Australian National Roads

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Wally Walpamur

Wally Walpamur

Norm Smith Medallist
Sep 23, 2016
6,150
11,930
AFL Club
Fremantle
Who’s going to win?

Sounds like it’s going to be a stonking hot day; I’m going to go fellow West Aussie Turbo Durbo
 
I was more than a bit worried when I saw Durbo's crash. He didn't move, and you could see that he was still being treated when they came around the loop the next time. Concussion & a broken collarbone. Could have been a lot worse, given the way he slammed into the concrete gutter.

More than a bit surprising to see Caleb Ewan hanging with the group as they went over Mt Buninyong for the last time. Given that he made it that far, I'm still wondering how he failed to win the sprint at the finish.
 

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Good win by Edmo. Harper is a gun too. When they went they were always going to be hard to catch when they each had the majority of what was left in the chasing pelo belonging to their teams. I am surprised guys like Haas, Richie and Mcarthy dont team up and work together.

Its gotta go somewhere else or at least on a different course soon surely. I am so bored of Bunninyong.
 
yaco55 said:
Love the course at Bunniyong which gives every rider a chance - Edmondson is talented and can win a classic in the upcoming years.
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Every rider? Caleb Ewan will never win the title, as long as it stays at Bunninyong.

It gives opportunities to the puncheurs, breakaways, and climbers. Sprinters have no chance.
 
Vader said:
Every rider? Caleb Ewan will never win the title, as long as it stays at Bunninyong.

It gives opportunities to the puncheurs, breakaways, and climbers. Sprinters have no chance.
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You are misinformed - Ewan came second in 2015 and would have won if he didn't make that pointless attack on the climb in the final lap, and of course he was a close 4th in 2018 which was a case of team tactics allowing Edmondson to win - Climbers may have more of an issue but an in-form climber can win on the course.
 
yaco55 said:
You are misinformed - Ewan came second in 2015 and would have won if he didn't make that pointless attack on the climb in the final lap, and of course he was a close 4th in 2018 which was a case of team tactics allowing Edmondson to win - Climbers may have more of an issue but an in-form climber can win on the course.
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The next sprinter to win on Mt Bunninyong will be the first.
 
Vader said:
The next sprinter to win on Mt Bunninyong will be the first.
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Spot on. Its not a sprinters course. Caleb is lucky he has 10 dudes who work for him just in case. If it came down to the last lap and there was no one up the road, Richie Porte lights it up from the bottom of the climb + Caleb would get piped.
 
Vader said:
The next sprinter to win on Mt Bunninyong will be the first.
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It's an all-rounders course and gives sprinters a chance to win - Check the last 40 year,s long before Bunniyong and at most two or three pure sprinters have won the RR - National's are supposed to recognise all-round riders, while one could argue the Bunniyong course is less suited to climbers - It also depends on your definition of a sprinter - Edmondson often leads out Ewan in races and by definition is a sprinter, though he will end upa classics rider - Haussler who won in 2015 is a sprinter type/classics rider who finished 2nd in Milan San Remo a few years ago
 
yaco55 said:
It's an all-rounders course and gives sprinters a chance to win - Check the last 40 year,s long before Bunniyong and at most two or three pure sprinters have won the RR - National's are supposed to recognise all-round riders, while one could argue the Bunniyong course is less suited to climbers - It also depends on your definition of a sprinter - Edmondson often leads out Ewan in races and by definition is a sprinter, though he will end upa classics rider - Haussler who won in 2015 is a sprinter type/classics rider who finished 2nd in Milan San Remo a few years ago
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You realise you're actually making a case for moving it away from Bunninyong, and giving it a different course each year?

No sprinter has ever won at Bunninyong, and the only way they ever will is with the benefit of a full team effort (e.g. Mitchelton Scott). Even then, it's unlikely. The long run home after the hill means that it's also unlikely that a true climber will emerge victorious. It's basically limited to the domain of the Classics Rider - someone who can get over the mountain 16 times, and has a fast finish.

The World Champs are ridden on a different course each year. Sometimes it's ridden on a course which suits the sprinters, which is how Cavendish became World Champion. Sometimes it favours the climbers (Evans), sometimes the Classics riders (Sagan). Every category of rider can expect to have a chance of winning at least 2-3 times during their career (being good enough to win is another matter entirely).

The Australian champs don't offer that. They are heavily biased towards one type of rider, and biased against other types. Moving the race away from Bunninyong would make it fairer on the non-Classics riders. There's no reason why Bunninyong can't be included in the rotation of courses, but it shouldn't be the only course on which the Australian Championships are raced.
 
Vader said:
You realise you're actually making a case for moving it away from Bunninyong, and giving it a different course each year?

No sprinter has ever won at Bunninyong, and the only way they ever will is with the benefit of a full team effort (e.g. Mitchelton Scott). Even then, it's unlikely. The long run home after the hill means that it's also unlikely that a true climber will emerge victorious. It's basically limited to the domain of the Classics Rider - someone who can get over the mountain 16 times, and has a fast finish.

The World Champs are ridden on a different course each year. Sometimes it's ridden on a course which suits the sprinters, which is how Cavendish became World Champion. Sometimes it favours the climbers (Evans), sometimes the Classics riders (Sagan). Every category of rider can expect to have a chance of winning at least 2-3 times during their career (being good enough to win is another matter entirely).

The Australian champs don't offer that. They are heavily biased towards one type of rider, and biased against other types. Moving the race away from Bunninyong would make it fairer on the non-Classics riders. There's no reason why Bunninyong can't be included in the rotation of courses, but it shouldn't be the only course on which the Australian Championships are raced.
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Haussler is very much a sprinter type - Last 40 years only features 2 or 3 pure sprinters in the honor role - So it's not an explicit issue related to Bunniyong.
 
I would like to see them alter the course a bit. Do the last 3 laps in reverse. I'm sure you can utilise the other side of Buninyong that isn't used to make them loop around for the first lap so the break and peloton don't collide, and then the last 2 laps do the course in reverse.

Go through the finish line, feed station, then do a turn at the top to go back down. Keep following the road, then turn right down Moss Avenue and it takes you out near Fisken. If there's riders still on the original route when you turn out of Moss they are DQ'd. But the change in route will make sure the peloton don't get caught out like that and will give a sprinter a chance.

Or extend the last lap to include Moss Avenue reversing what I said. So when you turn off Fisken, turn down Moss, then turn left and go back up Midland and do a U-Turn at the Mt Buinyong Road turnoff, quick downhill to the finish. Will give the peloton a few more K's to catch the break and then possible for a fast downhill sprint or a late attack.

Only downside is the feed station. You can't have it on the hill. It needs to move. The other downside is the turn off the Midland to get to the finish line at that fast pace could be a bit dicey.
 
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McEwen won at Ballarat in 02 in a breakaway. Id like to see the course remain and the contract recently signed says it will but it's time to move the finish line each year. No reason they can't finish on top of the climb every now and then. Sprinters rarely win Nationals anywhere unless it's somewhere like France where FDJ have like 18 riders and just control the race, it's just they way they are raced, breakways are favoured.
 
Orange Agent said:
McEwen won at Ballarat in 02 in a breakaway. Id like to see the course remain and the contract recently signed says it will but it's time to move the finish line each year. No reason they can't finish on top of the climb every now and then. Sprinters rarely win Nationals anywhere unless it's somewhere like France where FDJ have like 18 riders and just control the race, it's just they way they are raced, breakways are favoured.
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Yep

Plus sprinters get their own glory winning races during the year anyway. Most of the racing favours them.
 
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