National Championships 2015 Thread

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JBGooner

Über Member
Great races. What I don't get about the mens race is how Kennaugh and Cav managed to accelerate away from Stannard and Rowe on the flat.

He'll hate it but I think Cav won that by coming second.
 

L Q

Über Member
Location
Woodhall Spa
Great race thought Cav had nailed it when they broke away as the final two,

Shame about the people on Michaelgate, I have never seen crowds like it as I normally stand on Michaelgate for the Lincoln grand prix but no chance of getting close this year, They need barriers up if the crowds are going to be that big again.

Really well organised and top marks to all the helpers, Lets hope the Nationals come to Lincoln again in the next few years.
 

The Couch

Über Member
Location
Crazytown
Jolien D'Hoore defended her women's title despite being the only rider from her Wiggins Honda team
(she had some luck that other teams worked to stop a valiant solo-effort by Jessie Daams and Jolien was very clearly the strongest sprinter of the small bunch)

And I guess it doesn't happen often ever, that the name of the women national champion rings more off a bell than the one from the men, but it just happened:eek::
Preben Van Hecke, a rider from Topsport Vlaanderen, has won the Belgian jersey
Interestingly, despite this team being focused on developing upcoming (Flemish) riders (this year E. Theuns and J. Wallays as 2 strongest examples), Van Hecke isn't a young rider at all, but actually their "road captain" and at almost 33 years old he basically won his first "decent" race
For the ones who have been following the cycling sport on close-hand, you might have heard the name before, since he often goes into long escapes. Like in 2014, he rode about 240K ahead during the Amstel Gold and 3 days later he rode another 180K in the Waalse Pijl (Fleche Wallone) or in 2009 at one point he was riding together with (the winner that year) Devolder towards the head of the race, but couldn't hold Devolders wheel on the Muur.
He also won this title by going into a monster escape, since he went away in the first round (of 14) in a group of about 25 people, in the end only him and Jurgen Roelandts (the guy from the monster escape in this years Gent-Wevelgem) managed to stay in front, despite OPQS and - later on - Van Avermaet giving them a hell of a chasing.

Ohh... and on a side comment, he's a bit of a skinnier-faced Simon Gerrans look-alike :smile:
 

Andrew Br

Still part of the team !
Kennaugh-Cavendish-630x400.jpg

You've caught my best side. I'm 4th from the left in the white cap.

We had a good couple of days in Lincoln.
The races on Saturday night were very entertaining and it was eye-opening how much some parents had (seemingly) spent on equipment for their children.
I confidently predicted to Helen that Armistead would win the women's race and Kennaugh the men's. Judging by the crowd's reaction on the lap pictured above, it was obvious that Cav was their favourite. He'd made up about 30 seconds on Kennaugh from the previous lap.

The poor PA system was, IMO, a blessing; we couldn't hear the commentators rambling on.
Here's a few tips if you have a microphone:-
  • you don't need to speak continually
  • you don't need to comment on the action on a screen that we can all see
  • we don't need to know about your club rides and what gearing you use going up Michaelgate
  • "banter" with your fellow commentator is dull, baffling, cliquey and really not funny
Apart from that, it was a great weekend and Lincoln seemed to embrace the whole event.
 

The Couch

Über Member
Location
Crazytown
Ooohh... I did wanted to share this ...

Boonen, who was again top-favourite for the Belgian win - at least for the "afar cycling fan", since he lacks pretty much any decent win in the last 2 years - had nevertheless some creative "fans" :biggrin::becool::biggrin:

Since some might take offence, I'll just put the link and won't add the picture in my msg
 

sleaver

Veteran
Why wasn't Kennaugh wearing the national jersey? Is it a traditional thing? Does he cease to be champion when the race starts?
The commentators were saying that past champions can wear the flag around their sleeve and then went on to say that Kennaugh didn't have the flag on his sleeve because he is defending champion. If he didn't win, then he would wear the flag on his sleeve going forwards.

I've noticed that it is the same in every other championships as well be it road or track.

So by the sounds of it, he was still the champion during the race, other wise he would have had the flag on his sleeve as a previous champion, but I guess that it is tradition that you don't wear what you are trying to win.
 

deptfordmarmoset

Full time tea drinker
Location
Armonmy Way
The commentators were saying that past champions can wear the flag around their sleeve and then went on to say that Kennaugh didn't have the flag on his sleeve because he is defending champion. If he didn't win, then he would wear the flag on his sleeve going forwards.

I've noticed that it is the same in every other championships as well be it road or track.

So by the sounds of it, he was still the champion during the race, other wise he would have had the flag on his sleeve as a previous champion, but I guess that it is tradition that you don't wear what you are trying to win.
He still got to ride his white Pinarello though.

Meanwhile, I managed to miss the end of the women's on the day and the beginning of the ITV4 coverage this evening. Did ITV4 show the highlights of that race?
 
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