Team GB medal hopes - Cycling

[RussB 189]

Ally Wollaston looked like she had Katie’s number at the recent nations cup. In all of the events I thought she looked the stronger and more canny tactical rider.

 

Archibald was clearly best of the rest so imagine it will come down to these two and Lotte Kopecky.

 

NZ will challenge in the team pursuit, Germany will start as favs in the team sprint I imagine, and even Emma got

turned over recently in the individual sprint so it might be less straightforward for the women although the team should be very powerful.

[Dragon 2,061]

GB won 12 medals, 6 gold in Tokyo.

For Paris I have the medals total going up by 2 but gold dropping by 1.

Still very good.

[mpjmcevoy 377]

44 minutes ago, Dragon said:

GB won 12 medals, 6 gold in Tokyo.

For Paris I have the medals total going up by 2 but gold dropping by 1.

Still very good.

There's no such thing as a certain gold medal, but in order of likelihood, I'd say:

 

Pidcock

Finucane (Spr)

 

Archibald+A.N.Other

Men's BMX Free

 

Men;s Team Pursuit

Archibald (Omn)

Women's team Pursuit

Men's Madison

 

Women's Team Sprint

Women's BMX Racing

Men's Omnium

Men's TT

[RussB 189]

I think for me the women’s BMX and men’s ITT have got to be higher. Not sure who aside from Ganna is going to have the engine on such a flat parcours to compete with Tarling… on a related note if the men’s TP is Tarling, Bigham, Tanfield and Hayter as I think it will be, they will be incredibly tough to beat.

 

women’s BMX currently looks like Beth vs Saka in a true 50/50 ( similar in my eyes to chances of womens team sprint).

 

I’m not so bullish on men’s BMX gold medal chances (I think Kieran medals but gold is a much lower probability), and would move women’s omnium down due to what form Wollaston was showing in Adelaide.

 

I’d also not rule out Emma winning the Keirin… she is naive in this event but with that level of true speed it’s not impossible she gets it right when it matters. 

[Rafa Maciel 1,672]

32 minutes ago, mpjmcevoy said:

There's no such thing as a certain gold medal, but in order of likelihood, I'd say:

 

Pidcock

Finucane (Spr)

 

Archibald+A.N.Other

Men's BMX Free

 

Men;s Team Pursuit

Archibald (Omn)

Women's team Pursuit

Men's Madison

 

Women's Team Sprint

Women's BMX Racing

Men's Omnium

Men's TT

I'd argue that the women's team pursuit should be a lot higher than 7th in terms of likely gold medalist. 

[mpjmcevoy 377]

11 hours ago, Rafa Maciel said:

I'd argue that the women's team pursuit should be a lot higher than 7th in terms of likely gold medalist. 

It's a fair call -  a lot of the picks under Pidcock and Finucance are pretty tight, really, and there are several wildcards beyond these who have a puncher's chance - Pfeiffer Georgi, Charlotte Worthington, Kye Whyte, Evie Richards, Katy Marchant

[RussB 189]

Think you can add Ross Cullen to that list as a wildcard, obviously depending on whether GBR improve to get 2 quotas +/or his battle vs Kye Whyte to be selected.

[Rafa Maciel 1,672]

2 hours ago, RussB said:

Think you can add Ross Cullen to that list as a wildcard, obviously depending on whether GBR improve to get 2 quotas +/or his battle vs Kye Whyte to be selected.

Ross Cullen did not make a single World Cup final across 2023 and his best result was a 1st at round 4 of European Cup in April which was devoid of most of the top names. Granted he looked in decent form at Rotorua before he went off course in the semi-finals but there is nothing in his results which would suggest he could be challenging for medals without a fairly dramatic shift in performance. 

 

 Am becoming increasingly aware that I am coming across as the prophet of doom when it comes to  prospects, but I do try to be as balanced as possible.

[RussB 189]

I’m only suggesting as a wildcard chance, based on the form he showed at Rotorua.. I’m going to pay attention to his

performances to see if the form continues.

Ross was a highly touted junior, I don’t think it would be the biggest shock if he did make the jump. But I’m always the GB over-optimistic hype man 😂😂

[RussB 189]

On 2/15/2024 at 5:01 PM, RussB said:

Think you can add Ross Cullen to that list as a wildcard, obviously depending on whether GBR improve to get 2 quotas +/or his battle vs Kye Whyte to be selected.

After a second place finish in Brisbane, I’m doubling down on this being an outside medal chance for GBR. Great riding from Ross in changeable weather conditions 😃