If this still doesn't make sense to you think of it this way; It's kinda like aeroplane pilots and planes. Only top gun pilots can fly a Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk effectively. The pilot that flies bi-coastal for Virgin could probably only get an F-117 up in the air and land it but not much more. He's far from being able to make that plane do what it was designed to do, which is to cause a lot of damage. A top gun pilot however is a totally different cat. He knows just how to make an F-117 perform and can eek everything out of it. He'll strap that stealth fighter on his back like an Alpine pack, flip the blowers to blue flame straight off the deck and do serious damage. Riders & wheels are like this. Make sense?
So what wheels are the top gun riders winning on these days? Tech guys out there will probably know this but I was impressed to learn that Kazakhstans' Team Astana rode Corima MCC wheels to victory in two Classic's this year, the Amstel Gold Race and Liege-Bastogne-Liege. And this past weekend Alexander Vinokourov won the London Olympic Games Road Race riding the MCC's also. Astana won a whole lot of other races too but these 3 wins are massive accomplishments. Two Classics and the Olympics? Not too shabby.
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Corima MCC wheelset |
That having been said, it's also fair to note that 'probably' winning three of the world toughest races (among many others) is very different than 'definitely' winning them. And here's the thing, Astana definitely won those races so now we're talking absolutes, which gives solid ground to recognize the MCC's have proven themselves at the worlds fastest level as unquestionably fast and consistently fast in different conditions.
Bottom line; Astana has ridden the MCC's to victory all year long; therefore the MCC's deserve a definite & meaningful level of credit for Team Astana's incredible success. The MCC's are really super fast by any measure...probably even maybe the worlds' fastest wheels.
Peace and roll strong