alan Tullett, 28 Mar 2012

Coverage was crap . Shame Cav didn't get a chance to sprint .
We were well a truly hung out to dry

4 and 10 (36 points) for me. Was beginining to thing nil point but scrapped some there. Who was the last man home by the way

Oops, bump that to 48 - didn't see polini at 9 there

A Moroccan guy was last man home

0 points but still 1177th on stage, says a lot, as does the fact that the top stage score was 88!

In the end I'll take back what I said about having no race radios not affecting the race. If GB had had radio they'd have known who was in the break (Cancellara, Vino, Chavanel, Gilbert, Sanchez and Valverde) and would have been told by Sutton/Brailsford to bring it back together straight away rather than giving them a minute. Likewise Millar could have been ordered over the radio to get in the break.

Did it benefit the race? No, not in my opinion, it robbed us of the spectacle of a sprint finish down the Mall and I feel pretty disappointed with how the race turned out.

Disapointed Cav didnt win but glad as well that Vino won. Makes a nice change rather than the usual suspects.

Now for the tt.

Vino was an odd winner, he's an ex-(probably)-doper who divides opinion. It's similar to if Millar had won, or Valverde. He was a deserving winner though (assuming he's clean) given how well he read the race not only to get into the right break at the right time but to make the winning move alongside Uran.

1 point? Really? never saw that coming! thought I was being clever with my team, then again I thought that during the Tour too, Voeckler started winning stages as soon as I transferred him out!

Yay, 0 points.

Go Lizzie go LizzieGo Lizzie go Lizzie Go Lizzie go LizzieGo Lizzie go Lizzie