GB Cycling 2024

[RussB 189]

1 hour ago, Rafa Maciel said:

This prediction did not age well 

 

Anna Shackley forced to retire aged 22 because of heart condition - BBC Sport

 

 

Oh what horrible news for Anna - hardly a prediction you can be criticised for!

[mpjmcevoy 362]

On 4/15/2024 at 1:42 PM, Rafa Maciel said:

I don't think Walls is eligible for selection - I can't find record of him competing in the qualifying events so hasn't got the 10 UCI ranking points.

 

I think the endurance team is likely to be Bigham, Tanfield, Hayter and Vernon and I can see the merits in having Tarling available as an extra wheel. I think Hayter has done enough to get the nod for the Omnium but the Madison is more tricky to predict as we don't really have an established team who are consistently on the podium. Could see them opting for Tarling, but who they would pair him with is up for debate.

The best teams tend to have a machine and a sprinter - think Brad and Cav, on that basis I'd say Tarling-Vernon might hit the spot, leave Hayter for the Omnium, the me don't really have one dominant rider the way the women's sprint (finucane) and pursuit (Archibald) teams do....Personally, I can see the argument for Bigham doing the TT with Tarling too, though I don't think that will happen.

[Grassmarket 3,384]

For those that aren’t following road cycling day-to-day,  are having a great week after a few quiet ones.

 

Sunday - Tom Pidcock wins the Amstel Gold

Wednesday - Simon Williams wins the Fleche Wallonne

Thursday - Simon Carr takes Stage 4 of the Tour of the Alps.

[Dragon 1,841]

2 hours ago, Grassmarket said:

For those that aren’t following road cycling day-to-day,  are having a great week after a few quiet ones.

 

Sunday - Tom Pidcock wins the Amstel Gold

Wednesday - Simon Williams wins the Fleche Wallonne

Thursday - Simon Carr takes Stage 4 of the Tour of the Alps.

Steven Williams 

[Rafa Maciel 1,593]

Mountain bike qualification took an interesting turn in Brazil this weekend. Charlie Aldridge was well placed for most of the race but faded towards the end and ultimately finished in 13th. Cameron Orr had a decent run and finished in 20th.  Collectively they will pick up around 150 points. Unfortunately Denmark's Simon Andreassen took 1st place and will pick up 250 points. 

 

Whilst I think GB will still be in 8th place when the next ranking list comes out, Denmark will have made significant progress in closing the gap. 

[Epic Failure 355]

1 hour ago, Rafa Maciel said:

Mountain bike qualification took an interesting turn in Brazil this weekend. Charlie Aldridge was well placed for most of the race but faded towards the end and ultimately finished in 13th. Cameron Orr had a decent run and finished in 20th.  Collectively they will pick up around 150 points. Unfortunately Denmark's Simon Andreassen took 1st place and will pick up 250 points. 

 

Whilst I think GB will still be in 8th place when the next ranking list comes out, Denmark will have made significant progress in closing the gap. 

I'm confused about the qualification criteria, and you might be able to help.

 

The qualification doc says that the ranking will be based on the sum of the top 3 riders from each NOC - https://stillmed.olympics.com/media/Documents/Olympic-Games/Paris-2024/Paris2024-QS-UCI-MountainBike.pdf

 

However, if you look at the rankings list on the UCI website, some of the countries totals seem to be the sum of 4 riders. Was the criteria updated at some point to change it from 3 to 4? Or will the actual rankings published in May be the top 3? If it were that later case, GBR would probably be safer than they are now.

[Epic Failure 355]

Or is it calculated by the top 3 from each NOC in each event? That would reward stronger countries I guess, by allowing them to pick and choose who goes full effort at each event.

[Rafa Maciel 1,593]

19 minutes ago, Epic Failure said:

I'm confused about the qualification criteria, and you might be able to help.

 

The qualification doc says that the ranking will be based on the sum of the top 3 riders from each NOC - https://stillmed.olympics.com/media/Documents/Olympic-Games/Paris-2024/Paris2024-QS-UCI-MountainBike.pdf

 

However, if you look at the rankings list on the UCI website, some of the countries totals seem to be the sum of 4 riders. Was the criteria updated at some point to change it from 3 to 4? Or will the actual rankings published in May be the top 3? If it were that later case, GBR would probably be safer than they are now.

Where there are nations with 4 riders listed, some of the riders' ranking points are excluded from the total points, so it is possible that the ranking is based on the top 3 riders from each qualifying event rather than the ranking points from the top 3 riders across the whole qualifying period. 

[Epic Failure 355]

33 minutes ago, Rafa Maciel said:

Where there are nations with 4 riders listed, some of the riders' ranking points are excluded from the total points, so it is possible that the ranking is based on the top 3 riders from each qualifying event rather than the ranking points from the top 3 riders across the whole qualifying period. 

 

Yeah, the more I looked into it, the more likely that seemed. Although it still seemed a bit weird at times to my simple eyes. I assume the UCI have got better brains working on this than me.

 

From a GBR POV, I guess it depends on whether we value having the 2 places for greater participation, or whether we are more focused on medal shots (with all due respect to Orr/Aldridge), in which case all our eggs are in a Pidcock shaped basket, so to speak.

[Rafa Maciel 1,593]

Disappointing results from Tulsa overnight in round 5 of BMX Racing world cup.

 

On the men's side, none of the Brits made it out of the quarter finals. Ross Cullen was best finisher in 18th ahead of Quillan Isidore in 24th and Kye Whyte down in 33rd. From a ranking perspective, expect a big swing in favour of  - it probably won't be enough to overtake , but they should have closed the gap to around 150 or so points.  will also have closed the gap significantly after Niek Kimmann topped the podium but they were about 1,000 points behind going into this weekend so they still have work to do if they want to get into the top 5.

 

The women's competition was another disappointment - Emily Hutt didn't make it into the Under-23 final and finished in 12th overall. In the women's elite, Bethany Shriever looked great throughout the rounds and was well placed in the final before going off course and finishing 8th.  will extend their lead in the rankings by around 200 points. with only 3 more races left before the end of the qualifying window, we're getting close to the stage where we can say that Colombia won't/can't be caught.