2010 Commonwealth Games - Delhi
SUNDAY 10 OCTOBER
MEN'S ROAD RACE
A dejected Mark Cavendish reflects on a near miss (John Giles/PA Wire/Press Association)
The Australians' total domination of cycling at the Commonwealth Games reached new levels as they wrapped up the Men's Road Race, with yet more quality team work and faultless tactics. Alan Davis won a sprint from a group of five riders, which inevitably included two Aussies. New Zealand's Hayden Roulston was second and Scotland's David Millar third. Mark Cavendish almost made it into that final sprint, tailing off in the final quarter of a lap and claiming seventh on the line. Both Cavendish and Millar tried their hearts out in the crucial last third of the race, but neither could count on the depth of team support enjoyed by the Australians and to a lesser extent the New Zealanders.
How the Race Unfolded
Straight from the start gun, there was a concerted attempt to forge a break with the whole field strung out. Northern Ireland's David McCann and New Zealand's Sam Bewley were the first to profit, quickly moving a minute clear. That lead group swelled to six when New Zealand's Gordon McCauley led three other riders up to them.
A disparity in ability and ambition meant that the six were never able to operate at full efficiency and their lead stalled at around 90 seconds. Eventually, McCann, who had been growing increasingly agitated, and McCauley, went away together and settled into a better rhythm, whilst the other four were swept up.
With 100km to go, the leading pair had almost 3 minutes over the peloton, but the heat was clearly taking its toll, particularly on McCauley. Back at the head of the peloton the Australians and Isle of Man were keeping the pace brisk enough to effectively control the break.
As you would expect with a field with a wide range of abilities, the attrition rate was high, with half the entry gone by the time the race entered its final third. At the same time, the main field began to get more animated, with the South Africans the first to launch a couple of tentative attacks, followed by the Canadians.
With the leaders still away, a very mixed group of some 10 riders suddenly found themselves off the front of the main field, which was now down to perhaps 35 riders. New Zealand's Jack Bauer then attacked from the front of this small group, with team-mate Hayden Roulston and Canadian rider Zac Bell joining him and these three set about bridging to the leading duo.
Behind them, the main field was clearly struggling to get itself organized. Mark Cavendish's young support team had already lost a couple of riders and the remainder were tiring. If therefore fell to the Australians and South Africans to try to bring it back together.
The Aussies responded in typical fashion, getting Alan Davis and Chris Sutton away, but with them went Mark Cavendish, a great move by the isolated Isle of Man rider. David Millar also made it into this small bridging group, along with Luke Rowe of Wales and Dominique Rollin of Canada. Meanwhile, some 30 seconds ahead, the two leaders, McCauley and McCann had been joined by the Bauer, Bell and Roulston.
The leading quintet gradually ran out of steam and they were soon swept up by the chasers and a leading group of 10 riders formed. However, before the junction was made, Kiwi Jack Bauer went away on his own and quickly built up a 30 second lead as the others settled down and slackened their pace.
Bauer kept the hammer down - his only option - whilst the following group was clearly destabilized by the number of good sprinters present. Millar did several big turns on the front, but the rest were struggling to balance the tactical equation and commitment to the joint cause was slow to develop.
Just before the bell, Bauer still had twenty second over the chasers and was still benefitting from the indecision behind him, but two more big turns by Millar pulled him back. In the process Cavendish, Bell, McCauley and Rowe were dropped: a grimly determined Cavendish dug deep and dragged them back into contact with the front group, a great effort, but one which clearly drained him.
The last lap began with Rollin of Canada making a solo bid to escape, but Millar closed him down. Davis was the next to go, and McCann - who had been away all day, a remarkable effort - went after him and again Millar pulled things together. Cavendish was again struggling at this point but hanging in there, teeth gritted.
In the end, a final, decisive split of four riders - Millar, Sutton, McCann and Roulston - went clear with half a lap to go, following a burst from Roulston. Millar attacked a couple of times from that leading quartet, but was marked by Roulston each time. Meanwhile, Davis, who had looked a spent force only moments before, managed to cross to them to make it five at the front as Cavendish finally succumbed to fatigue and lost contact.
Australia were suddenly holding much the best hand and Davis and Sutton knew exactly how to make their adventage count, attacking in quick succession with a couple of kilometers to go. They were briefly marked by Millar, and then went again into the finish straight: Sutton led out Davis to great effect, handing him a well-executed win, with Roulston claiming second and Millar third.
In the final equation, the Australians simply had too many riders in the right place at the right time and their tactics were, as always, pretty much spot on. Both Millar and Cavendish rode well, but could not overcome their lack of support in the closing stages.
Results
1 Allan Davis (Australia) 3:49:48
2 Hayden Roulston (New Zealand)
3 David Millar (Scotland)
4 Christopher Sutton (Australia) 0:00:04
5 David Mccann (Northern Ireland) 0:00:11
6 Dominique Rollin (Canada) 0:00:22
7 Mark Simon Cavendish (Isle of Man) 0:00:59
8 Gordon Mccauley (New Zealand) 0:01:09
9 Luke Rowe (Wales) 0:02:49
10 Jack Bauer (New Zealand)
11 Zach Bell (Canada) 0:02:54
12 Dan Craven (Namibia) 0:04:20
13 Andrew Fenn (Scotland)
14 Alex Dowsett (England)
15 Adam Armstrong (Northern Ireland)
16 Erik Hoffmann (Namibia)
17 Johann Rabie (South Africa)
18 Paul Esposti (Wales)
19 Will Routley (Canada) 0:04:23
20 James Mclaughlin (Guernsey)
21 Evan Oliphant (Scotland) 0:04:48
22 Arnaud Papillon (Canada)
23 Rhys Lloyd (Wales)
24 Philip Lavery (Northern Ireland) 0:04:58
25 Ryan Roth (Canada) 0:05:17
26 Gregory Lovell (Belize) 0:05:24
27 Tobyn Horton (Guernsey)
28 Yannick Lincoln (Mauritius)
29 Christian Spence (Jersey) 0:05:27
30 Jay Robert Thomson (South Africa)
31 Geron Oliver Williams (Guyana) 0:07:22
32 Darren Matthews (Barbados)
33 Nathan Byukusenge (Rwanda)
34 Mohd Shahrul Mat Amin (Malaysia)
35 Emile Abraham (Trinidad and Tobago)
36 Mohd Harrif Salleh (Malaysia)
37 Andrew Brian Roche (Isle of Man)
38 Erick Rowsell (England)
39 Sean Downey (Northern Ireland)
40 Robert Hunter (South Africa)
41 Daryl Impey (South Africa)
42 Amir Mustafa Rusli (Malaysia)
43 Dale Appleby (Wales)
44 Chris Froome (England)
45 Simon Yates (England) 0:07:26
46 Edgar Nissani Arana (Belize) 0:16:26
47 Josh Gosselin (Guernsey)
48 Sandeep Kumar (India)
49 Atul Kumar Singh (India)
50 Robin Ovenden (Jersey)
51 Abraham Ruhumuriza (Rwanda)
52 Laxmen Wijerathna (Sri Lanka)
