Womens Road Race (Worlds)

Am I alone in finding the end

Am I alone in finding the end of the women’s race rather disappointing… on a british level anyway.

Hannah Barnes did a stella ride, but when the selection rode over without her team leader she was put in a situation it didn’t look like she’d planned for. 

I think she rightly identified this as the race winning move, and her as britains best chance of a win, so when everyone else stopped pulling she took far toio much responsibility for keeping the thing going. 

Garfoot rode it perfectly, but only because she was allowed to. The dutch pair left in the move rode selflessly for their lone leader. The other three hashed it totally. 

In hindsight, and to be fair what I was shouting at the tele, the right thing to do was for Hannah to play the same game as everyone else… all or nothing.

Barnes has a great sprint… she should have trusted in that. 

As a rule though… in those situations, when there are three team mates in a break, you have to take the initiative, you can’t wait for them to start hitting you. Hit out hard before they hit you. Best case they might cover you with two riders, and way hey, you’ve secured bronze. Worst case, every time they are chasing you, you aren’t chasing one of their moves. 

But.. if you ain’t attacking, you have to cover their moves instantly… what happens when you don’t was clearly demonstrated on saturday.

All really easy to say after the event, but I think Hannah and team mates were let down at the end after a stella ride throughout the race. 

And… what was Lizzie Deignan doing rolling in at the back? 

All the above goes to confirm that it was a great sporting spectacle. 

yes it was good to watch –

yes it was good to watch – the U23’s was also fantastic – I think the course and atmosphere is excellent there and might throw up a surprise or two even for the men’s race