Supermanx!
by Chris Fontecchio on Jul 18, 2008 1:58 PM EDT
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Sprinters are never the biggest stars of the Tour de France, but sometimes it's pretty close. Mario Cipollini was a human media vacuum unto himself, and his four consecutive stage wins in the 1999 Tour were as memorable as his Julius Caesar outfit. Alessandro Petacchi's nine stage wins at the 2004 Giro look more monumental, in retrospect, than Damiano Cunego's overall title. Erik Zabel's six consecutive green jersey titles put him on as big a pedestal as Armstrong, for a while.
So it's hardly a mere sideshow to see Mark Cavendish snag his fourth sprint victory at this year's Tour. Given all the other news, it's probably just what the sport needs right now.
The cruelest aspect of the Ricco expulsion is the fact that Ricco came from the new generation, the one that was supposed to be clean. This assumption made it far easier to write off the scandals of the past -- that's just what they had to do back then; today things are different. Well, one bad apple and all, but the Ricco case does pierce the assumption that all the young guys are clean. Truth is, they're a big improvement, but the battle isn't over.
In all likelihood the yellow jersey will go to one of the veterans of the Tour, not exactly symbols of the new clean cycling, even if they're clean themselves. So it's imperative that the new generation stand up for itself ASAP and make the case for the new way. I don't know his whole background, but Cavendish seems like a pretty solid standard-bearer: there isn't any reason to suspect a guy who chugs up hills like he does, and his presence on Team Columbia means he's being tested internally six ways from Sunday. Add in four wins at the Tour at the ripe age of 23 -- placing him in elite company -- and you've got a terrific story to cleanse at least some of the stench of the last 36 hours.
Not that I think Cavendish needs to start stumping for Clean Cycling or for the young guys; his job is to keep winning. Also, the story might not last -- he's due to disappear soon and get ready for the Olympics, a forgiveable priority for the world Madison champion and representative of a track-mad nation. But it's nice to think about a positive story emerging at this Tour, and I'm all the more anxious for my new Columbia jersey to show up this weekend.
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Consider me
a huge fan of Cavendish. His post-stage interviews are brilliant – always thanks his team, and seems to be semi-modest about destroying the best sprinters in the world in a sort of “aw shucks” way.
Sometimes you have to give luck a kick in the balls - Jens Voigt
Good description
and validated over and over by the overhead camera shots at the finish.
everytime I see Manx, I think of this
I never believed that assumption that all young guys are clean, that seemed to be a UCI-led, media-fed spin to try and bring back fans to the sports. It’s not age nor generation gap that will clean up the sport (in theory I would think that some of the young guys might be more willing to try the experimental gene scary stuff). It is leaders and riders of all ages that will clean up the sport, not by refusing to answer the hard questions but leading with actions and words. And then hopefully it will clean up, but it will be messy, hard, frustrating and will take a while. Oh and fans need to still be fans but stop idolizing the riders and
Now back to Cavendish, he’s great fun to watch him and I agree, I love his interviews and his accent. Great to see the over head shots and see him moving up in the field. Fun.
I think
we’re all learning this lesson. Seems like the teams have a bigger role than I’d imagined.
"If writing too much about the Classics is wrong, I don't want to be right."
by Chris Fontecchio on Jul 18, 2008 2:49 PM EDT up reply actions
The overhead shot yesterday of Stage 12...
... watching him select and move his way up after the Columbia train sort of fell apart was astonishing; the way he came around that hard right hander that was being setup for a perfect Milram / Quickstep shootout looked like pure instinct. He pulled into the slipstream of the QuickStep leadout, biding his time, and then hit the afterburners, and once he was about half a wheel in front of Chavanel, he found another gear entirely and just exploded… exploded away.
Ricco stole my marbles.
Agreed
The overhead shots of the sprints show just how much faster he is in the last 100-150 metres, and how good he is at moving through small gaps in the field.
I guess all that work in the madison pays off.
Sometimes you have to give luck a kick in the balls - Jens Voigt
Like a batter on a hot streak
You know, when a baseball hitter gets on a real hot streak they talk about the ball getting larger and easier to see. That seems to be like Cavendish right now: going into the sprint it slows down for him and he can see the openings even before they open. Effortless almost.
We hae also a big star in our middle!
Lucybears! He managed to have a full strike at PTC.. He had number 1 uintil 12 in his DC team… Unbelievable with Feuillu and Haussler involved in the bunch sprint!
Some say the best things in life, are one the inside.
I always assumed he was a he.. Beginning to doubt now
Some say the best things in life, are one the inside.
Lucybears
is a friend of DZI’s, and was outed as a “he” last year sometime. :-)
"When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realised that the Lord doesn’t work that way so I stole one and asked Him to forgive me."Emo Philips
ditto, it's just that the name threw
it starts with ursula then lucybears…..
cool that will teach me to make assumptions
si...
altho for whatever reason i figured ursula for a dude pretty quickly.
lucybears? probably haven’t read enough of his posts to get it. but yeah, teach us for assumin’ and all…
lol.. Too obvious..
I love Bennati.. I adore him! Is there an oppertunity to post a picture of Bennati? Where clear signals ;)
Some say the best things in life, are one the inside.
lol surely you're not
And yeah the gossip thing.. Second strong signal..
Some say the best things in life, are one the inside.
