The 2012 London Olympic Games

[ryanman]

Australia's Mick Rogers, a team-mate of Mark Cavendish at Team Sky, talking on BBC Radio 5 live about Cav missing out on a tilt at gold: "We knew that Cav is the quickest sprinter and he is also in a very strong team. We tried to put a few in them in the early break and Stuart O'Grady was there.
"Cavendish is a great athlete. He is the world's fastest man. I've known him for years. He came into this race as the favourite, that is the way the Olympics is. Credit to him, his team gave it the best. They rode strong and took the race by the horns. They really took responsibility for it but that's cycling."

Mark Cavendish on BBC Radio 5 live: "We rode the exact race we wanted to ride. We wanted to control it and we wanted the group at a minute. We expected teams to come and chase at the end with us. We controlled it with four guys for 250 km and we couldn't do more. We are human beings.
There was a group of 22 who got away and we couldn't pull them back. The four guys who ran all day couldn't do it. The Germans came a bit too late and the other teams seemed to be more content that they wouldn't win as long as we didn't win. That's kind of how it goes.
"I can be proud of how the lads rode today. I'm proud of my country as there was incredible support. The guys are sat there, they are spent. They have got nothing left in the tank. It's incredible to see that. To see what they gave for the cause."

[Beanz]

I stand corrected @ryanman It's a shame that other teams are happy to put up with being so petty and cultivating that kind of mentality.

[Beanz]

I stand corrected @ryanman It's a shame that other teams are happy to put up with being so petty and cultivating that kind of mentality.

[Beanz]

I stand corrected @ryanman It's a shame that other teams are happy to put up with being so petty and cultivating that kind of mentality.

[ryanman]

I stand corrected @ryanman It's a shame that other teams are happy to put up with being so petty and cultivating that kind of mentality.

You're a good man Greenbeanz.

[ryanman]

No need to say it 3 times though!

[superheavyrhun]

When it comes to cycling, I don't think we can start slinging any mud about doping Ryan.

I agree that most of the teams were happy to let GB do all the work, and just expected them to drag the attacks back. I reckon if they'd have had a team car and radios it might have been a different story, with the Germans coming into the mix much earlier when they realise that GB weren't pulling back the breakaway.

[Howlin Mad Missy]

I stand corrected @ryanman It's a shame that other teams are happy to put up with being so petty and cultivating that kind of mentality.

You're a good man Greenbeanz.

unless he's taking the piss and suggesting all teams are in it for themselves, why should they help us out.

[ryanman]

I stand corrected @ryanman It's a shame that other teams are happy to put up with being so petty and cultivating that kind of mentality.

You're a good man Greenbeanz.

unless he's taking the piss and suggesting all teams are in it for themselves, why should they help us out.

Because if any of the other teams that didn't have a man in the breakaway had any designs on winning anything themselves then they had a responsibility to share the job of pacing the peloton back.

[superheavyrhun]

I stand corrected @ryanman It's a shame that other teams are happy to put up with being so petty and cultivating that kind of mentality.

You're a good man Greenbeanz.

unless he's taking the piss and suggesting all teams are in it for themselves, why should they help us out.

Because if any of the other teams that didn't have a man in the breakaway had any designs on winning anything themselves then they had a responsibility to share the job of pacing the peloton back.

I believe the main culprits here are those notorious villains Ze Germans. Because it was such a big breakaway there were few teams who could contribute that actually didn't have anyone in there. But typical Germans.

[Beanz]

I posted 3 times in error because I was at a Jazz and Blues festival on Plymouth's historic barbican (from whence the Pilgrim fathers departed for the U S of A) and the signal was dodgy on my phone.

[Gandalf]

We have noone to blame but ourselves for the cycling. If you give away the first 4 rounds you are in trouble. Unfortunately we allowed the leading pack to get away. You have to dictate on your own terms, you cannot blame anyone else.

I'm not impressed at the London dictators arresting scores of cyclist protesters either. The Olympics is a pretty much a corporate exercise veiled as sports. Anyone who dissents at the machine is automatically locked up. It's not cool and as a protest I will go back out to the pub and ignore it all. All you can do is ignore these things. I was only rebelling against the opening ceremony, but I think that should be expanded upon.

Patriotism is to do what you think is right. I would agree with the entire football team booing their own national anthem. That to me is true patriotism. To say no to the despot rulers.

[ryanman]

We have noone to blame but ourselves for the cycling. If you give away the first 4 rounds you are in trouble. Unfortunately we allowed the leading pack to get away. You have to dictate on your own terms, you cannot blame anyone else.

