RussB

GB go ultra safe with takeovers in the 4x1 and qualify for the final 2nd in their heat behind Italy in a 3:13:96 which should be enough to qualify for Paris.

On some other good news on GB front, 14 yr old Amelie Blocksidge has just recorded a new PB in the 1500m to go 3rd fastest British woman of all time in a 16m 10.04 clocking at Lancashire county champs. Amelie looks set to really attack the 16m 01 nomination time at British trials in 6 weeks.

Exactly. Yes the 4x100 is vital to qualify, but this is guaranteed as long as they don’t false start or DQ. I actually think they will win the 4x100 with the team of whittle, Dean, Scott and richards. Looking forward to the entire meet !

I'm fascinated by how we do in Doha, in particular what would be very encouraging would be: - Peaty dropping time on the series races last year and taking the gold in absence of Qin (I think most would agree his degree of improvement this year will determine the success of the two medley relays + his individual in Paris) - Luke Greenbank's resurgence over 200m back [I was hugely impressed with his return to form at Euro SC, a medal in Paris in the individual is definitely a possibility] - Female relays...can we get them all qualified at trials? Breaststroke remains a weakness on the medley relay, but on the freestyle front the 4x200m girls are beginning to build a solid looking team - Freya A, Abbie, Freya C & possibly Lucy Hope / Medi. Medi H isn't swimming individual events in Doha, and we don't have a breaststroke entry. - Are Katie S and Freya C in early season form to contend for a medal in Paris? 200m back / 400 IM considerations for both - Can Duncan get close to Marchand in the 200IM..I'd love it if the Silver guru could upgrade to gold in Paris.

This I would like clarification on too from others more knowledgeable than me on the quotas. Can you have more than 1 person per gender do multiple events and add to the quota? E.g on men’s side if tarling goes ITT and Vernon is selected for the road race, could they both ride the endurance track events as “substitutes” meaning GB had 6 men to chose from for the track endurance? I raised this on the other GB cycling thread For the women as I’m not sure how they even get to 5 track endurance riders, perhaps one of them goes in the road race or Zoe B in the time trial? Laura Kenny returning is another complication.

Bigham will be limited to team pursuit in the velodrome so yes I would imagine he will get the 2nd ITT slot… It’s a real puzzle trying to work out how the rest of the pieces will fall though. I assume Hayter will ride Omnium (if Walls doesn’t re-emerge to the form of 2021) and Madison might involve Tarling and the “5th” rider of the team pursuit. Sorry to derail this from the Road race already, I guess my point is that the track selection will have a domino effect on who is picked for the road race (I believe GB cycling will do it this way round)

Great to see similar threads to the swimming pop up! I think the time trial will suit Tarling more than the world championship Glasgow course (notably that brutal steep ascent to the line) as it is flatter. I can’t wait to see him take on Ganna et al, and I don’t think gold is out of the question. I agree about the logic of the road race… to some extent it’s a lottery and can come down to being a rider that is opportunistic and attacks at the right time and isn’t a big enough name to trigger immediate counter attacks. I’m not sure I could even guess with any certainty who will qualify for GB in the road race? I don’t get the impression G wants to do it this year, Yates brothers ? We have 4 quota spots I believe… and I’d expect Tarling to rest ahead of his exploits on the track the following week. Does Pidcock double up with mountain bike? Vernon? Lots of options, but not sure the chances of medal could be more than any of the other leading nations.

My mistake - Paris official site lists events, not medal events. As a sport I will admit knowing very little about, are no team capable of challenging the Chinese in Paris in the duet similar to most of the diving events?

I'm in agreement with looking through the lens very positively here. Holding the GBR squad to the 3 silvers in Olympic events from last year as a baseline is an unrealistic high bar given the dominance of the Chinese (essentially making gold medals unattainable) to judge against. Across the board the GB diving team has been the "best of the rest" behind China in both the men's and women's events. I think separate from diving, we can all be agreed that the developments of Izzy and Kate in the duet artistic swimming is hugely exciting, their progression has certainly taken me by surprise this meet. Is it possible GB contend for medals in Paris in both the technical and free duet artistic swimming? We also have Hector Pardoe smashing a surprise bronze in the 10km open water with another big step forward, which alongside two extra quota spots gained by the team were hugely encouraging. Also a shoutout to the women's water polo team for reaching the top 12 in the World! Again - positive development steps. Finally - this is before a race has even started in the swimming meet. The competition is significantly weakened admittedly, with the AUS and USA squads, in particular, looking smaller and without notable big guns, but I fully expect GB athletes to step up and be a force in this competition in both individuals and relays. Let's keep pushing!

