team tactics

Bounty Bob said:

From the cyclingnews coverage of the vuelta:

Zabel was once again right in the thick of things, but had to be
content with third. "Today the team have done more good work," he said.
"I was on the wheel of Petacchi with 250 metres to go and when he
started, he was very fast. I preferred not to take his wheel in order
not to help our rivals. I had gone on the left when Greipel and Hushovd
started and I did the sprint behind them".

Petacchi's fourth place showed that he is on his way back after injury:
"Today I worked for Zabel's sprint. I went with 220 metres to go because
I thought I had Zabel behind me. After that I tried to continue on to
the finish line as a test. I'm happy, but I am still lacking a lot of
power. I hope to finish this Vuelta and to win a stage before the end."

--

So it would seem that T-Mobile aren't the only team without
a clue what they are doing.

With these former T-Mo riders out there the contagion is sure to spread. Or at
least follow them.

Ron

RonSonic said:

Bounty Bob said:

From the cyclingnews coverage of the vuelta:

Zabel was once again right in the thick of things, but had to be
content with third. "Today the team have done more good work," he said.
"I was on the wheel of Petacchi with 250 metres to go and when he
started, he was very fast. I preferred not to take his wheel in order
not to help our rivals. I had gone on the left when Greipel and Hushovd
started and I did the sprint behind them".

Petacchi's fourth place showed that he is on his way back after injury:
"Today I worked for Zabel's sprint. I went with 220 metres to go because
I thought I had Zabel behind me. After that I tried to continue on to
the finish line as a test. I'm happy, but I am still lacking a lot of
power. I hope to finish this Vuelta and to win a stage before the end."

--

So it would seem that T-Mobile aren't the only team without
a clue what they are doing.

With these former T-Mo riders out there the contagion is sure to spread. Or at
least follow them.

Ron

These meaningless field sprints in Grand Tours are ruining the sport.
Who cares if some guy finishes a half a wheel ahead of another guy, who
finishes 6 inches ahead of the third guy...

Magilla

MagillaGorilla said:

RonSonic said:

Bounty Bob said:

From the cyclingnews coverage of the vuelta:

Zabel was once again right in the thick of things, but had to be
content with third. "Today the team have done more good work," he said.
"I was on the wheel of Petacchi with 250 metres to go and when he
started, he was very fast. I preferred not to take his wheel in order
not to help our rivals. I had gone on the left when Greipel and Hushovd
started and I did the sprint behind them".

Petacchi's fourth place showed that he is on his way back after injury:
"Today I worked for Zabel's sprint. I went with 220 metres to go because
I thought I had Zabel behind me. After that I tried to continue on to
the finish line as a test. I'm happy, but I am still lacking a lot of
power. I hope to finish this Vuelta and to win a stage before the end."

--

So it would seem that T-Mobile aren't the only team without
a clue what they are doing.

With these former T-Mo riders out there the contagion is sure to spread. Or at
least follow them.

Ron

These meaningless field sprints in Grand Tours are ruining the sport.
Who cares if some guy finishes a half a wheel ahead of another guy, who
finishes 6 inches ahead of the third guy...

Magilla

You obviously do not have a very good sprint.

MagillaGorilla said:

Quoted message said:

These meaningless field sprints in Grand Tours are ruining the sport.
Who cares if some guy finishes a half a wheel ahead of another guy, who
finishes 6 inches ahead of the third guy...

photoshoppper said:

You obviously do not have a very good sprint.

Or 6 inches.

Donald Munro said:

MagillaGorilla said:

Quoted message said:

These meaningless field sprints in Grand Tours are ruining the sport.
Who cares if some guy finishes a half a wheel ahead of another guy, who
finishes 6 inches ahead of the third guy...

photoshoppper said:

You obviously do not have a very good sprint.

Or 6 inches.

It is well-known that even the largest gorillas fall well short of that
mark.

MagillaGorilla said:

Let me tell you people something: sprinters in cycling are meaningless.
If you win a race in a field sprint, you are by definition no better
than the 20 other riders next to you. The officials even give them the
same time as the winner because they want to make it clear the winner
did nothing.

Let me guess: you don't like NASCAR either. And don't dismiss that,
because there's a kind of corollary there. It's easy to drive a car in
a circle. It's easy to drive a car with tons of downforce at 150+ mph.
But it takes bravery to do both, at the same time, with a pack of
other cars going 150+ mph three inches away from any given part of the
vehicle you are driving. You can like or dislike the spectacle, but
most people would be out of the race, with either a destroyed car or
destroyed ego - or both - within seconds.

I imagine it takes much the same bravery to balance yourself on two
dinky little tires at 45 mph in a pack of deranged animals fighting to
earn their next meal. Add thousands of fans screaming into your
unprotected ears, a sweeping curve, rainfall, the prospect of getting
injured by the assembled crowd, 200+ km of fatigue, heat, and pretty
soon you can see why even Valverde - who is utterly fearless and,
furthermore, can win bunch sprints - will choose to back off in the
sprints to save his neck.

Sonarrat said:

MagillaGorilla said:

Let me tell you people something: sprinters in cycling are
meaningless. If you win a race in a field sprint, you are by
definition no better than the 20 other riders next to you. The
officials even give them the same time as the winner because they want
to make it clear the winner did nothing.

