Thursday, August 23, 2007

Carney and Dominguez know their stuff

I couldn't have said it any better (taken from a VeloNews article):

"McCook is fast, but he's been a little inconsistent lately," Carney said. "But he's almost always in the top five. Field sprinting is strange in this country, when you try to watch who is winning. The only guy I ever expect to see winning is Dominguez. In other sprints you've seen guys like Ivan Stevic or [2001 national professional criterium champion] Kirk O'Bee, who are not real field sprinters. There have been 10 guys who can win any day, maybe more. The only dominant guy is Dominguez. Dave has as good a shot as anybody. If we have a good day on Sunday we have as good a shot as anybody."

The way Dominguez sees it there are only two outcomes for the first riders who veer into the final left-hand turn.

"You either crash and injure yourself or you win the race," the Toyota-United sprinter said.

Dominguez makes no secret of his dislike for the final turn on the 1.2-mile figure-eight course. Riders who safely navigate their way through the sharp left-hander only have 150 meters to go to reach the finish line. Oftentimes that means being one of the top two or three riders into the final corner is key to gaining a spot on the podium.

"If you really want to win, you really have to take a chance," Dominguez said. "I know it's a tradition, but I don't know why they don't move the finish line to another part of the course. That would open it up for a finish that involves a lot more good guys. Not just the first ones through the last corner."

1 comment:

Godfather Marco said...

Nice reads Nick - keep it up!

G-Marco