I'm not impressed at the London dictators arresting scores of cyclist protesters either. The Olympics is a pretty much a corporate exercise veiled as sports. Anyone who dissents at the machine is automatically locked up. It's not cool and as a protest I will go back out to the pub and ignore it all. All you can do is ignore these things. I was only rebelling against the opening ceremony, but I think that should be expanded upon.

Patriotism is to do what you think is right. I would agree with the entire football team booing their own national anthem. That to me is true patriotism. To say no to the despot rulers.

It doesn't really work like that in cycling Miles.
Breakaway attempts happen all the time. You simply cannot, over 250km, pull every one back in straight away. You would be nowhere pretty quickly if you expended that much energy. What happens is when one breakaway becomes a real threat the peleton (the main pack) works together to bring it back. One 4 man team cannot do that alone - It is impossible. This is what occurs in every single road race and every stage of the grand tours. But, because of the size of the breakaway, and the potency of the British team, no other members of the peleton did any work whatsoever to bring the breakaway back. Therefore Britain (IE Cavendish) had no chance. The rest of the pack refused to work. In cycling that is unacceptable. The teams that had a man in the breakaway obviously had a clear reason to not help the peleton but those that didn't refused to help so that they could save their energy for the sprint, thinking that GB would do all the work. But it was impossibe and therefore they all missed out too.

[Howlin Mad Missy]

We have noone to blame but ourselves for the cycling. If you give away the first 4 rounds you are in trouble. Unfortunately we allowed the leading pack to get away. You have to dictate on your own terms, you cannot blame anyone else.

I'm not impressed at the London dictators arresting scores of cyclist protesters either. The Olympics is a pretty much a corporate exercise veiled as sports. Anyone who dissents at the machine is automatically locked up. It's not cool and as a protest I will go back out to the pub and ignore it all. All you can do is ignore these things. I was only rebelling against the opening ceremony, but I think that should be expanded upon.

Patriotism is to do what you think is right. I would agree with the entire football team booing their own national anthem. That to me is true patriotism. To say no to the despot rulers.

It doesn't really work like that in cycling Miles.
Breakaway attempts happen all the time. You simply cannot, over 250km, pull every one back in straight away. You would be nowhere pretty quickly if you expended that much energy. What happens is when one breakaway becomes a real threat the peleton (the main pack) works together to bring it back. One 4 man team cannot do that alone - It is impossible. This is what occurs in every single road race and every stage of the grand tours. But, because of the size of the breakaway, and the potency of the British team, no other members of the peleton did any work whatsoever to bring the breakaway back. Therefore Britain (IE Cavendish) had no chance. The rest of the pack refused to work. In cycling that is unacceptable. The teams that had a man in the breakaway obviously had a clear reason to not help the peleton but those that didn't refused to help so that they could save their energy for the sprint, thinking that GB would do all the work. But it was impossibe and therefore they all missed out too.

and serves em right

[ryanman]

We have noone to blame but ourselves for the cycling. If you give away the first 4 rounds you are in trouble. Unfortunately we allowed the leading pack to get away. You have to dictate on your own terms, you cannot blame anyone else.

I'm not impressed at the London dictators arresting scores of cyclist protesters either. The Olympics is a pretty much a corporate exercise veiled as sports. Anyone who dissents at the machine is automatically locked up. It's not cool and as a protest I will go back out to the pub and ignore it all. All you can do is ignore these things. I was only rebelling against the opening ceremony, but I think that should be expanded upon.

Patriotism is to do what you think is right. I would agree with the entire football team booing their own national anthem. That to me is true patriotism. To say no to the despot rulers.

It doesn't really work like that in cycling Miles.
Breakaway attempts happen all the time. You simply cannot, over 250km, pull every one back in straight away. You would be nowhere pretty quickly if you expended that much energy. What happens is when one breakaway becomes a real threat the peleton (the main pack) works together to bring it back. One 4 man team cannot do that alone - It is impossible. This is what occurs in every single road race and every stage of the grand tours. But, because of the size of the breakaway, and the potency of the British team, no other members of the peleton did any work whatsoever to bring the breakaway back. Therefore Britain (IE Cavendish) had no chance. The rest of the pack refused to work. In cycling that is unacceptable. The teams that had a man in the breakaway obviously had a clear reason to not help the peleton but those that didn't refused to help so that they could save their energy for the sprint, thinking that GB would do all the work. But it was impossibe and therefore they all missed out too.

and serves em right

Indeed.