Let me guess: you don't like NASCAR either. And don't dismiss that,
because there's a kind of corollary there. It's easy to drive a car in
a circle. It's easy to drive a car with tons of downforce at 150+ mph.
But it takes bravery to do both, at the same time, with a pack of other
cars going 150+ mph three inches away from any given part of the vehicle
you are driving.

When pretty boy Jeff "I cheat on my wife, but I portray myself as Mr.
Wholesome" Gordon tried to talk-up the danger of NASCAR his wife's
attorney beat him down like a trailer park woman who forgot to have
dinner ready for her mullet husband:

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/gordonjob1.html

You can like or dislike the spectacle, but most people

Quoted message said:

would be out of the race, with either a destroyed car or destroyed ego -
or both - within seconds.

I imagine it takes much the same bravery to balance yourself on two
dinky little tires at 45 mph in a pack of deranged animals fighting to
earn their next meal.

Dude, I just went down a hill today at 55 MPH - should I call my local
newspaper and tell them they got a "bravery" story here?

Add thousands of fans screaming into your

Quoted message said:

unprotected ears,

Even a 13 year old teenage girl can go to a rock concert and survive.

a sweeping curve, rainfall, the prospect of getting

Quoted message said:

injured by the assembled crowd

Ask Hincapie - he knows all about crashing out of big race with sweeping
turns.

'Grilla

in message <[email hidden]>,

(') said:

It takes balls to win a field sprint.  The top-20 might all have
similar fitness levels, but the guy who wins is the one who can also
overcome fear and still make good decisions. Climbers don't do anything
tactically smart, they just ride a hard pace and eventually, physics
sorts them all out.

Not dissing the sprinters at all, but you don't understand climbing.
Climbing is a long game. Sprinters get tactical in the last 100 metres;
climbers are /always/ tactical. It's all about forcing your opponents to
expend energy on your terms, and not expending it on their terms.

Iban Mayo is strong but not smart. He does very badly in the mountains,
although he has the /strength/ to stay with any of them.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; Women are from Venus. Men are from Mars. Lusers are from Uranus.

MagillaGorilla said:

Sonarrat said:

MagillaGorilla said:

Let me tell you people something: sprinters in cycling are
meaningless. If you win a race in a field sprint, you are by
definition no better than the 20 other riders next to you. The
officials even give them the same time as the winner because they
want to make it clear the winner did nothing.

Let me guess: you don't like NASCAR either. And don't dismiss that,
because there's a kind of corollary there. It's easy to drive a car
in a circle. It's easy to drive a car with tons of downforce at 150+
mph. But it takes bravery to do both, at the same time, with a pack
of other cars going 150+ mph three inches away from any given part of
the vehicle you are driving.

When pretty boy Jeff "I cheat on my wife, but I portray myself as Mr.
Wholesome" Gordon tried to talk-up the danger of NASCAR his wife's
attorney beat him down like a trailer park woman who forgot to have
dinner ready for her mullet husband:

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/gordonjob1.html

You can like or dislike the spectacle, but most people

Quoted message said:

would be out of the race, with either a destroyed car or destroyed ego
- or both - within seconds.

I imagine it takes much the same bravery to balance yourself on two
dinky little tires at 45 mph in a pack of deranged animals fighting to
earn their next meal.

Dude, I just went down a hill today at 55 MPH - should I call my local
newspaper and tell them they got a "bravery" story here?

Descents are dangerous, but they're also done single file in long lines
even at the professional level. When was the last time you - or anyone
- descended in tightly packed quarters with 180 other cyclists?

Quoted message said:

Add thousands of fans screaming into your

Quoted message said:

unprotected ears,

Quoted message said:

Even a 13 year old teenage girl can go to a rock concert and survive.

By itself, not bad. But it's a factor.

Quoted message said:

a sweeping curve, rainfall, the prospect of getting

Quoted message said:

injured by the assembled crowd

Ask Hincapie - he knows all about crashing out of big race with sweeping
turns.

You're considering everything individually, and not considering the
additive effect at all. I'm a classically trained musician - I know
that if, in a recital, all I had to do was walk out on stage and play
all my entire program through, with no external influence, I would have
no nerves at all. It feels completely different when you have a crowd
in front of you, and if you can't handle the change in atmosphere (and
the changes in physiology it causes, like the common tendency to sweat
like a pig in Dubai), then all that practice goes out the window.

Sonarrat said:

You're considering everything individually, and not considering the
additive effect at all. I'm a classically trained musician - I know
that if, in a recital, all I had to do was walk out on stage and play
all my entire program through, with no external influence, I would have
no nerves at all. It feels completely different when you have a crowd
in front of you, and if you can't handle the change in atmosphere (and
the changes in physiology it causes, like the common tendency to sweat
like a pig in Dubai), then all that practice goes out the window.

Dumbass,
Why aren't you taking beta blockers ? You need to get on the program if
you want to compete.

Donald Munro said:

Sonarrat said:

You're considering everything individually, and not considering the
additive effect at all. I'm a classically trained musician - I know
that if, in a recital, all I had to do was walk out on stage and play
all my entire program through, with no external influence, I would have
no nerves at all. It feels completely different when you have a crowd
in front of you, and if you can't handle the change in atmosphere (and
the changes in physiology it causes, like the common tendency to sweat
like a pig in Dubai), then all that practice goes out the window.

Dumbass,
Why aren't you taking beta blockers ? You need to get on the program if
you want to compete.

I'm fortunate in that I don't really get nervous - at least not in front
of an audience. Auditions, however, make me ill.