Road Bike Racing - 2003 Worlds

National elite mens team lineups:

Spain Marcos Serrano, Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (ONCE-Eroski), Gorka Gonzalez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Manuel Beltran (US Postal Service-Berry Floor), Luis Pérez, Iñigo Cuesta (Cofidis), Aitor Osa, Francisco Mancebo (iBanesto.com), Igor Astarloa (Saeco), Alejandro Valverde, Oscar Sevilla (Kelme-Costa Blanca), and Oscar Freire (Rabobank).

Austria Bernhard Eisel (FDJeux.com), Gerrit Glomser (Saeco), Peter Luttenberger (Team CSC), Jochen Summer (Volksbank-IDEAL), Gerhard Trampusch, Peter Wrolich (Gerolsteiner)

Italy Mario Cipollini, Mario Scirea and Giovanni Lombardi (Domina Vacanze), Paolo Bettini and Luca Paolini (Quick.Step-Davitamon), Danilo Di Luca and Fabio Sacchi (Saeco), Francesco Casagrande and Sergio Barbero (Lampre), Ivan Basso (Fassa Bortolo), Paolo Bossoni (Vini Caldirola), Luca Mazzanti (Panaria), Cristian Moreni and Andrea Noè (Alessio) and Daniele Nardello (Telekom)

Germany Rolf Aldag, Torsten Hiekmann, Matthias Kessler, Andreas Klier, Stephan Schreck, Christian Werner, Erik Zabel (Team Telekom), Bert Grabsch (Phonak Hearing Systems), Sebastian Lang, Uwe Peschel, Michael Rich, Ronny Scholz, Fabian Wegmann (Gerolsteiner), Patrick Sinkewitz (Quick Step-Davitamon). Reserves: Sven Hardter (Gerolsteiner), Enrico Poitschke (Wiesenhof Leipzig), Torsten Rund, Raphael Schweda, Malte Urban (Bianchi), Steffen Wesemann (Team Telekom)

Belgium Peter Van Petegem, Axel Merckx, Wim Vansevenant, Christophe Brandt, Serge Baguet (all Lotto-Domo), Tom Boonen and Jurgen Van Goolen (Quick.Step-Davitamon), Dave Bruylandts (Marlux), Philippe Gilbert (FDJeux.com), Nico Sijmens (Vlaanderen-T Interim), Marc Wauters (Rabobank), Mario Aerts (Telekom).

Australia Alan Davis (ONCE), Scott Davis (Ceramiche Panaria), Ben Day (Carvalhelhos Boavista, Australian Open Time Trial Champion), Matt Hayman (Rabobank), Michael Rogers (Quickstep Davitamon), Scott Sunderland (Team Fakta), Matt White (US Postal)

NetherlandsMichael Boogerd, Bram De Groot, Jan Boven, Maarten Den Bakker, Karsten Kroon (all Rabobank), Koos Moerenhout (Lotto-Domo), Bram Schmitz and Gerben Löwik (BankGiroLoterij)

I heard reports, all the way from a year ago, that this year's world's course would have some tough hills. But after looking at some maps and pictures (from the website a few months ago) it doesn't look all that challenging. Think it will be a spinter's race?

after looking at the course map it seems like there is one 1km climb of %10 average gradient, and another 2km climb of %5 average gradient (rough estimations). The course is 12km.

Originally posted by brent_dube
But after looking at some maps and pictures (from the website a few months ago) it doesn't look all that challenging. Think it will be a spinter's race?

after looking at the course map it seems like there is one 1km climb of %10 average gradient, and another 2km climb of %5 average gradient (rough estimations). The course is 12km.

I think the sprinters will be toast before the end of this race. I calculated that the total climbing distance per lap is 212m/695ft. There will be 21 laps. So that works out to 14,000ft of climbing. I was talking to the S.O. of one of the racers over the weekend. She said that they had checked out the course and thought it was going to be very hard.

SteveE

There was a picture looking down what I believe they call the escarpment that did not look like fun at all (unless you're somewhat twisted). Looking at the teams roster posted you have to wonder why half of them are even going. I mean Cipo, give me a break.
Now the question is who looks good for this. Myself I like Bettini or Vinokourov.
Its a shame that Lance and Tyler are not going because this course fits both of their styles of riding.

Bettini has to be the favorite at them moment. Not sure of Vino. I don't know if he's tired or not. Didn't see much of him at the race in San Fran this month. He did just win the Gala Tour de France in Luxembourg. Don't know if that means anything.

