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10-11-03, 03:44 PM
First off, congrats to the Swede that won (forget her name, last year's champ). But why wasn't she wearing her stripes? Don't women get them (Nicole Cooke didn't have them on her sleeves, dispite being 3-times a World champ)?
Anyway, to the rest of the race. Why, when Jennie Longo was ten, fifteen, twenty seconds off the front, was the chaisng pack not, well, chasing? They all seemed to be just farting around, waiting for everyone else to make the move. I know that every one of them wanted to win (and thus not go first), but surely if no-one went then Longo wouldn't get caught. In the end she was, but only inside the last 1500m or so, and she still finished an impresive seventh (even more impressive as she is 44 years young :) ).
And another thing, why did Cooke decide to attack on the big decent on the third-from-last lap? Why that early in the race? Why not on the climb? I was worried that she would tire herself out too early, but she still seemed to have the juice to stay with the leading bunch and finish third, if only by an inch or two. As good as I know she is (World Cup champ and all), her strategy for this race didn't seem as good as it could have been. She didn't really look comfortable at the head of the pack, where she spent a lot of time on the last two laps; and she was in a bad position as the sprint started, and had to change her line a few times. Could it be that the lack of 'team' backup hindered her chances? Of course during the World cup races she has at least a few allies to help her during the day, but today only one other Brit finished (as far as I know) and she was a long way behind, leaving Nicole without a leadoff wheel for the sprint.
One last thing, I saw on Eurosport that one of the guys in the Junior race was badly hurt in a crash. Anyone know his condition? I really hope he's OK, no-one wants to see someone get injured, especially at such a young age.
Anyway, to the rest of the race. Why, when Jennie Longo was ten, fifteen, twenty seconds off the front, was the chaisng pack not, well, chasing? They all seemed to be just farting around, waiting for everyone else to make the move. I know that every one of them wanted to win (and thus not go first), but surely if no-one went then Longo wouldn't get caught. In the end she was, but only inside the last 1500m or so, and she still finished an impresive seventh (even more impressive as she is 44 years young :) ).
And another thing, why did Cooke decide to attack on the big decent on the third-from-last lap? Why that early in the race? Why not on the climb? I was worried that she would tire herself out too early, but she still seemed to have the juice to stay with the leading bunch and finish third, if only by an inch or two. As good as I know she is (World Cup champ and all), her strategy for this race didn't seem as good as it could have been. She didn't really look comfortable at the head of the pack, where she spent a lot of time on the last two laps; and she was in a bad position as the sprint started, and had to change her line a few times. Could it be that the lack of 'team' backup hindered her chances? Of course during the World cup races she has at least a few allies to help her during the day, but today only one other Brit finished (as far as I know) and she was a long way behind, leaving Nicole without a leadoff wheel for the sprint.
One last thing, I saw on Eurosport that one of the guys in the Junior race was badly hurt in a crash. Anyone know his condition? I really hope he's OK, no-one wants to see someone get injured, especially at such a young age.