Who are the worlds best cycling nation?

[Variol (Farseer) Elmwood]

Originally posted by Yorick: That would be the Aussies! Winning 5 out of 12 possible gold medals at the velodrome! Easily the best cycling nation! Go you good thing, go!

Hey Yorick, see my other post on icons? How did you put the happy faces in your post please?

[StigTC]

How many people were those 5 medals split between?
Wouldn't call it the best nation if it was just 1 or 2 guys.

[Yorick]

Originally posted by Tasslehoff Burrfoot: America man. Totally. We got Armstroung

Ah but that would be like saying England are the best athletics nation because they have Radcliffe. Armstrong is to cycling, what a super marathon runner is to athletics. Endurance. Strength. Heart. Speed at crucial legs, but reliant on endurance, endurance endurance.

The volodrome has tactics, pure speed over various distances. Team events, individual events. Australia won the TEAM pursuit for example. Britain got silver.

Armstrong is a freak, no doubt. I think he's an incredible cyclist, and incredible human. No disrespect. But that is, as said, his main event. And what an event the tour de France is!

[Yorick]

Originally posted by Variol (Farseer) Elmwood: quote: Originally posted by Yorick: That would be the Aussies! Winning 5 out of 12 possible gold medals at the velodrome! Easily the best cycling nation! Go you good thing, go!

Hey Yorick, see my other post on icons? How did you put the happy faces in your post please? [/QUOTE]See here [img]smile.gif[/img]

[johnny]

Originally posted by Hivetyrant: Australia, although behind the USA, is doing quite well I think, apparently we are doing good in hockey aswell, although I saw on the news that the Water Polo didnt go so well, and im dissapointed to see no (well none that I could see) Austalians in the weightlifting, Most running races, or any of the fighting events, but that could just be me, I havnt been waching everyday. Anyway, yes we Australians are the BEST cycling nation. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Hockeyfinals are today, Holland vs. Australia. Looking at how many gold medals the Aussies snatched from right under our noses, i wouldn't be surprised if Australia won the gold, even though we already beat them in the preliminary rounds. Our women beat the Germans too in the prelims, with 4-1, but yesterday when it REALLY mattered, the Germans beat us 2-1 and won the gold.

[Target]

Originally posted by Tasslehoff Burrfoot: America man. Totally. We got Armstroung

And how many gold’s has Armstrong won??? Or other major tours (Giro and Spanish) He is arguable the greatest Tour De France cyclist ever but overall there are better ones.

Team GB did very well in the cycling to!!! We might even catch the Aussies next time!

[Grojlach]

Italy and Spain are the best nations in cycling anno 2004, no contest whatsoever.
Most countries depend on only a few good cyclists, while these two countries seem to spawn new heroes on a yearly basis.

And while winning that many medals on the velodrome is impressive, it's no secret that most professional cyclists prefer a career on the road, because that's where the real money (and challenge?) is; often it's the 'smaller' cyclist countries (like the US, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand) with no actual cycling tradition and history (relatively speaking, of course) who do relatively well on the velodrome. I could elaborate on that further, but gotta run now. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[dplax]

Originally posted by Grojlach: Italy and Spain are the best nations in cycling anno 2004, no contest whatsoever.

Although the spanish were a bit of a disappointment this year in the Tour de France, I almost totally agree with this statement, maybe I would add France also, just because of the sheer number of cyclists.

[Davros]

Originally posted by dplax: How did they do in the road races? Cycling does not only consist of the velodrome, although I admit that 5 out of 12 isn't bad.

The total in cycling was 6 gold, because they won an additional gold in the women's road race with excellent tactics. The 2nd OZ rider also placed 4th in that same event. We just missed out on medals, finishing 4th in both the mens and women's time trial. The only road event they bombed in was the men's road race, where the breakaways defeated our tactics of trying to bottle things up for McEwen in a bunched sprint finish.

So I think that means the results were pretty good on the road as well.

[ 08-27-2004, 08:27 AM: Message edited by: Davros ]

[Davros]

Originally posted by StigTC: How many people were those 5 medals split between? Wouldn't call it the best nation if it was just 1 or 2 guys.

Only one person won 2 individual events (Ryan Bailey won the sprint and the Kierin). One of the team pursuiters also teamed up with O'Grady in the Madison, so he got 2 but both in team events. The other gold came in the womens time trial (plus world record). There were also silvers in the individual pursuit (mens and womens - she broke the WR but the Kiwi was better) and bronzes in the womens sprint and the mens Kierin.

The medals came from a good spread of competitors - overall 2 guys took home 2 gold, 1 guy got a gold and silver, 3 guys took home a gold, and one guy a bronze. In the womens, one girl scored a gold and a bronze and a WR, and another girl grabbed a silver and for 10 brief minutes a WR. Add in another gold to a different woman in the road race.