It's going to go to someone who's not a natural climber but can get themselves over the hills and yet sprint well. Zabel and a couple Australians come to mind.

This has been a long season for Vino, although I would still consider him a "dark horse". He was at the front of some races in March, when the summer racers were just starting to pile up the miles in training. It would definitely be a very respectable season if he could peak again in October, especially after putting on such a show at the TdF.

Cipo's inclusion may be only based on the fact that he is the defending world champion. He seems to be big on bringing the rainbow jersey to the major races, so I think this is part of it. He hasn't raced in months, so I doubt he thinks he has a shot at winning. I just wonder if it would have been better to include somebody who would help Bettini win instead of just putting on a show.

If he wasn't tired and demoralized by the Vuelta loss, I would also consider Igor Gonzales de Galdeano one of the favorites. He can hang with most of the climbers, as he proved it during the Vuelta and the Tour (especially last year in yellow for a few days), so it'd be interesting to put him up against Bettini or other breakaway specialists, who are better suited for this course.

No one from the USA? We don't have anyone representin'?

:(

Oh sure, you will have Hincappie and Danielson there. Both of whom should like the course. But compared to the European talent.....well.

Actually, Hincappie is getting a nod from a bunch of people as a favorite, but Danielson is not rideing the worlds because he is done for the season (injury), but Landis and Levi will also be helping George out in the road race as well as doing the time trial.

-Matt-

I couldn't find the U.S. lineup.

From cyclingnews.com:

Final US men's selection for Hamilton
USA Cycling has announced the final list of 12 nominees for the elite men's road race at the world championships in Hamilton, Canada:

Bobby Julich
Chris Baldwin
Chris Horner
Christian Vandevelde
David Clinger
Floyd Landis
George Hincapie
Guido Trenti
John Leiswyn
Levi Leipheimer
Mark McCormack
Tim Johnson

-Matt-

Thanks for the info, Matt!

Koffee

France Laurent Brochard and Andy Flickinger (Ag2R-Prévoyance), Sylvain Chavanel, Maryan Hary, Franck Renier (Brioches La Boulangère), David Moncoutié, Cédric Vasseur (Cofidis), Nicolas Fritsch (FDJeux.com), Samuel Dumoulin, and Patrice Halgand (Jean Delatour).

Damn. I was really hoping that OLN would be showing the worlds. All we get to see are some highlites on their sports zone show. Big f'ing deal.

It looks like their cycling coverage is done for the year. No worlds, no Paris-Tours, no Tour of Lombardy.

Originally posted by Laggard
Damn. I was really hoping that OLN would be showing the worlds. All we get to see are some highlites on their sports zone show. Big f'ing deal.

It looks like their cycling coverage is done for the year. No worlds, no Paris-Tours, no Tour of Lombardy.


That Sucks:( I was looking forward to watching the Worlds

None of you guys get CBC? You would rather watch an hour long highlight show, two weeks after the race, than see it live by a real station?

We get every channel our cable provider offers (300+ channels) but no CBC.

Damn.

Originally posted by brent_dube
I heard reports, all the way from a year ago, that this year's world's course would have some tough hills. But after looking at some maps and pictures (from the website a few months ago) it doesn't look all that challenging. Think it will be a spinter's race?

after looking at the course map it seems like there is one 1km climb of %10 average gradient, and another 2km climb of %5 average gradient (rough estimations). The course is 12km.

I think the sprinters will be long gone before the end of this race. Those hills on the escarpment are much steeper in person than they look on any website. I have ridden there many times and they are a killer. Just the total length of this race will have people dropping off the back end. If I am not mistaken it is 169 miles long which is 270 km. That is a lot longer than most of these guys race in any stage races where lengths seem to be around 170 - 210 km. I read somewhere that the race organizers are expecting the race to take somewhere in the neighbourhood of 6.5 hours to complete. The weather could be a huge factor as well. It is getting awfully cool up in Canada right now and snow is expected to hit sections of Ontario this week.

I am looking forward to seeing a great race but disappointed that many of the top names will not be here. I am still thinking I might get a chance to get there and see it live which would be really great. Not many chances for North Americans to see this quality of racing.

Originally posted by Laggard
We get every channel our cable provider offers (300+ channels) but no CBC.

