[p1tse]

Reporter had asked something along the lines whether tour de France being so close would have affected the results?

Mark, came back with bit of an angry back slash, do you know anything about cycling?

Well actually I don't really, so wandered what he meant at the heat of the moment?

[GBDG1]

They asked if being tired from the TDF was a factor.

It wasn't that team GB faded, it's that it was impossible to pull back the break away alone. It was a poorly informed question.

Besides that, almost everyone in the race, including the winner was in the tour.

[simon ess]

Don't know a lot about cycle racing, but picked up a bit off my brother who's into it big time.

Apparently, there would have been an expectation that all the teams in the peleton should work together to bridge the gap to the leading group. Almost an unwritten understanding.

They didn't.

The feeling is that all the cyclists decided there was no way they were going to help the Brits get within striking distance for the final sprint to the line.

[RMCF]

Could the Brits not just have gone after the leaders themselves earlier?

[shoestring25]

it was stupid tactics by team GB. germany and GB were the only teams with sprinters so no wonder all of the other nations wanted to try breaks aways to avoid a bunch sprint. once all the other nations had riders in the break away no onder they didnt want to catch there own team mates. poor tactics by team GB just becuse it worked at the world championships did they think no one would get wise and try somthing different next time

[GBDG1]

Originally Posted by shoestring25

it was stupid tactics by team GB. germany and GB were the only teams with sprinters so no wonder all of the other nations wanted to try breaks aways to avoid a bunch sprint. once all the other nations had riders in the break away no onder they didnt want to catch there own team mates. poor tactics by team GB just becuse it worked at the world championships did they think no one would get wise and try somthing different next time

Anyone who knows anything about cycling knows it is not a predictable sport. Over 100 riders across 240km....

You can have tactics that will give you tye best shot, but that will never be close to 100%. It is probably 10% at most.

Given that team GB have never won anything in the oylmpic road race, i don't know why it is suddenly expected that we would win under all circumstances. The tactics were right, the team were right and did their best, but it wasn't how it panned out on the day. That is the nature of tgesport. If you want predictable, watch shooting, archery or something.

[wbabbington]

Originally Posted by RMCF

Could the Brits not just have gone after the leaders themselves earlier?

They tried but they were the only team doing the work (Germany did join later but it was too late by then) and 4 guys couldn't pull back a 20+ man break away. But in a road race the trick is not to catch the break away too early. If you do then all that happens is someone else tries to form another one. So teams aim to catch them around the 10km mark. Although it can happen right at the end, like the Cav's penultimate in the Tour de France where he passed them with only 200 meters to go, but this is very rare and it still needs more then one team to help.

[shoestring25]

i dont belive thier tactics were right ptting all your eggs in cavs basket once the brakeaway with multipe nations in it those nations have no incentive to help the peleton catch the brakaway so cav can then beat them in a bunch sprint.

they should of had somone like david miller go with any brakaway and if the peleton hadnt caught the brakaway miller would have at least had a chance to sprint for gold

[GBDG1]

Originally Posted by shoestring25

i dont belive thier tactics were right ptting all your eggs in cavs basket once the brakeaway with multipe nations in it those nations have no incentive to help the peleton catch the brakaway so cav can then beat them in a bunch sprint.

they should of had somone like david miller go with any brakaway and if the peleton hadnt caught the brakaway miller would have at least had a chance to sprint for gold

That would have doomed Cav, and it only became clear that the break away wasn't going to be caught with 10-15km to go. Bare in mind they didn't have team radio, so much harder to work out chasing and gaps than in tge TDF.

Millar would be nowhere near a favorite to get a medal if he was in a break away. You're suggesting that the team abandon the best sprinter to let someone with a medium chance of a medal go up the road? That really would have been mad.