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Qatar has 250,000 locals plus loads of expats. Also standing around outside is generally not popular, expats would father watch on tv in a hotel over brunch and a cold beer or 4. Also for locals and many expats today is a work day
How childish!
yes but entertaining given not much is happening in the race
Ha DagenKolb giving the guy two fingers.. no one.. oh...
So the procession is coming to an end lets hope the end lives up to the incredibly slow build up
Last lap ad the inevitable sprint finish is coming
Boonen has the cards but who has the legs
So, where's your money? based on the ladies race, the winner won't be Belgian so it's either Cav or Bling Matthews for me.
A race with a split and a breakaway which has been almost as boring as the whole bunch riding in to the finish. At least the last 2 hours of it I've "watched" (well it's been on the TV). John Degenkolb has provided the highlight so far - I presume he didn't have wee in that bottle though?
Is the race about to start now?
So, where's your money?
Cav. Or if not a post finish argument from Cav after he's blocked. 8)
I think he and Blythe have avoided making an effort - they've hid nicely.
Another 4-5km yet beej
And the spectator is going wild!
SAGAN wins a straight out sprint- that surprised me as i did not think he had the legs
Impressive
Who's Cav blaming do we think? Definitely had a look round to someone
Edit: probably just moaning at Bling being on his road
Unlucky Cav, got slightly held up.
Cav should have taken Blyth's wheel - it was clear that he was going quicker than Sagan at the finish, but got slightly held up on the way through
MTBer wins it!
Who's Cav blaming do we think?
Matthews. Had to laugh at him explaining the issues to those clueless looking ladies at the end, and them like " yeah, erm ok Mr famous bloke, not really sure what you are saying TBH"
Great to see Tomke back on the podium, I was plugging for him deep down.
But hey, Sagan for another year... brilliant.
Blimey. Nice way to round off a season in the stripey jersey! Sagan to make it his own over the next few years like he's done with green?
Depends on the course. If they go for hillier courses then it'll be someone else's turn. Which given the next three years will be Bergen, Innsbruck and Yorkshire they might well be hilly.
Actually looking at it the Bergen course might well be Sagan friendly too!
Froome for the TT? http://www.uci.ch/pressreleases/ling-the-spectacular-routes-for-the-207-uci-road-world-championships-bergen/
Wow, that is an unusual TT course - has there ever been a summit finish before? I don't think TM will be defending his title! It certainly looks like Froome's best ever shot at it.
I don't think there has been a summit finish for a Worlds TT before. Quite a short TT too.
In terms of distance maybe - I should think the winning time will be quite similar to this year.
Cav should have taken Blyth's wheel
I would imagine Blyth with have a few words - he rode an almost perfect race in support right up until the point that Cav thought naa I'll follow this other bloke up a blind alley.
For all Millar was saying about Cav making good split second decisions, I've watched the finish a few times and still think that was his big mistake - Blyth gave a great leadout if he'd bothered using it. Cav seemed to be too stuck with plan A.
I don't think you can criticise Cav too much as he has done similar before and its come off. Also was Blyth really going to lead out Cav in the perfect race probably not, so they might not have practiced together all that much.
Why did the UCI hold the race on a work day in Qatar, seems odd. Could they not have raced on Saturday?
[quote=dragon ]Why did the UCI hold the race on a work day in Qatar, seems odd.
Millions of francs. You could of course have missed out the "on a work day" part of that question. The mens elite road race is of course always held on a Sunday, and the UCI did at least stop short of changing the schedule. I'm not sure I saw too many spectators for the women's race yesterday anyway.
Who's Cav blaming do we think?
No-one: "[i]I am just disappointed I messed up tactically,[/i]" Cavendish told BBC Sport.
I know why they are in Qatar, for the UCI it was about the money and for Qatar it was about promotion and part of their move to position themselves in a post O&G world. But still could have put the men on Saturday and made a better effort with hospitality tents, big screens etc. Will need to significantly up their game for the World Cup.
Funny next year is an O&G city as well with Bergen.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/mark-cavendish-i-feel-like-i-lost-gold-rather-than-won-silver/
Seems like cav blames himself and wishes he'd stuck with Blythe?
Would have loved another Brit winner but Happy it's Sagan out of the alternatives!