Damn.

ahh that sucks :(

CBC is one of our basic (0-30) channels

Here's a link to the official site that shows who's confirmed for the men's elite race and where they're from:

http://www.hamilton2003.com/Hamilton2003Participants/em_rr.html

Whoops, and a link for who's confirmed for the time trial:

http://www.hamilton2003.com/Hamilton2003Participants/em_tt.html

Today is the mens ITT.

Is anyone able to record the race on sunday for me? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeease.

I am so lucky to work right alongside the James Street hill where I have just spent my lunch hour standing at the sidelines watching the Elite Men's time trials. I'll be out there again tomorrow to watch the Men under 23 race and then on Saturday I'll cycle over to watch the Junior Men's Road race. In fact, I can look out of my office window and see some of the action. The television helicopters are hovering overhead; the weather is superb; there are tourists here from around the world and there is a lot of excitement here in Hamilton.

Wow, what a rush!

Mens ITT Final

1 David Millar (Great Britain) 51.17.3
2 Michael Rogers (Australia) 1.25.1
3 Uwe Peschel (Germany) 1.25.6
4 Michael Rich (Germany) 1.35.7
5 Isidro Nozal Vega (Spain) 1.39.5
6 Dario Frigo (Italy) 1.51.5
7 Viatcheslav Ekimov (Russia) 1.58.4
8 Marc Wauters (Belgium) 2.07.3
9 Michal Hrazdira (Czech Republic) 2.13.3
10 Bert Roesems (Belgium) 2.15.8

WOW did Millar smoke them or what?

Millar looked incredibly steady through that TT. He was so far ahead on the first lap that I figured he was going to lose some time on the second, but wow. All the way to the end, he didnt seem to flinch at all above the legs. Incredibly smooth.

Ekimov continues to amaze me with his ability to be so competitive at his age.

One of these will win:

Zabel
Bettini
Hincapie
Lombardi
Freire

I'll pick an Italian.

I'd like to see Hincapie pull off a victory, but I don't see it actually happening.

Well, it's over and I'm too pissed at CyclingNews.com's live coverage to really care.

Hey guys

I was actually there today and got an opportunity to ride the course beforehand

It's actually pretty tough. The initial climb isn't so bad but the second climb up the Clairemont Access is brutal because it's just so long.

No one has any thoughts on this?

I was suprised that the main field was so large, all the way until the end. I guess the race wasn't paced that quickly (Im assuming this from a few comments from riders interviews)

Check this out:

Interview with Igor Astarloa on velonews

Q: Van Petegem, Bettini, Boogerd - that's quite a group to fight against in the worlds!
A: "That's true, but we didn't understand each other very well. Nearing the final climb, Bettini offered me money to collaborate with him. He told me we could both arrive to the finish together and fight it out for the gold. I couldn't accept this. The main group was nearly catching us and I could see that (Bettini) was afraid of Freire of winning the bunch sprint. I also knew that Bettini was faster than me and I decided to go for it alone. I knew it would be hard against a head wind, but I had to try. Only when I arrived at the final curve did I realize the title would be mine."


haha!

I had to be out of town for race day and ended arriving home too late to go down and see the men's championship, had to watch the last 4 laps on television. The race looked great on tv, but I wasn't impressed at all with the commentators and the camera work, especially at the finish. Canadian Mike Barry was in the lead of the pack going for second in the final sprint along Main St. The cameras focussed on Igor Astarloa waving and celebrating (he'd already won the race) as the pack was crossing the finish line. Barry finished 7th, a huge surprise and a great finish for Canada, but it would have been great to see some of the battle for second. Any other comments on coverage? I thought Hamilton looked pretty good on TV!

I was suprised that the main field was so large, all the way until the end. I guess the race wasn't paced that quickly (Im assuming this from a few comments from riders interviews)

Check this out:

Interview with Igor Astarloa on velonews

Q: Van Petegem, Bettini, Boogerd - that's quite a group to fight against in the worlds!
A: "That's true, but we didn't understand each other very well. Nearing the final climb, Bettini offered me money to collaborate with him. He told me we could both arrive to the finish together and fight it out for the gold. I couldn't accept this. The main group was nearly catching us and I could see that (Bettini) was afraid of Freire of winning the bunch sprint. I also knew that Bettini was faster than me and I decided to go for it alone. I knew it would be hard against a head wind, but I had to try. Only when I arrived at the final curve did I realize the title would be mine."


haha!


He (Igor) has since retracted that statement. Says he misunderstood Bettini...language problem. He apologized to Bettini who accepted. Of course, there are now legal threats against poor old Igor by the Italian Federation.