Olympic RR **spoilers**

[thom]

I doubt there have been that many spectators for a road race in England Britain recently - seemed more than for the TdeF in London to me.

BBC highlights suggested it had the largest live audience ever for an Olympic event.

 

[lordloveaduck]

well tha's my weekend spoilt. Men on Saturday and Women on Sunday
Guess it's going to be another early morning ride, then get home in time
to bath, cook and lay out my supplies to keep me going through the race.

I may need to borrow a team car to keep me going

 

[Danny]

So, I was right all along that GB shoulda put Millar in the break to be able to control it, or have the option of having a plan other than a sprint for Cav. Millar would have out-Vino'ed Vino in the final stages.

I'd have put Millar in the break too, but I'm still not convinced he would have beaten Vino.

 

[Crankarm]

Of all the riders that could have won it had to be unrepentant doper Vinokourov. The rider I dislike the most in the peloton. In deed a very bad result. I hope he is clean. If it wasn't to be Cav's day which it clearly wasn't then Cancellara would have been a very worthy winner. I bet Cav is rather pissed off having scarificed quite a few sprint finishes on the TdF for helping Wiggo to the mailot jeune then not getting a medal let alone a gold as a break was allowed to get and stay away. I think he will now leave Sky which will be for the best.

 

[asterix]

Agree that he should not be in the team for the next TdF if a repeat win is their aim. He is not a TdF winner or a natural domestique. I'd love to see Wiggins do it again and if they have to replace both Froome and Cavendish to pull that off, so be it, IMO.

(And it is a pity the peloton didn't work for a winner who deserved it)

 

[dellzeqq]

The Beeb has apologised (sort of).
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/jul/29/olympics-bbc-apology-cycling-coverage

All they need to do now is to hire the ITV4 team and we'll get some decent coverage of the women's race

 

[iLB]

However i feel even more sorry for Cancellara - tactically played a blinder, had 3 team mates to help him in the break away and looking so strong and comfortable. It looked like everything was being set up for what would have been an awesome spectacle of him turning the motor on and going for a solo break and going along the mall on his own.

.

You mean turning on the motor and dragging someone else to the line, see MSR and Tdf Stage one. Last night he said nothing broken but only 50/50 chance of starting the TT, I hope he does.

 

[dellzeqq]

I hope he does too. Despite the fact that you-know-who goes all silly every time he comes on the telly and talks about his new baby.....

 

[thom]

The Beeb has apologised (sort of).
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/jul/29/olympics-bbc-apology-cycling-coverage

All they need to do now is to hire the ITV4 team and we'll get some decent coverage of the women's race

NOS, the Dutch broadcaster are responsible for the cycling broadcasting (but not the ropey commentary of course).
Here's the wider breakdown :

OBS Teams – Swimming, Diving, Synchronised Swimming, Water Polo, Modern Pentathlon - Swimming, Basketball, Equestrian, Fencing, Handball, Sailing, Shooting, Beach Volleyball, Wrestling
BBC – Boxing, Rowing, Canoe/Kayak - Sprint, Tennis, Football
YLE (Finland) – Opening/Closing Ceremonies, Athletics-Integrated/Track/Throws
SVT (Sweden) – Athletics-Jumps
SBS(Korea) – Archery, Taekwondo
Fuji TV (Japan) – Judo
TVE(Spain) – Canoe/Kayak - Slalom, Triathlon, Aquatics-Swimming Marathon
CCTV (China) – Modern Pentathlon, Badminton, Gymnastics, Table Tennis
NOS (the Netherlands) – Cycling-Road Race, Time Trial, Athletics-Walks/Marathon
STV (Slovakia) – Hockey
ICRT(Cuba) – Volleyball
ERT(Greece) – Weightlifting
VRT (Belgium) – Cycling (BMX, Track, Mountain Bike)

Taken from:
http://www.televisual.com/blog-detail/London-2012-the-broadcast-challenge_bid-317.html

 

[dellzeqq]

the pictures were fine. The lack of information was poor. The commentary was dire. And the commentary was a BBC thing through and through. I dare you to watch the Jill Douglas bit at the end without cringing. Vino couldn't disguise his contempt.

 

[PpPete]

The Beeb has apologised (sort of).
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/jul/29/olympics-bbc-apology-cycling-coverage

All they need to do now is to hire the ITV4 Eurosport team and we'll get some decent coverage of the women's race

FTFY

 

[thom]

Froome hopes to become a team leader. When that happens he's going to have to call on others. I don't think he's got the temperament for the job.

Not sure I can agree with that - people change and mature into roles when they are asked to. He is much younger, supremely talented and who's to say he can't use that talent to command teammates respect in due course.
Wiggo is a case in point - nobody seems to be bringing up his surliness which I'm sure irritated teammates in the past. Was it not 2009 that he was conspicuous by his absence from the Garmin train in Paris ? I could not have imagined Wiggins conducting himself so well as he did this year before he had the chance to.

 

[thom]

the pictures were fine. The lack of information was poor. The commentary was dire. And the commentary was a BBC thing through and through. I dare you to watch the Jill Douglas bit at the end without cringing. Vino couldn't disguise his contempt.

Actually for me the pictures could have been better - they missed the first chunk of the Mall sprint remember, the motos seemed consistently a bit too close to the riders and I'd like to know if Cancellara might have judged his turn in Richmond a bit better if the moto wasn't so close.
BBC commentary was bad but I've said before, it really irks me they are playing for a generic audience by providing personalities as pundits (McEnroe on cycling last night...?) and using the same stable of interviewers.
I did see the Vino interview - I thought that particular moment reflected more on Vino rather than Jill to be fair.

 

[Strathlubnaig]

Interesting take on the race from Ryder's perspective here
http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/oly...-cycling-minus-medal--but-still-standing.html

 

[Vapin' Joe]

One thing yesterday clearly showed is that racing without radios is the way to go. Forcing riders to think on the hoof and make it up as they go along makes for much more exciting racing.