World Cup Manchester: Bikefanclub.com

Having a broadcasting marathon here at the UCI World Cup in Manchester. We're providing timing & scoring graphics to the World Feed host, which produced 11 hours of live coverage yesterday. I could barely get up out of my chair to go home last night.

The highlight for me, so far, was watching David Millar practicing with the British 4000m Pursuit team before the event started. Millar looked really smooth and strong on the track. He is quite a bit taller in person than I expected. He's a real string bean, maybe 6'1" and barely outweighs my little sister.

One of the tech guys here at the velodrome was telling me that Millar was motorpacing the other day, and just for giggles the guys up in the booth turned the timing system on to see how he was going. It turns out Millar motorpaced at about 15 secs a lap for quite a while, then the moto pulled off and he kept going at about 15.2 / lap for another 6 or 8 laps. If he could do that for 16 laps, he would break the world record for the individual 4000m pursuit, and come within a few seconds of the world record for the 4000m TEAM pursuit! THAT is power. And he has only ridden on the track a few times.

I was very disappointed to find Millar absent from the lineup for the actual mens 4000m team event yesterday due to the Cofidis fiasco. He was basically yanked by Cofidis, which was very unfortunate for him, for the event, and especially for the broadcast host, which lost a bunch of World Feed customers who wanted to see Millar.

The Brits won the 4k Pursuit even without Millar. World Champions and World Record holder Australia looked absolutely fearsome in qualifying, but Brad McGee got on the front at about the 2k mark and rode so powerfully that he blew the team apart. Graeme Brown managed to hold McGee's wheel, but Dawson and Wooldridge got blown off the back, and the team went to hell in a handbasket. Australia wound up riding off for 3rd/4th against NZ, whilst the Brits rode for the win against the Dutch.

I think the Aussie coaches must have taken the team to the woodshed after qualifying, because in the 3rd/4th ride-off the Aussies CAUGHT the Kiwis, which is absurd and scary at this level. That's roughly equivalent to the Yankees beating the Red Sox 45-1. Possible but very, very improbable and absolutely jaw-dropping.

The Worlds in Melbourne next month and the Olympics are going to have spectacular 4000m team pursuits. The Brits have an embarrassment of talent, the Aussies are astonishing, and the Germans, Dutch, Kiwis, Ukrainians, and Russians all have a shot.

TMS

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"I haven't failed. I've just managed to find 100,000 ways that don't work"

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