The world championship road race stands out among all other one-day races as the one where the winner is awarded both a curse and a jersey to carry for the next 12 months. It also inspires way too many riders to wear white bibs, which is an alarming trend in itself and one which I hope Brian Cookston, the new UCI President, prioritizes over the doping problem – let’s face facts: white shorts on rainy days does more damage to Cycling’s image than any doping scandal ever could.
Be that as it may, I often find myself wondering if its easier to win a Grand Tour or a one-day race. Certainly, winning a Grand Tour requires focus, discipline, and performance across a wide range of terrain and over a long period of time, but it also offers the opportunity to recover from a bad moment and to take advantage of the days where the terrain or discipline suits the qualities of the rider. A one-day race, on the other hand, is shorter but also less controllable. All in, no net; a moment’s inattention could be disastrous and in an instant your chances could disappear up the road.
The World Championships are also the only race which has brought Mary V to tears after narrowly losing the title. The Dutch don’t cry easily, especially not the ones who bleed pure V.
The Worlds are always a live wire of a race; the national teams mean the riders are riding for and against their usual teammates. Team unity is always a question, and loyalties are hard to predict. All for one and one for all, until a mate goes up the road and suddenly things start looking blurry. Throw in a circuit race, a big climb you ride 17 times, a steep ramp about V km from finish, and you’ve got yourself a race Nostradamus would have a chore predicting.
The Men set out in what is predicted to be horrendous weather on Sunday, September 29. Check the start list, rattle the bones, and put your picks in by the time the clock goes to zero. Good luck.
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@HMBSteve
+1. I guess I forgot this was Dr Phil's cycling website where God forbid someone voices an actual opinion on the sport that might offend or hurt someone's else's feelings.
I thought this site was about where we come to celebrate the Hardmen and Women of the sport, not feel their emotional fucking pain and comfort them when they feel too cold or wet to ride anymore.
Fuck that.
I fucking raced in the sleet one time in Vermont in the Spring with a piece of road-killed skunk stuck on my face after the wheel in front of me spit it up on my cheek. The whole peloton was like, "Shit man, you've got a piece of skunk hide on your face". Fuckin left it there for the whole race b/c I could.
Climbing off a bike b/c you are too cold or wet or scared is shit, pure shit. They do not deserve to be mentioned here.
@HMBSteve
I've been pretty critical of the performances of Wiggins and Froome et al from the weekend but having raced a few Cat 3/4 road races and been unlucky/shit enough to get dropped I know how hard it can be to chase back on and how quickly the moral drops. On occasions I have soldiered on in and finished despite knowing I was doomed to fail to get back on and on occasions I have chased so far into the pain cave to the point that my legs made an executive decision and overruled my brain's feeble attempts to persuade them to continue. The point is though, that all the riders who took to the road in the pissing rain have already shown more commitment, mental hardness and V than us mere mortals by the very fact they were stood there in their national jerseys pissing rain about to ride two-hundred-and-seventy-fucking-two kilometers. Underperformed by their own high standards though many of them did, pathetic they are not.
@Buck Rogers Chapeau. followed by slow, deliberate hand clap.
Just out of interest - if you decide to pull out of a race half way through (Vuelta) simply because you wish to rest up for the next one, that's OK - but throwing in the towel on a day as wet (and dangerous as that) is bad?
Also - how many of the riders chose to quit, and how many were told to stop by the organizers? It was a lapped race, and I didn't see anyone get 'lapped' so the commissars must have been stopping riders when they fell too far back?
The problem with team GB is exactly the same as at the Olympics - they went in with one plan only, and no plan B, nor any hint of an idea what to do should things not pan out as they wished. I don't mind that an athlete has a bad day and it does not work out for them... however it is shocking that the whole team was out so early on.
@V-inden - a valid set of points. I do not question the intent or the qualifications. I do not begrudge them if they were pulled by the team, nor do I question someone who has crashed and injured themselves. I guess it becomes a question of whether there is a place in the sport for these types of conditions? Do they define the sport or are they to be avoided so to protect the assets of the riders? I ask this out of curiosity - I am relatively new to cycling (dozen years) and have not followed it in the past as closely as many of the Velominati; so my question is an honest one. Perhaps it should be treated like tennis......? And, by the way, I accept that I could no more beat any of these guys up to Fiesole than fly to the moon, but that is an awesome road and I would, indeed, love to climb it..
So if rain is again forecast for Lombardia, will anyone bet against Purito? He is one hard little bastard!
http://www.cyclinginquisition.com/2013/09/throwing-up-while-on-bike-or-throwing.html
Uran came 41st, even after the crash.
@mouse
If you start then you do your very best to finish whether you're doing your first 20km charity ride or MSR. This has come up before as a possible Rule issue although the consensus seems to be that Rule #5 covers it. You can't win them all but you can at least finish them all.
If you lose consciousness or the officials tell you to stop then (and only then) do you stop. If you are an amateur and are racing with a CO2 canister and a spare tub because you have no support car then bike disintegration (provided it's not down to sloppy maintenance) may be an acceptable reason to climb off.
As a pro you get paid to race - that's the bargain - you entertain me I'll pay you - directly or indirectly. If you don't race then you're not doing your job - you knew when you signed up what you were signing up for.
These guys are role models. Ok someone is genuinely having a crap day (Froome) gets dropped for 20 minutes after 100kms and thinks "fuck this for a game of soldiers" - the DS sees that he's had enough and tells him to stop - he's had his moneys worth from him this year. But then the rest of the team climbs off? Not acceptable - the guys who finish last in elite sport (dammit any sport) aren't losers - the guys who could have finished then didn't are.
Wiggins is a hard man who has done some remarkable things and has a deep respect for the sport (although not socks). As a Brit I remain amazed and proud that someone from this island can actually win something in a sport that I love. He's clearly struggling for form this year but that's just human - it's still no reason to behave like a pussy when he should know better.
I know perfectly well that I'd have been dropped like a bad smell by Rafaâ Chtioui in the Neutral Zone but I'm not paid to ride my bike.
So harsh yes - unrealistic - sorry that's what you signed up for - get on with it.
@Bianchi Denti
Yes! J Rod will be SOOOO hungry!!! But Sagan is going to be there and he must REALLY want a Classic this year. He was soooo close in the spring. It's going to be AWESOME!!!
Every rider who clipped in yesterday had a job to do. Some were there with a chance to win, some to work for others, some to try to get in the break. Anybody who pulled out before they did their job for any reason other than injury sucks. I can't say for sure but that certainly seems to be the case for Froggins (fantastic by the way). However to lambast a guy like Vanotti or Van Summeren for not finishing is completely absurd. Those guys worked their asses off and emptied the tank for their teams, if they had finished it means they held something back they shouldn't have. There is nothing more honorable in cycling, and possibly sports, than going deep in the pain cave for your teammates.