February 14, 2011
The 2 Robbies deliver on flat tyres… didn’t Sean Kelly specialise in this sort of rim-riding?
It’s always disappointing to feel that softening tyre under you, more so when you’ve ridden through all but the last few kays of a race. So Hunter can be doubly pleased to still get the win.
I can recall Irish hard-man sprinter Sean Kelly doing something similar back in the 80′s but can’t remember which race that was. I think he won on the rim itself – but maybe not? As McEwen said, it’s hard to control the fishtailing when you have bottomed out.
The ‘two Robbies’ deliver big weekend in India for RadioShack
“We actually both punctured. He won the race on a half-flat tire. When I was coming off the bridge with about a kilometer and half to go, I felt it was half-gone, but as I got across the bridge, my rim was hitting the road. I couldn’t pedal without my bike just fish-tailing,” McEwen said. “Just as I was about to tell Rob – I saw him bouncing on his (wheel) – he turned around and said, ‘I’ve got a flat!’ I said you have more air than I have, so go for it. Mine was totally gone, but it was too late to change a wheel and get back, it was never going to happen. We were coming down the bridge at full speed, so I told Robbie, you’ve got to sprint on yours because mine is gone.”
