Olympics

RtD

Seeing as the Olmpics are almost upon us I have realised that I know very little about the Irish team. From what I can see we have two in the Road Race, Nicholas Roche and Philip Deignan, one on the track, David O'Loughlin in the 4k Individual Pursuit, and a mountain biker, Robin Seymour. While I've heard some of the names before I don't know how they stand up internationally, are any of them in with a outside chance of a medal?

omri

http://www.olympicsport.ie/

this will help you

Quigs Snr

I'd be surprised if both Roche and Deignan finished, especially Deignan. O'Loughlin is our best medal hope but I'd say 6th place will be as good as it gets (but am hoping for more, in David's case he had to qualify to get there so for him, its a wonderful achievement to even be there).

fish-head

I think it's cool that they're there at all.

Chips Lovell

Deignan and Roche are good young riders, but they are up against the best in the world here. Their only chance of a medal is getting in a break that stays away. Of the pair, Roche has probably the better of two very slim chances. He's a more powerful rider and probably better able to place if it came down to a small group sprint.

As for the favourites, if you look at the parcours, the start is flat, but the second half of the race a loop of short climbs. It favours the hilly classics specialists, guys who would win in the Ardennes classics or the Giro de Lombardia.

I'd say Valverde is probably the the favourite. He's already won Liege Bastogne Liege this year and won the Classica San Sebastian last weekend. It's his kind of race (unlike the Tour de France).

It would also be perfect for Bettini, the defending champion, but I think he's long past his best now. He hasn't shown much form all year. Then again, he had a crappy season last year too and still managed to pull it out of the bag to win the Worlds.

If Schumacher manages to bring his Tour de France form with him, he's also a threat. Same with Frank Schleck. I'd also be looking out for guys like Rebellin and Kirchen.

Contador is also going for this and I'd say he might have it in him to do it. While he's more of a stage racer, he seems determined to win everything he can this year since he wasn't invited to the Tour.

Big unknown will be the conditions. It'll be very hot, very humid and the air is meant to be quite smoggy.

I see Eurosport are showing it between 6:15 and 9:15 on Saturday morning. Something to watch before heading out on the Boards spin.

TinyExplosions

'm in London and don't have eurosport so can't watch it, but my money's on kim kirchen -with only 5 man teams it'll be hard for any one country to control it, but I know i'd love to have the schlecks as my domestiques. Think the Spanish team is very strong but can see some infighting between contador and sastre as to who'll be the number one rider

Junior

I would have thought Martin and or Power would have been good bets for this team, can someone explain why we only sent two cyclists to the road race when there are teams of five ?

stuf

TinyExplosions wrote: »

'm in London and don't have eurosport so can't watch it

it's on the bbc too - probably won't get start to finish coverage on BBC1 but if you have freeview or sky then you'll get it on the red button.

Full guide of the beeb's coverage here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sol/shared/bsp/hi/olympics2008/epg/html/epg.stm

justfortherecor

Think its on the iplayer as well on the BBC website if you're in the UK. In fact, I think almost all events are!

Dodge

Junior wrote: »

I would have thought Martin and or Power would have been good bets for this team, can someone explain why we only sent two cyclists to the road race when there are teams of five ?

Its based on UCI rankings. Spain, Italy, Germany, Australia etc get five. We're a bit down the list and got 2 places (we had 2 last time and one in 2000). Martin's rise to superstardom came a little too late for selection, and Power simply hasn't raced enough in Europe this year. They selected the 2 riders we have on pro-tour teams.

I actually think the course is a little too hilly for Roche but Deignen should last the pace. Its a bit much expecting a man who hasn't won a pro race to medal here though. If he gets intot e right break like Power in Athens, he could do OK though (and if Roche gets into the right break he has an even better chance).

