You are hereForums / By Discipline / Mountain (off road) / By Location / Australia / Commonwealth games

Commonwealth games


Black Flash's picture

By Black Flash - Posted on 29 July 2014

NB: Originally posted elsewhere on the Global Riders Network and appears via syndication.

Commonwealth games
Currently women's Mtb is live right now.
Men's from 11pm tonight!
Go Aussies!

Lach's picture

...also available on
http://tenplay.com.au
for when the ads come on the tele.....

Black Flash's picture

Currently there's a Cannondale scalpel in the lead.
Till it breaks... Sad

Go Aussie!
And kind of go anyone on a Cannondale.

Black Flash's picture

I wonder if anyone is running the new di2 xtr?

rossco_'s picture

The winner doesn't according to his website
http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/pro-bike-ant...

philberesford's picture

Well done Bec Henderson, and if you didn't stay up to watch the Men's I suggest you watch it now. It was awesome! Nail biting stuff all the way to the finish, my legs were cramping up just watching them on the last lap. Probably some of the best XC racing I've seen, great vision of the riders, unlike a recent WC in Cairns which had dreadful coverage.

Enjoy

Men's XC
http://tenplay.com.au/sport/commonwealth-games/e...

Women's XC
http://tenplay.com.au/sport/commonwealth-games/e...

philberesford's picture

The commentators say that McConnell was running Di2

http://singletrackworld.com/2014/05/xtr-goes-ele...

c3024446's picture

Mountain bike racing is between a rock and a hard place with tv coverage:

Awesome track like Cairns, can’t get enough cameras since there are too many trees. Last night, plenty of open space, but the track was pretty sh!t. There a small rocky descent, that double lane descent and the rest a simple path? Racing was still pretty good though.

MTB races are so different to road where it is usually riders riding alone at their own pace and not in a peleton. This doesn’t make it overly exciting unless the riders are the same pace. I reckon whenever anyone crashes they need to bring out a safety car to bring the bunch all back together.......

Black Flash's picture

Well apparently I was there last night. I had quite a few texts from mates that the commentators made special mention of me.
It went something like.... " and we're seeing a lot of heath on the course..."
Smiling

philberesford's picture

Agree, however the Commonwealth Games broadcasters (BBC?) had camera's in all the right places whilst in Cairns, Redbull TV had almost sweet FA camera's, leaving massive gaps in the coverage between sections. The DH was painful. In this day and age, with technology the way it is, there's no excuse for poor coverage, camera's can be anywhere they need them to be. Surely this was a case of bad planning?

cryline's picture

What a finish from the Kiwi! Thought Dan McConell would have the legs and wily-ness to get past the 2 younguns but that surge for the line was incredible to watch. Great race

philberesford's picture

Shame he got caught napping in the jump for the sprint though. The Kiwi lads worked well together.

Lach's picture

They could have a future in mtb if they don't get lured to the road...

philberesford's picture

Edit: better version

cryline's picture

Don't think he got caught napping. He was absolutely shattered when he got to the line. Ran out of puff

Dicko's picture

I agree

Poor old Dan was working overtime. The two young New Zealanders came into the race with a plan, and it was clear that it was to wear Dan out.

It definitely worked, and when Anton started to hit Dan during the second last and last lap, it was all too much.

I was amazed how much energy Anton had left at the end though. He was clearly saving plenty for the last sprint.

Good tactics, unfortunately Dan was on the wrong side of them.

W

philberesford's picture

to see it coming though Eye-wink

Black Flash's picture

The moment that Anton started to tighten his shoes was when Dan should have just pulled out and given whatever he had left. It may not have changed the outcome, but then again. It could have. It does put things into perspective when awesome riders like cam and andy finish further down the order. The front runners really are that good.
Either way, I'm still a proud Aussie. Well done!

philberesford's picture

...was a dead giveaway, he had a front row seat.

cryline's picture

There's a World Cup on this weekend at Mont Saint Anne in Canada too and the following weekend in the US. Gonna have to back it up

hawkeye's picture

I can't believe how much those two had left in the tank at the end.

McConnell had nothing to answer them with.

philberesford's picture

That double track section looked ace. It was more like watching 4x than XC. I could watch that all day.

Brian's picture

I watched the last hour or so last night. Awesome.

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.
Best Mountain Bike