Is 980m A Recipe For Success?
Photo by Graeme Murray, Red Bull
How much can really happen in 980 meters?
That was the question coming into the final stage of Round 1 of the EDR held in Pietra Ligure. With the return to multi-day stage racing, the EDR’s hopes seem destined to rest upon a nostalgic return to what made the sport so popular to begin with. But the question remained: will anyone be watching after two long days, finishing with a 7th and final stage consisting of 980 meters with a vertical drop of 147 meters? Was this really the formula to bring the sport back to the masses?
The winning average speed of that final stage was 26.9km/h, that’s a full 237.4 km/h slower than Oscar Piastri’s latest F1 pole lap, and while that might seem unfair to compare, the feats by the two Australian athletes who achieved them are equal in measure. Oscar’s speed in the car was matched by none other than Dan Booker on the bike. Heading into the final stage of the weekend, the Tasmanian riding as a supported, but in effect privateer, put everything on the line after 41 minutes of combined racing to have the fastest 2 minutes of his life, coming out ahead by 0.374 seconds and with it his first World Cup Win.
Coming into that final ranked 2nd overall, managing the pressure to chase down a win by the narrowest of margins in what looked to be a very physically demanding race – on flat pedals no less – should have been front page news across the cycling world, drawing parallels to the might of Sam Hill separating himself from his competitors with his speed and choice of shoe.
Unfortunately for the charismatic, laid-back Tasmanian, his heroics have been passed by nearly as fast as those 980 meters. For those who still follow the sport, it was noticed, but it’s a sign of the times that a win of this magnitude hasn’t registered more broadly among fans and media alike. I’m sure Dan and the whole of Australia will remember this day. Let’s hope the rest of the cycling world does, too.