I'd go with Kirchen or Valverde

The time table for Irish cyclists is (with Irish times)

Saturday 9th
04.00-10.15 Road Race (Roche, Deignan)

Friday 15th
09.55-10.45 Individual Pursuit Qual (O'Loughlin)
Saturday 16th
09.30-09.50 Individual Pursuit 1st rd (O'Loughlin)
11.50-12.00 Individual Pursuit medal races (O'Loughlin)

Saturday 23rd
08.00-10.15 Cross Country MTB (Seymour)

TinyExplosions

I hadn't thought o that guys, can watch online if freeview don't work (reception is poor here on the freeview

Drapper

Saturday 23rd
08.00-10.15 Cross Country MTB (Seymour)

where can I watch this??

Dodge

Drapper wrote: »

Saturday 23rd
08.00-10.15 Cross Country MTB (Seymour)

where can I watch this??

RTE are showing 4/5 sports simultaneously online. They might. But its too early to say yet

wideangle

Do not forget to watch the bmx racing,it's the first time in the olympics and deserves a look.There is no Irish bmx team for this,
(cycling Ireland get it sorted!!)but still maybe for London 2012 there will be??

ChipPanBuddha

wideangle wrote: »

Do not forget to watch the bmx racing,it's the first time in the olympics and deserves a look.There is no Irish bmx team for this,
(cycling Ireland get it sorted!!)but still maybe for London 2012 there will be??

You would think that with our pot holed roads and crazy, obstacle course style "cycle lanes" we would be well able to put together a strong BMX squad. Maybe Dublin City Council has us all in training for London 2012 without us actually realising it.:D

TinyExplosions

Well, who'd have thought that would be how it finished?

bwardrop

We also have a strong team qualified for the Paralympic Games - http://www.pcireland.ie/beijing2008.team.php

We are leaving for Beijing on the 24th Aug, competition starts on the 7th Sept. Well worth keeping an eye on - there will be coverage on RTE.

E@gle.

I think Roche came in around 60th place and Deignan around 80th about 10 minutes after the winner. It was great to see the irish lads even finish the race which was described byu sean kelly as the hardest olmypic road race in history.
Its great to see the lads finish when names like alberto contador dropped out

penexpers

Updated : Roche finished 52nd, Deignan didn't finish.

psycholist

penexpers wrote: »

Updated : Roche finished 52nd, Deignan didn't finish.

dont listen to RTÉ!
Deignan was 81st
& Roche 64th

http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/CR/C73R/CRM012101.shtml#CRM012101

Hermy

This from the Irish Times - who's right?

Roche, son of former Tour de France winner Stephen, came home in 64th place. His time of 6 hours 34.26 minutes was some 13 minutes behind the winner.
Deignan finished 81st of the 90 finishers with many of the field failing to complete what has been described as one of the toughest courses ever.
© 2008 The Irish Times

psycholist

id go with the official result

http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/CR/C73R/CRM012101.shtml#CRM012101
and the times;)

Hermy

RTE made a mistake?:eek:

kenmc

OOOOooooohhhhhh....
Athlete Biography
DEIGNAN Philip

Place of Birth: Donegal(Great Britain)

:eek:

Wow, some big names DNF.

wideangle

Hermy wrote: »

RTE made a mistake?:eek:

RTE IS a mistake!!

wideangle

ChipPanBuddha wrote: »

You would think that with our pot holed roads and crazy, obstacle course style "cycle lanes" we would be well able to put together a strong BMX squad. Maybe Dublin City Council has us all in training for London 2012 without us actually realising it.:D

Lol!!!

Hermy

wideangle wrote: »

RTE IS a mistake!!

Indeed!:D

quietobserver

Yea RTE got it wrong, Roche 64th and Deignan 81st, and when you see the names of many of those that DNF its a credit to the lads on their achievement.
Easy sit here and say that others might have represented Ireland better but in my opinion the two strongest riders were sent, riders finishing 13th does need to be recognised but doesnt warrant inclusion, as they say your as good as your last race.

Chips Lovell

kenmc wrote: »

Wow, some big names DNF.

