UCI Road World Championships, en 18-25

8/2/2019 UCI Road World Championships, en 18-25

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T E A M W O R K P A Y S O F F F O R B R I T A I N

UCI Road WorldChampionships, Copenhagen,

18-25 September 2011


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What?

"We've established Great Britain as the dominantforce in world cycling," Mark Cavendish said, anhour after his historic achievement of becoming

world champion in the men's road race outsideCopenhagen. His triumph was yet more evidence ofthe slow, steady but apparently unstoppable progressin British Cycling made in the two decades since

Chris Boardman won Olympic gold in the Barcelonavelodrome.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/cyclinghttp://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/markcavendishhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/sep/25/mark-cavendish-road-world-cyclinghttp://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/sep/25/mark-cavendish-road-world-cyclinghttp://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/sep/25/mark-cavendish-road-world-cyclinghttp://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/sep/25/mark-cavendish-road-world-cyclinghttp://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/sep/25/mark-cavendish-road-world-cyclinghttp://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/sep/25/mark-cavendish-road-world-cyclinghttp://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/markcavendishhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/cycling


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Who?

Despite 20 Tour stage wins in the famous Tour DeFrance, Mark Cavendish still found himself, only afew weeks before it, sitting on a breakfast TV sofa

and being asked if he rode his bike to the shops. Among Britain's men, only Tom Simpson had

previously won it, in 1965, two years before hisdeath. Later in the year Mark would go on to win the

prestigious BBC Sports Personality of the Yearaward.


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Who else?


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How?

It took remarkable planning and phenomenaldevotion hallmarks of British Cycling under PeterKeen and Dave Brailsford to win the race.

"Even three years ago we'd have struggled to put insuch a strong squad," Geraint Thomas saidafterwards. "We could easily have sat back andambled a bit and let the other teams ride but this was

our race and we wanted to give it everything."


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Cavendish was relying on Bradley Wiggins (3 timeOlympic Gold Medallist) and David Millar (theCaptain) to deliver him to the last 500m with GeraintThomas launching him into the final sprint. The restof the GB team was made up of Chris Froome, SteveCummings, Jeremy Hunt and Ian Stannard.

They were not paid.

None of his team mates received a medal.


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The "aggregation of marginal gains"

GB cycling team believes in getting the details right.Tiny details. The black helmet in which MarkCavendish won the world championship on wascarefully customised, its ventilation holes covered

with thin plastic. Result: better aerodynamics, savinga handful of the watts in which cyclists measure theirpower.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/markcavendishhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/markcavendishhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/markcavendishhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/markcavendish


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He was wearing a one-piece skinsuit, too. So werethe other seven members of the Great Britain team,including one veteran who had to be coaxed into theunfamiliar garment after a career in jerseys andshorts. Result: once again, a reduction in the effortrequired for eight men to cut through the air whiletravelling in line astern at 55kph.


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There were boards held out to the riders at threepoints around the circuit, providing information toDavid Millar, the team's road captain, in the absenceof radio earpieces, which are banned at the worldchampionships. They are forbidden at the Olympics,too, making this a useful trial run for London 2012

when Cavendish and the team will go for gold again

on the first Saturday of the games.


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No one else had thought of wearing a skinsuit inCopenhagen that Sunday. No one, as far as one couldsee, had actually attempted to improve theperformance of his helmet. No other team was usingsuch a thorough signalling system.

When British teams win big, like England's rugbymen in 2003 or our cricketers (who just got heavily

beaten by Pakistan), they tend to grow complacent.The cyclists, by contrast, take each success as a cue toreset their sights and set themselves new targets.


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The Peloton


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The Race!

For more than 200km a series of attacks strung theentire group of cyclists on the road out into one longline. The Brits, led by Chris Froome and SteveCummings, then worked incredibly hard to unite itagain. It expanded then contracted like anaccordion. After a few hours Froome was exhaustedand his team mate Jeremy Hunt took over.


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Towards the end of the race Bradley Wiggins put hisfoot down in the peloton, trying to keep the pace sohigh that no-one else could make an attack.

He managed to stay at the front for more than 7 km!No-one could break from the peloton because it wassimply going too fast. The British team sat there, atthe front of it, waiting for the finish...


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The Finish!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_9uf4WnQo8

At the very end Geriant Thomas tried to pullCavendish through the pack. At one point Great

Britain looked as though they were going to blow it.The Australians had got themselves into a very goodposition, while Geraint Thomas appeared to havelost Cavendish just as he was due to lead him in.

Then, from almost nowhere, the Manxman shot upthe right hand side and won by half a wheel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_9uf4WnQo8http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_9uf4WnQo8


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The Sprint


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"We were only worried that we might run out ofbodies," Cavendish said. "You can only sit there andhope that the guys are going to ride out of theirskins, and that's what they did. Bradley Wiggins wonthe silver medal in the time trial on Wednesday buthe rode the whole of the last lap on the front.

No one let anyone down that Sunday. "It was

daunting," Millar said, "but everybody did their jobeven more than we expected."


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Link

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cycling/15053936.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cycling/15053936.stmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cycling/15053936.stmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cycling/15053936.stmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cycling/15053936.stm

UCI Road World Championships, en 18-25

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