GB Cycling

[mpjmcevoy 379]

28 minutes ago, RussB said:

I’m not sure I understand why Tarling isn’t doubling up on the track. He looked great in the team pursuit and was really making the team look like gold medal contenders. There were also indications he wanted to be considered for the Madison. The road race is going to be far tougher for GB to achieve success so I’m scratching my head why our biggest engine has been allocated here.

 

by guesswork Hayter will ride the Omnium and then the Madison pairing will be… Vernon and Wood?

 

The men’s ITT is on the 27th July so they will all be fully rested.

 

Also surprised there is no inclusion of the Yates brothers, not sure what the team tactics are with that squad. Who are we setting it up for?

The course is a puncheurs/'Ardennes' style course, and neither Yates brother is one of those - I don't think choosing Pidcock and Williams is accidental, given the wins in the Amstel gold and Fleche. Fred is also a breakway specialist, and a strong climber...

 

As for tactics? My guess is that Pogacar, Remco, Van de Poel and Van Aert all fancy their chances, and this could be a tear up for the ages - Pog and Remco are quite likely to be knackered after Le Tour (Pogs second grand tour, though he was barely pushed in the first) and Remco has been injured, and looks a little short of form. My hunch is MvdP goes in as favourite, though only just. He's ditching the MTB to do this so he's all in.

 

So how does this play into the GBR team? Well, Pidcock is the Andy Murray of that group. He's very, very, very good...but he's not that quarter good. What he DOES have is an absolute machine in Tarling, and a legitimate 1-2 punch in williams - you don't win Fleche if you're a grunt.

 

My instinct is they will try and get Fred up the road for the breakaway - watch out if he somehow allies with Ben Healy who's also an outside threat, and might fancy a strong breakaway in a race with much smaller teams than usual. Pidcock and Williams then simply sit on the stars, and hopefully let the teams punch themselves out - or put Tarling on the front and try to rip the legs of the rest of the peloton. In any event, I suspect what they want is Pidcock AND williams up there near the sharp end deep in the race, and try and one-two punch their way to a medal. Also, If Pog attacks on pure strength, as he often does, Tarling is one of the few who might be able to slowly drag the boys back up to him....

[RussB 189]

As always the men’s road race could go absolutely anywhere. What you say makes sense, have those 2 sitting for as long as possible and hope they are close enough to the action at the end

 

ps. I wonder if MVdP is avoiding the MTB as a slight hangover from Tokyo and not feeling confident he can take down Pidcock. I might be over thinking it and he is doing it to purely focus all energy on the road race but I felt the race did leave him a little bruised, both physically and psychologically last time.

Edited June 24, 2024 by RussB

[Epic Failure 364]

MvdP has never been that big on MTB, he's more into cyclo-cross.

 

My personal theory is that he and TP have sat down in recent years and agreed that they won't really cross each other too much - TP dabbles in CC but only slightly. Whereas MvdP takes the opposite approach. Works for both of them in that they get to dominate a discipline more easily.

 

Tarling finished 6th in Dwars door Vlaanderen earlier this year, so it is possible that they believes he has a realistic shot in this as well and isn't just there to work for the team. At his age, you just never know.

[Olympicsnell 333]

I think, including events where gb have a very good chance e.g mtb, the mens road race is the thing im most looking forward to the entire olympics, so many people from many different countries all capable on this course, im excited to watch all the belgium riders fall out and attack each other, and i love gb's team selection

[Epic Failure 364]

Watching the Belgian men fight is only matched by watching the Dutch women do the same.

[mpjmcevoy 379]

Watching Pidcock over the weekend; barely with his mtb shoes on for the first time in months just rip the legs off world class opposition, he's not wrong...he's made for mtb. His lightness gives him a better advantage than in CX, where you need a fair amount of raw strength, mtb rewards W/kg a bit more than CX - which is probably why McdP is so brilliant at CX. Very few cycle races are ever nailed on, but Pidcock goes into MTB red hot favourite, and possibly with a bit of a psychological edge on his main competition.

 

The men's road race is going to be a trip. so many stars are aiming at it, though, that you could actually get a very left field result if they all mark each other.

[Epic Failure 364]

Barring the obvious calamity that can happen with a crash/technical etc, I've got Pidcock as my #1 gold prediction, in any sport this summer. He's just that good. The rides at the weekend were just astonishing.

[EddieW1 0]

16 hours ago, RussB said:

I’m not sure I understand why Tarling isn’t doubling up on the track. He looked great in the team pursuit and was really making the team look like gold medal contenders. There were also indications he wanted to be considered for the Madison. The road race is going to be far tougher for GB to achieve success so I’m scratching my head why our biggest engine has been allocated here.

 

by guesswork Hayter will ride the Omnium and then the Madison pairing will be… Vernon and Wood?

 

The men’s ITT is on the 27th July so they will all be fully rested.

 

Also surprised there is no inclusion of the Yates brothers, not sure what the team tactics are with that squad. Who are we setting it up for?

The fastest theyve gone with Tarling in the squad was a 3’48 whereas with the riders they’ve selected theyve done multiple 3’45s - no matter what the media say, its not surprising that hes not doing the TP this time around

They won the European Champs this year (beating Denmark) with the squad they’re taking to the Games 

[RussB 189]

12 minutes ago, EddieW1 said:

The fastest theyve gone with Tarling in the squad was a 3’48 whereas with the riders they’ve selected theyve done multiple 3’45s - no matter what the media say, its not surprising that hes not doing the TP this time around

They won the European Champs this year (beating Denmark) with the squad they’re taking to the Games 

Regardless of times (which are track and time of year dependent), it would be a very tough argument to suggest Tarling isn't the biggest engine that team GB have at this moment in time. The team is still strong and will challenge Italy and Denmark (hopefully), but I do think his power would be a difference maker, and they go faster in Paris with him. Maybe management feel the squad don't need him to win Gold.

 

He also elevates the Madison chances, as the best teams combine a workhorse with a sprinter. Vernon seems to be the most likely "sprinter" within the squad and combining with Josh would have made a strong combination. Hopefully Wood & Vernon are going so well alongside the other endurance boys that this explains the decision.

[EddieW1 0]

6 minutes ago, RussB said:

Regardless of times (which are track and time of year dependent), it would be a very tough argument to suggest Tarling isn't the biggest engine that team GB have at this moment in time. The team is still strong and will challenge Italy and Denmark (hopefully), but I do think his power would be a difference maker, and they go faster in Paris with him. Maybe management feel the squad don't need him to win Gold.

 

He also elevates the Madison chances, as the best teams combine a workhorse with a sprinter. Vernon seems to be the most likely "sprinter" within the squad and combining with Josh would have made a strong combination. Hopefully Wood & Vernon are going so well alongside the other endurance boys that this explains the decision.

Trust me I don’t deny it, he is a huge talent! But you can’t select someone on power numbers alone when they don’t have the track results to prove it translates to the paces the A squad have consistently been hitting on multiple occasions now

i have no doubt he’ll be there in LA 2028 if he wants to be 

 

I’d agree he would’ve been a great selection for the madison though, he looked super strong in that event in Australia - Vernon isn’t eligible to ride madison though as he hasn’t ridden it in any qualification events