It's par for the course with races like this. Once their chance is gone many people simply drop out rather than ride on. Same deal with the World Championships. The fact that the both are done over laps of a short enough circuit makes it easy to just pull in near the finish line.

kenmc

oh sure, i understand why they do it, just some of the names as DNFers surprised me

Caroline_ie

Anyone watching this today? I am! Go Jeannie!!!! ( I'm home so I might as well cheer for the French, the only women's cycling legend Longo )

Bicyclegadabout

Would it be wise to put money on basically every British cyclist in the Olympics?

stuf

Bicyclegadabout wrote: »

Would it be wise to put money on basically every British cyclist in the Olympics?

Na - just every one on the track Seriously though there won't be quite the same whitewash on the track as in the World's because a few key riders were no shows there.

Great ride there by Cooke - that finish looked like a killer

Diarmuid

el tonto wrote: »

It's par for the course with races like this. Once their chance is gone many people simply drop out rather than ride on.

I think a bigger factor was the humidity. It was at 96% !! Incredible.
Cancellera charge to bridge the gap in the last lap was amazing. What a brutal show of strength!

justfortherecor

The tactics today were all over the place. Didn't think the 5 breakaways would stay out, there was a lot of freewheeling and looking at each other for the last 6km and the peleton was only 10-15secs back!
Just as well the peleton was equally disorganised, only the germans seemed willing to try and catch.

Regardless, fair play to Cooke. Thought she'd blown it in the last 1k, but to get back in contention and then win it was very impressive.

Caroline_ie

Diarmuid wrote: »

Cancellera charge to bridge the gap in the last lap was amazing. What a brutal show of strength!

That was all thanks to the Assos shorts ... those tags are amazing ...

stuf

justfortherecor wrote: »

Regardless, fair play to Cooke. Thought she'd blown it in the last 1k, but to get back in contention and then win it was very impressive.

She was just interviewed on the BBC and she said that the corner where she dropped off the back was deliberate. She knew that it was going to be very slick and the big rise on the other side would let her get back to them. Saw the replay and the cameras lost about 20 meters while switching from one shot to the next which made everyone think that something had happened on the corner.

Malari

Diarmuid wrote: »

Cancellera charge to bridge the gap in the last lap was amazing. What a brutal show of strength!

Yeah, did you hear the RTE commentary though? "Oh, I think it's a German rider coming across now...no it's a Swiss rider"...[silence while he waits for name to come up on screen] "It's Cancellara! Obviously a rider trying to make a name for himself!!"

Think he's already done that, mate!

E@gle.

Bad news for cycling in the olympics today 1st postive test and WADA may ask olympic commitee to remove cycling from the olympics

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2008/aug08/aug11news2

petethedrummer

"Some sports such as weightlifting have a pretty bad record and that is demonstrated time and again with numerous athletes from that sport," Fahey told the Associated Press. "I think weightlifting understands, as cycling understands, that there is a huge risk for both those sports if the cheating is continued and continued to be exposed."

By that logic they would have to remove most of the track & field events too.

E@gle.

petethedrummer wrote: »

By that logic they would have to remove most of the track & field events too.

aye and most of the "dope taking horses"

quietobserver

i guess the pressure is on cycling though to prove itself. its so unfortunate that theres a media crew out there hell bent on bringing it down, ok its got problems all sports have, but flogging a dead horse wont bring it back to life.

Chips Lovell

Yes, it's the media's fault that cyclists are doping.

quietobserver

el tonto wrote: »

Yes, it's the media's fault that cyclists are doping.

well read it as you like, but im not blaming the media, cyclists (athletes of all sports) decide what goes into their body, there will always be cheaters.

but as in all sports the pressures brought about by fame and fortune are connected to the media circus through the sponors, the bonuses and all that will come with it, so yea in a round about way its the medias fault:D

TinyExplosions

I blame the parents...

Bambaata

E@gle. wrote: »

aye and most of the "dope taking horses"

Damn those pesky horses!! There's just no controlling them anymore

petethedrummer

TinyExplosions wrote: »

I blame the parents...

It's Fianna Fail's fault.