Tokyo Olympics 2020 - Cycling

[TheoG]

I'm still hoping Nino can find some form and give us one last great performance, but its probably wishful thinking ...

[DieselnDust]

22 minutes ago, TheoG said:

I'm still hoping Nino can find some form and give us one last great performance, but its probably wishful thinking ...

I think everyone is sort of hoping that he can but I for one am super keen to see the young guns shine and bring in a new Olympic and XCO era.

MVDP, Tom Pidcock, Alan Hatherley,  etc. N1no had his day, he's got 3 Olympic medals (Bronze in 2008, Silver in 2012 and Gold in 2016. That's his 3 Olympic cycles done. At 35,.....he's going to have to have a special day. Even Flueckiger has never maintain his form for this long. I'd love to know how he's changed hi training regime to keep himself at peak for so long and at 33.

[dsw]

1 hour ago, Vetplant said:

IIRC it was in Rio that Sagan started dead-last and was 3rd by the time they started the proper XC loop?

MvdP will be moving up some places at the start methinks...

Yes, he will for sure move up, but it could come at a cost and is not ideal.

One would like to see that the best rider(s) do not have to start at a disadvantage.

It is nearly like asking Novak Djokovic to play the first set with a weight in his pocket or even left-handed.

Mind you, he will probably still win   

Edited July 20, 2021 by dsw

[Vetplant]

20 minutes ago, dsw said:

Yes, he will for sure move up, but it could come at a cost and is not ideal.

One would like to see that the best rider(s) do not have to start at a disadvantage.

It is nearly like asking Novak Djokovic to play the first set with a weight in his pocket or even left-handed.

Mind you, he will probably still win   

Who, Djoko or Matthieu?

I'm thinking Nino will take it...

[DieselnDust]

There is only 40 riders max in the Mens race and 40 max in the Ladies race so start positioning is not so much a problem as it would be in a UCI WC with 120 riders

[dsw]

36 minutes ago, Vetplant said:

Who, Djoko or Matthieu?

I'm thinking Nino will take it...

It is very hard to predict a winner. Seems the course is super hard while the humidity/heat can also be a factor so it makes predictions even more complicated.

I hope Alan wins and if he does not then either one of Matthieu or Tom Pidcock.

 

[Jbr]

No-one is rooting for the frenchies ? ????

If not Korestky or Sarrou then Alan or VdP are the ones I'd like to see win. But logically I unfortunately think it's going to be between Pidcock and Fluckiger.

For the girls well who can beat Loana?

[DieselnDust]

 Victor has shown himself to be a one hit wonder per season. He's had his hit in 2021.

Jordan is improving but also, generally has one superb performance in him per year. Maybe its going to be in Tokyo but then Alan is right in there as well.

The on form rider is Matthias Fluekiger but I'd be surprised that he can hold his form for so long at 33.

Tom Pidcock and MVP are where the safe money is with Tom being a bit of a question mark since he bailed out of ElsGets with should pain. Three weeks may be enough to recover but he lost quite a bit of form in his recovery.

So MVDP is really the guy to beat

[kosmonooit]

MTB:

I don't think Nino is up to it, its the new kids on the block,. MvdP, Tomo P et al and  Flückiger is in great shape, .... I sincerely hope Alan can medal,  but he will have to get lucky.

Ladies: hard to see past Loana: what incredible results this year, but who knows, other factors could come into play. And I'm going to for PfP and Sparkle Watts on the podium.

 

Edited July 20, 2021 by kosmonooit

[kosmonooit]

Although some doubt in the air

Olympics: Tokyo chief refuses to rule out last-minute cancellation

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/olympics-tokyo-chief-refuses-to-rule-out-last-minute-cancellation/

[DieselnDust]

For the Ladies (they deserve their own post) Its a bit less clear.

We've got more depth for the podium.

Jenny Rissveds

Pauline Ferrand Prevot

Loana Lecomte

Rebecca McConnell

Jolanda Neff, Laura Stigger, Haley Batten  Sina Frei and Kate Courtney are outsiders.

Clearly this is going to be a closer race than the Men.

Smart money says Loana for Gold, Jenny in Silver and PFP in Bronze but the course will require a degree of technical skills than PFP hasn't shown this year.

[DieselnDust]

4 minutes ago, kosmonooit said:

Although some doubt in the air

Olympics: Tokyo chief refuses to rule out last-minute cancellation

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/olympics-tokyo-chief-refuses-to-rule-out-last-minute-cancellation/

cancelling at this point will be the death of the Olympic games

[kosmonooit]

Yes seems inconceivable but.... the Covid poop is hitting the fan there.

[Jewbacca]

I say cancel them. They shouldn't be takin place in the current circumstances but humans NEED to compete, regardless of the consequences.

The world should be focussing of rolling out vaccines and feeding people/relieving the economic stress that is currently destroying the world.

THAT would be the true Olympic Spirit

[Shebeen]

2 hours ago, DieselnDust said:

There is only 40 riders max in the Mens race and 40 max in the Ladies race so start positioning is not so much a problem as it would be in a UCI WC with 120 riders

VERY good point, 

Pidcock was on the back of the grid and moved up to fifth. next weekend with a decent position he won. it will still help but i think there's a chance that mvdp and pidcock are going to hammer the first lap, no matter where they line up

[Shebeen]

44 minutes ago, Jewbacca said:

I say cancel them. They shouldn't be takin place in the current circumstances but humans NEED to compete, regardless of the consequences.

The world should be focussing of rolling out vaccines and feeding people/relieving the economic stress that is currently destroying the world.

THAT would be the true Olympic Spirit

I am still gobsmacked it is actually happeneing, but that ship has sailed. Would need a huge break out in the village to call it off now now. No one really knows what the right thing to do is, but the majority of the money is already spent here and having a running race on a track in Tokyo is not stopping vaccinations elsewhere.

If anything this is a huge test case to how far we can push normaility back in the world. it will no doubt he a global superspreader vector, just how large it is we will only know later.