Why Edvald Boassen Hagen is a strong gold medal contender
Roar Guru By Kate Smart, 28 Jul 2012 Kate Smart is a Roar Guru
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My money is on Edvald Boasson Hagen to claim gold at the men’s Olympic road race.
Now that the Tour de France has finished all eyes are on tomorrow’s men’s road race at the London Olympics. Finding a commentator who hasn’t already given the gold medal to Mark Cavendish is a very difficult task indeed.
Luckily I am no commentator, just a keen fan of road cycling. Norwegian cyclist Boasson Hagenlike is a classy rider who could win on Saturday.
Boasson Hagen – or Eddy Boss as he is affectionately known – is an in-form rider who could easily get into a breakaway and take the gold medal back to Norway.
Boasson Hagen rode a great Tour de France working for Bradley Wiggins, setting some blistering tempos that saw many riders drop off. There is no doubt about his ability to read races.
Let’s also not forget whose wheel Mark Cavendish launched himself off on the Champs Elysee on Sunday. That’s right, Boasson Hagen.
I agree that Boasson Hagen can’t out sprint Cavendish but let’s be honest, who can?
As an Australian I would obviously love Matt Goss or Simon Gerrans to take victory. But in a breakaway Boasson Hagen is a contender for gold.
Boasson Hagen’s two stage wins in last year’s Tour de France came from breakaways. He’s the Norwegian road-race champion and has won stages at this year’s Volta ao Algarve and Tirreno-Adriatico.
He can time trial, he can sprint and he can very well win the men’s road race.
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July 29th 2012 @ 2:44pm
GrantOz said | July 29th 2012 @ 2:44pm | Report comment
This was actually a pretty solid tip. I had my money on Greipel, but when the breakaway starts to co-operate well then it’s all over.
July 29th 2012 @ 9:44pm
Kate Smart said | July 29th 2012 @ 9:44pm | Report comment
Thanks for your comment GrantOz. I was so sure that Eddy Boss would be the man for Gold and so devastated when he didn’t finish. He’s one of my favourite riders. His stage wins in last year’s Tour were brilliant. Luckily he’ll only be 29 at the next Olympics!
July 29th 2012 @ 9:34pm
yewonk said | July 29th 2012 @ 9:34pm | Report comment
i loved this quote from piers morgan. “Memo to Mark Cavendish: stop whining about the Aussies. They don’t deliberately play to lose anything. You blew it, move on”.
July 29th 2012 @ 9:47pm
Kate Smart said | July 29th 2012 @ 9:47pm | Report comment
Right on yewonk. I think you’ve been reading my mind. It’s mind boggling stupid to suggest that the Australian’s only attended last night’s road race to prevent Cavendish from winning. Hopefully when he recovers from the disappointment of his loss he’ll see things in a clearer light.
July 30th 2012 @ 4:29am
Colin N said | July 30th 2012 @ 4:29am | Report comment
What were they doing then? O’Grady was never going to compete at the end in the sprint and nor did he really have the legs to effect a breakaway off the front of the field, so I don’t understand why the rest of their team just sat in the peleton. The same goes for the Germans and the Belguims.
I thought Cavendish was spot on in his post-race interview; they were victims of their own success.
July 30th 2012 @ 10:28am
Colin N said | July 30th 2012 @ 10:28am | Report comment
*Belgians.
July 30th 2012 @ 6:19pm
Kate Smart said | July 30th 2012 @ 6:19pm | Report comment
Thanks Colin N for your comments. My suspicion is that things went terribly wrong when they couldn’t get another man in the second break away. From what I saw of the race, O’Grady stopped working on the front toward the end, possibly hoping to see the group rejoin the peloton but that break away group was just too big. I also liked what Phil Liggett said about Team GB thinking they could use the same tactics in the Tour in the Road Race because as we saw this is a different event. I’m also wondering just how well many of the riders pulled up after the Tour. I did read an article talking about how both Gerrins and Goss had cold sores, signs of their immune systems in shut down after the Tour. It does make you wonder how fit they were feeling. I do, however, maintain that Cavendish will realise that nobody set out to sabotage his Olympics. Maybe I am a little naive but I don’t believe the Aus team went there with a desire to see Cav lose. Every man was riding for the gold medal and the glory that brings.