Track World Cup (Team Excuses)

[Team Fiwip]

10 or so years ago whilst commentating on the performance of the England Cricket Team, Boycott said something on the lines that, we have to accept that we’re not as good as we think we are! I think its time someone was as honest in regards to the current state of GB Track Cycling! Excuses, excuses, excuses! Pulling out a bunch of riders from the commonwealth games to supposedly concentrate on gaining Olympic qualifying points. A poor showing in Manchester at present because the Worlds are four weeks away and their real focus is 2012. We once dominated but not anymore. Oh! I forgot, the Aussies, Chinese, French and the rest aren’t preparing for the Worlds and Olympics are they?

 

[cameramanjim]

What struck me was the awful coverage! What was going on there? They missed nearly an hour of the coverage ´for technical reasons´ and when they finally started the whole thing seemed pretty amateurish, although perhaps that was mainly down the the presenter who seemed nervous and unsure of himself. Cycling still doesn´t get the coverage it deserves IMHO - can´t someone start a campaign to get more/better coverage on TV?
The track team didn´t do all that well compared the the last time (2 golds compared to 7 last time was it?), but the Worlds will be more instructive.

 

[dellzeqq]

What struck me was the awful coverage!

the coverage was cringe-making. Sorry, Hugh, but your time is up. The main presenter stumbled over his words. The camera work was lacklustre. The interviews were anodyne.

TF - there are teams out there that are just as well prepared as team GB, which is still the no. 1 in the world. I think that two gold medals is pretty decent.

 

[fungus]

We only have a professional set up due to lotto funding & they only get lotto funding based on olympic performances, we were pretty average in the build up to the last Olympics & look what happened there. Hugh Porter does a good job as does Jill Douglas, the new guy was awful though, probably due to a lack of cycling knowledge.

 

[woohoo]

The reason I liked the Red Button coverage was, as stated elsewhere, it was racing, commentating, more racing and the occasional Jill Douglas interview. There was none of the "added value" bollox i.e. presenter/host, pre-race interviews etc and , possibly cosequently, less technical and not-so-technical screw-ups.

... and I like Hugh; his depth of knowledge and experience outweigh any stumbles, IMHO.

 

[fungus]

The Sunday coverage is definitely aimed more at the general public & quite rightly if we are to get more people interested in the sport.

 

[woohoo]

The Sunday coverage is definitely aimed more at the general public & quite rightly if we are to get more people interested in the sport.

That may well have been the aim but the execution was woeful.

 

[fungus]

That may well have been the aim but the execution was woeful.

Indeed it was!

 

[zizou]

Depends where they are on their training programmes - The Team GB swimmers up until 2008 used to always be successful at the world swimming championships in the year before the Olympics but would disappoint during the Olympics, whereas i think the rowers tended to be a bit less successful at the world rowing championships in the year before the Olympics than they were at the Olympics.

Although in saying that the mens team sprint are struggling to replace Jamie Staff who was a superb lead out man, a few potentially very good track riders are focused on the road and the big guns like Hoy and Pendleton are probably past their peak and in decline but still competitive - just not dominant like they were 4 years ago.

There was always going to be a decline from the medal haul in Beijing, that was an exceptional games. The team could still have a very successful games winning gold medals yet be looked as "failures" because it wasn't the same amount as 4 years previous!

 

[mcshroom]

The sprinters I would have expected to to better.

In the other events it was quite obvious that the team hadn't really focussed on the meeting. Geraint Jones did the Individual pursuit off of one practise back from road racing because he felt like it. (It used to be the best event but maiking it non-Olympic has killed it IMHO).

They also took our best mens Omnium rider out to lead off the team pursuit. They knew they would win that one anyway but decided to lay down a marker.

For some reason with the road riders we have we never seem to feature too well in the Scratch and Points races.

 

[Noodley]

Remember that it's gonna be one rider per team per event in the 'lympics...there's a lot of good riders going to be sitting watching even if they time it perfectly!

 

[Fab Foodie]

Remember that it's gonna be one rider per team per event in the 'lympics...there's a lot of good riders going to be sitting watching even if they time it perfectly!

How are Noodlettes preparations going?

 

[Noodley]

How are Noodlettes preparations going?

sleep seems to be getting in her way just now...!!!

 

[festival]

I think its fair to say the 'Team GB' domination as we new it is over.
We had the french, germans & aussies dominating certain disciplines in the past but not across such a range of events as our team.

I hesitate to use the word 'lucky' but we certainly took full advantage of being in the right place at the right time.
I am sure we all know the history of how it all kicked off and how it has been built upon and sustained but I believe we caught the rest of the world unprepared but they are now catching up fast .

Having said that it still needed exceptional people on and off the bike to make the plan work, and we should never forget all the hard work put in to get us to the top for so long.
Maybe the massive domination is no more but we will still be a major force, I think we just got a bit spoilt in the last few years.

Of course It could be they have been clever again and we will see them build up from now to peak at the 2012 games.

 

[rich p]

I saw an interview in The Grauniad in which Dave Brailsford needs to step up a gear (ha!), amongst other things.

Sounds like he was saying it as it is rather than making excuses.

I'd hardly expect Hoy, Pendleton etc to come out and say, "Yeah, we're past it - no chance I'm afraid"