They just didn't know. So why limit themselves? It's not like all the permutations of possibilties are *that* hard to figure out. That's the job of a national governing body.

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I guess so. I do have trouble with some of your posts at times. Like I'm confused your saying they knew who would win the domestic qualifier. It was pretty competitive. And even knowing who'll enter isn't clear at times, given injuries, etc. I'll drop it, out of the interest for our congenial thread.

I do agree, at this point, it's fine just to try to find positives out of sending Dygert likely alone into the RR. Unless Knibb decides to join?

Dude, c'mon.

The US has the - hands down, no question about it - best TT rider on the planet in their athlete pool (hint - it isn't Knibb).

They arranged the Olympic selection criteria to advantage a TT rider to a (literally) unprecedented extent.

It wound up being totally unnecessary because the rider pre-qualified before the circus tents could even be erected.

Too bad, too late to change things around, colossal screwup because the Triathlete wins.

It's really no different from back when Chris Horner won the Seattle selection race that Motorola/Frankie Andreu/Kevin Livingston/George Hincapie were "supposed" to win to support Lance at the games. Shocking to no one, Horner didn't wind up being on that Olympic team, but all three of those guys were.

USAC has been screwing the pooch on this stuff for as long as there have been pooches to screw. Being *bad* at trying to fix the results of a selection process doesn't mean the attempt wasn't made.

And, again, you're continuing to miss the point that they can still nominate a rider other than Knibb to the road team, she just has to turn down the slot.

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RE: who winds up riding the road race with Dygert, this article is likely a pretty strong hint.

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i'm with trail on this one - if dygert winning worlds last year changes the thought behind the selection process - then maybe just change the selection process.
I hadn't seen that cyclingnews piece. i'd been going with the theme of the other 'knibb wins us tt thread' that knibb not wanting to do the road race would mean 1 us starter.
again from the other thread it sure seems like Knibb has big goals and chances the day after the oly road race.

if knibb does want to do oly road race - it sure seems like racing yesterday against faulkner and edwards would have been great prep/intel for that kind of effort.

if nothing else - wouldn't settling this be in usa cycling's interest so we hack internet pundits could give this a rest?
i want to start scheming on netflix's story lines for season 2 of tour coverage.

USAC lost an arbitration decision and were forced to select a new team five days before track worlds in 2022. The selection process for these games were directly - and explicitly - influenced by that decision. The idea that they would "just change the selection process" after taking that "L" - and the litigation that had surrounded the Armstrong selection in '16 - is magical thinking.



It appears a lot of people have been suffering from that misperception.


Aside from the fact that Knibb probably wouldn't have qualified to participate in that race (she wouldn't have qualified for the Oly road race either, prior to the points she took home with the TT win) it would be pretty bananas to choose the national championship road race as your first ever attempt at a road race. Almost as bananas as choosing the Olympics for your debut.


This is all a big damn self-inflicted mess for USAC, but it seems pretty clear that Faulkner being added to the Pursuit team for some training and (maybe) qualifier runs is likely to be the solution.

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Faulkner was already on the Olympic track long list, so no surprise there.

Yup.
The real surprise would be her not getting the slot, especially now that she is at the TP training camp.

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OK, guys, maybe I missed it in this thread (been out for a few days), but elsewhere on the interwebz Tiberi has been dubbed "Curiosity".

Do I need to explain? :-)

Selection for the Olympics has always been *bullshit*.

I'm reminded of 1988, when Nats/Olympic Trials were held in Spokane (I was there). The 3 Oly qualifying events for TT were the 40km ITT, the 70km 2-man TTT, and the 100km 4-man TTT. John Frey won the ITT. He won the 2-man TT with Norm Alvis. And he won the 100km with I forget who.

And yet he was not selected for the Olympics.

A little story from the ITT that year: the course was a surveyed 40km, but the surveyors screwed up a little and surveyed the bike lane on the shoulder, not the road. So the race organizers placed orange cones on the white line between the bike lane and the road, and told us we were supposed to ride in the bike lane, and stay out of the road. The cones were placed along left-hand curves, where the distance would be shorter if you stayed in the lane rather than take the shoulder.

As you all know, heart rate + IQ is a constant. So, me being somewhat IQ-challenged, I was cruising along, riding the white line with my head down, and all of a sudden *BAM*, I flattened one of those stupid cones and sent it spinning off into the ditch. I almost crashed and it scared the shit out of me, so I resolved not to do it again. About five minutes later, *BAM*, I flattened another cone. =:O I rode with my head up after that!

great story eb - thanks! my experiences were 92 (tim peddie!) and 96. as a rider at the time I thought the criteria made sense but the races were raced with tactics that were definitely different than just winning the race.
i doubt there is a perfect selection process but anecdotally usa cycling seems to get it pretty wrong quite often.
i wonder who the picks of the top 20 (or so) finishers in TT and RR would be?
curiosity is great! i put my efforts in but didn't get to that level.

giro looks like I woke up too early for the actual start. I think they're going through the tunnel from livigno into switz even though I highly doubt buses can make it through that. i might actually watch that. not wanting to freeze might change tactics? I don't know - it would change my tactic - I'd want to ride pretty hard to stay warm even if I might lose a finish.

How is Derek's form? If this was last year, I would have been sure Derek is the right choice. I haven't noticed him much in races this year.

He was pretty badly injured a little while back. He is currently at altitude and I think the Dauphiné is next for him.

@trail has aggressed and threatened this entire thread!

Ala and Maestri, together again.

The previous move from Stelvio to Umbrail was 100% reasonable, there was no possibility to use the Stelvio pass as it's still closed for traffic. For those of you outside of Europe or unfamiliar with Alps, it's never been a fixed date for opening of the passes. It's always weather & road infrastructure dependent - it can be opened on May 1, can be opened on June 1. The organisers prepared a fully reasonable Plan B, with minimum changes.


But, I'm genuinely disappointed by the Giro's decision of shortening the stage today. I'm an amateur, I can be a good weather cyclist. They're pros and they're doing it for the money. The money comes from sponsors and, bottom line, from spectators. Today's shortened stage is not interesting. Many people have been bored by the lack of rivalry and the predictability of the competition - Pogacar is above everybody else. If you want surprises, then you should allow for racing in hard conditions, then you'd have the true champion. Currently it's like a race of lab tested VO2max / VLamax of the team leader + 2-3 of his domestiques... 'Bad weather? Let's play it safe.'

After listening to the broadcast team that most of you have enjoyed in the past - with their move to MAX, this is my first time experience - I'm almost dreading listening to Phil, Bobke, and CVV on Peacock

It's like discovering a diner with a full menu, then having to go back to PB&J or grilled Velveeta on Wonder Bread

Carry on, thanks

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