Absolutely agree with this. GBR are having a great meet despite Jack having a couple of mishaps. The other takeaway is that China as always look almost unbeatable in all of the diving events. So exciting to see the girls seriously contend for medals in the Artistic Swimming in an Olympic year.

Another step forward by Shortman and Thorpe to claim silver!!

I’d imagine Emma will ride the Kierin with Marchant… otherwise agree that the team sprint line up will be Katy Sophie and Emma. GBR will take 4 endurance (that selection is looking incredibly difficult to predict, especially without knowing where Laura Kenny is at). You have to think Archibald and Eleanor Barker are pencilled in. In my view Neah Evans has done enough to be considered a spot, and doubling up in the Madison with Barker / Kenny, with Archibald doing the Omnium. Leaving Morris or Knight out if that was how it played out. Not sure what options GB have of adding a 5th endurance rider from another discipline aside from Backstedt that has already been discussed.

Love that Dragon! Just saw a video of the finish and it looks like they got very close to gold. Did anyone watch the race ; did any of the British racers stand out?

Grace Reid with a gritty performance to take Silver with a strong comeback in the last 3 dives. Narrowly missing gold by 3 points.

Great win for GBR in the mixed 3m & 10m team to get the competition off to a strong start!

Seemed like a little bit of a tactical miscalculation there by GBR women. Left the Archibald charge a little too late to go down by 0.3

Tarling put into the team for GBR to qualify for the gold medal race … exciting development as a preview for Paris

Think GB were riding conservatively there…

I'll be there 28th through to the 11th. Would be cool to get a meet up!

"It depends on how it goes, but ideally I’d like to do the team pursuit and maybe the Madison at the Olympics,” Tarling said. “I’ve qualified for the World Cup here, just after Cadel’s, so I’ll do that and see how it goes.” Beyond Adelaide, Tarling – like Ganna and Viviani – is unlikely to race on the track again until the summer, with his Ineos duties taking precedence. “You only have to do one World Cup, so it’ll be just training, I think,” he said. “Obviously, if the track team needs me I’ll do it, but it’s mainly just training for the track and fitting it in around the road racing.” So it seems to me he thinks its TP first and even potentially adding in the Madison to his program as a secondary option. This makes more sense to me, even though doing 3 events would be a heavy workload. The ITT is a week before the track rides kick-off for the TP / Madison so potentially it's doable.

Does this mean he isn't in GB plans for the team pursuit? Him competing at all in Adelaide seems to indicate GB will use him as an endurance track rider and road rider (ITT) for Paris? I must admit I don't understand it if his Paris track event will be Madison? That is an event where experience and chemistry between 2 riders is vitally important which may take a long time to develop.

I will say Henderson rode a brilliant TT at the world’s but I’m not sure anyone will be tipping her to crack the podium in Paris. The top 3 at World’s are so strong, let alone a few other contenders that I expect to be in the mix. Road race is a lottery indeed! After the mess in Tokyo I expect the Dutch to be very strong in the road race though. Tarling would have to work within the team indeed but I imagine him doing a similar job to Ganna

Sorry I was unaware, all teams have a limit of 4 endurance riders on track? Therefore there is no ability to rotate your team pursuit; and they have to double up for the Madison / Omnium? Tarling will be in the TP in the nations cup coming up in Oz is he not? My own personal view is that having his engine gives GBR a genuine strong chance of beating the Danes and the Italians, without him the chances reduce. On Zoe I do feel it’s much less likely she breaks through in the track endurance squad if limit is set at 4 riders. Knight and Morris were excellent in the recent Europeans in the individual pursuit, and I think Eleanor barker and Archibald are nailed on for places. Laura Kenny is a wild card, I think British cycling are under the assumption she won’t make it back… I’m not sure I’d understand the logic of leaving Zoe out of the road team though. GBR doesn’t have a genuine medal chance without her in the road race or TT, in the time trial you’d have to imagine she would be a contender given her age and results over past 2 years ?

What do you think the plan is for Zoe for the Olympics ? I’d love to see her in the ITT on the road and be involved in the track events (possibly as member of the TP most likely), similar to what I imagine Josh Tarling is going to attempt. Her junior world time trial win in 2022 in Oz was one of the most ridiculous destructions I’ve seen in a time trial

Great ride by Anna Morris to take the Bronze only 1 tenth behind the Gold and Silver in her Bronze ride off too. The GB team pursuit on the Women's side will be very strong when you add in Archibald and Eleanor Barker