Speaker 1: Last week, we released 4 VS 1, the latest video where we tried to see just
how many road riders working together it would take to beat one solitary rider on a time trial.
The result caused surprise, but in the comment section there was only one question being asked.
Just why was Ollie dropped? Did he have a mechanical? Did his flappy helmet strap
hold him back? Did he just give up because it was less than an hour? Did he stop for coffee or did
he misunderstand drafting to mean more draft ales the night before? Here is the full story.
Ollie: It all started with a phone call. Hank called me up and
asked if I was able to offer my considerable horsepower to the GCN team time trial squad.
Hank: Ollie, Manon's busy, Dan's forgotten how to ride a bike so we're really getting
desperate. Can you ride mate? Ollie: Of course.
Hank: Tall man. Ollie: I said, "Yes,
happy to be of service. No problemo. I'll come along and drop a few watt bombs,
help the team out. Little did I know, things already
started to go wrong before I'd even arrived. Speaker 2: He didn't use his aero bike. I don't
know why he didn't choose to use the aero bike. I guess that's just a climber's decision really,
isn't? Thanks for coming anyway, Ollie. Ollie: Hank rang me up and he said,
he specifically said, I needed to bring my super lightweight canon automat non-aero
bike with shallow wheels. Foolishly, I agreed and brought it along and I had winter tires,
that's at least five watts. Speaker3: He just wasn't prepared
for what was coming, which is unlike Ollie. Speaker 2: Ollie really wanted to do his
best for us and really try and be the guy that made a difference to the team. In my opinion,
I think he got a bit too carried away early on. Ollie: Hank set off at a ridiculous pace,
completely not being a team player, surging off the front.
Then I came through, closed the gap and did a big turn about 40 seconds at 400 watts. Then
we entered into a dip and to get out of that dip, it was obviously uphill. Payton comes
surging through like a nutter, like 600 watts seated. I'm just out of breath from my turn,
no chance to recover, can't get on the back, instantly get spat, the rest is
history. That didn't even go that hard after that. Hank: I didn't go off too hard. Ollie says I went
off at a ridiculous pace but, well, no I didn't. Speaker 2: His first turn, when we started
working, was a really hard one. He just went hard as he could, emptied himself at the front,
and then when he came back around to rejoin the line after our team time trial squad,
that's when he got dropped and that is actually the hardest moment in a team time trial.
Speaker 3: When you do your turn on the front then you have to
recover and try just as hard to get back on. Hank: We needed to keep the pace on the front
to keep the speed nice and high, so that we can topple the time trial bike with Si upon it.
Unfortunately, it was just us three worked as a team because Ollie only did one turn.
Interviewer: Do you reckon it was the mudguard causing turbulence?
Ollie: Yes, that's before we even get onto the topic of my mudguard. Undoubtedly,
that was causing some significant aero drag. Definitely it was a contributing factor.
[music] Ollie:
I've learned that team time trialing is harder than it looks and it's also
actually quite a skill. I may not be an ex-pro like the others but I'm still in pretty decent
shape and I don't feel this performance was representative of how fit I actually
am. Having spoken to Connor, who has considerable team time trialing experience, having done it
in the Giro d'Italia, he's actually educated me that the hardest part of a team time trial is
when you rejoin the line at the end of your turn. Speaker 2: If you've never done it before, it is
hard to get used to. Doing a hard effort, getting around, recovering and then did another effort
straight away to get back on the trail is actually really, really difficult. I just don't think Ollie
gave himself enough in the tank to rejoin us. Ollie: You should always save energy so that
you can surge to rejoin the line at the end and not kill yourself on your turn, which I kind of
did. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger and all that. Considering I've got no team
time trial experience and the others all did, and they're all ex-pros who were strong as,
I'll do better next time. Speaker 2:
We're three. Conor: Who's off the back?
Speaker 3: Ollie. Conor: We have to go on without him.
[music] Speaker 2:
He wasn't prepared for this, and he let himself down. He let the team down, he
let the GCN staff down, he let the viewers down. Ollie: Whatever happens, I demand a rematch. This
is ridiculous. Having ridden that course now, I can see that it suits a lone rider far better
than a group. It's far too undulating and technical in its corners for a group to
properly and effectively do turns. We need a more straightforward, flatter, out and back,
TT course, or perhaps even a motor racing circuit. I'm bringing an aero bike and an aero helmet this
time. Look, I've had enough talking about this. All these armchair experts at home commenting,
saying that I'm rubbish. I am rubbish, but I'm not that rubbish. I'm going.
Interviewee: Do you think there's any hope for the GCN TT squad, now?
Hank: That is a really, really good question. I think it's going to take a lot. We're not too far
off, though. Don't forget, the time is dropping rapidly. The gap between us is closing. We just
might need a bit of pro help. Is there any chance we can get a ringer in to help the GCN squad? I'm
just hoping. Five people must be able to topple that time trial bike, it's got to happen. I cannot
let the GCN team get toppled by Si's and his TT bike, it can't happen. It just can't happen.
Anyway, I don't know what to say. It's actually embarrassing. It's getting embarrassing now,
really embarrassing. Manon: I guess I better show them how it's done.
Five versus one, here I come. [00:07:14] [END OF AUDIO]