Doesn't anybody but me
read the Podium Cafe poster profiles? I am such a nosy bitch. :-)
"When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realised that the Lord doesn’t work that way so I stole one and asked Him to forgive me."Emo Philips
Yes, it's a fun company too.
Been here 24 years.
"When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realised that the Lord doesn’t work that way so I stole one and asked Him to forgive me."Emo Philips
When last I did lighting...
... it was only PAR Cans, 6×9s and Fresnels with cut to fit sheets of gel and the last dimmer board I ran was still just a plain ol’ 2×24 arrangement of sliders with a manual cross-fade and a mechanical timed cross-fade so that you’d spin the dial, hit the button and watch the cross-fade sliders moooooove past each other.
My how times have moved on…
Ricco stole my marbles.
We do custom color lenses
Invented a process that is cheaper than dichroic but lasts almost as long. It’s still a relatively small industry.
"When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realised that the Lord doesn’t work that way so I stole one and asked Him to forgive me."Emo Philips
+1
I just rode through there two weeks ago on the next to last day of my vacation… one day from Butte, MT to Jean, NV. Southern Utah and the Virgin River Canyon were the only redeeming parts of that day.
Ricco stole my marbles.
been hiking around St George a few times
and made it to Zion twice, once in the winter. absolutely beautiful
It is nice
I can see the backside of the West Rim of Zion from my office window. I never get tired of the view. I’ll buy you a drink next time you are in the area. :-)
"When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realised that the Lord doesn’t work that way so I stole one and asked Him to forgive me."Emo Philips
Last time I was in the area and tried to buy a drink...
... they didn’t serve beer / wine and felt compelled to warn me that the Iced Tea had caffeine in it.
Ricco stole my marbles.
Right
That’s why I do all my boozing at home.
"When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realised that the Lord doesn’t work that way so I stole one and asked Him to forgive me."Emo Philips
Great palce to ride too
the main road is closed for the summer season and most cyclist are faster than the buses that run so the rode is perfect!
by australopithecine on Jul 18, 2008 6:34 PM EDT up reply actions
Wow
I’ll never win…
"If writing too much about the Classics is wrong, I don't want to be right."
by Chris Fontecchio on Jul 18, 2008 4:39 PM EDT up reply actions
lol me neither! But winning with a full strike.. Whoaw
Some say the best things in life, are one the inside.
Never been on the PTC site?
It’s a daily game where you have to pick 12 riders how you think scored the best.. So how finish the highst.. In the ‘Tour DC’ al your scores together from the Tour gets the final classification
Some say the best things in life, are one the inside.
Nope... I have no idea what PTC even stands for...
... unless it stands for “Phenylthiocarbamide” which would be far to apropos.
Ricco stole my marbles.
Eehm no.. What's that? Some scientific thing?
But it;s www.ploegleider.protourcompetitie.nl
For the Giro Tour en Vuelta hower it’s:
Giro.cyclingfever.com
tour.cyclingfever.com
and probably
vuelta.cyclingfever.com
It’s more focussed on the competition so you can test you’re knowlegde about cycling.. It’s a lot more competitive than here.. But some of the time you can find discussion most of the time in Dutch, most on the competetors are Dutch but their is a podiumcafe subleage.. So you have to work on that I think
Some say the best things in life, are one the inside.
Right
I’m playing over there. I suck at that game too! :-)
"When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realised that the Lord doesn’t work that way so I stole one and asked Him to forgive me."Emo Philips
But this man outgeeks all of us (put together)
He owns a batmobile:
Woodside’s car – with its distinctive rear fins, bubble windshields and triple rocket tubes – is instantly recognizable to the generation that tuned in the campy “Batman” TV series on ABC from 1966 to 1968.
and
He acquired about 3,000 vintage PEZ candy dispensers. He also began buying parts to build a B9 robot, which baby boomers will recall as the machine that warned “Danger, danger!” on the 1960s “Lost in Space” TV series.
I'm just disappointed that Batman...
... wouldn’t opt for greater control of his vehicle in all respects.
Ricco stole my marbles.
You don't realize the complexity
of driving while simultaneously checking the sky for the Batsignal, trying not to get the massive utilitybelt snagged on something and checking out Robin’s tights.
Robin is there to help with the utility belt...
... Holy Helmet Batman, you… seem to have snagged your utility belt on your tights… should I… lean over and help… unsnag you?
Ricco stole my marbles.
Holy Armidillo Batman!
I don’t think anything more needs to be said…...............
"I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass... and I'm all out of bubblegum."
run away! :-)
"When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realised that the Lord doesn’t work that way so I stole one and asked Him to forgive me."Emo Philips
l'ouch
i assume you know ‘bout the 1950s investigations into the comic industry? that was one of their accusations.
Quote from Cav
hadn’t heard or seen this elsewhere, from the NYT:
"It’s unfortunate for the other guys I have to do this," Cavendish said, somewhat sheepishly, when asked if he realized how his domination of the peloton must make the other sprint specialists feel.almost like he’s apologizing for being good … lol.
oh, and love those headlines, “Cavendish Is Master of Sprint, but Evans Still Leads” – as if Cavendish was somehow a threat for the GC.
Loved the bit about
Cav seeking out McEwen every day during the stage and talking to him for an hour or so. Robbie was his idol growing up so he likes to talk tactics, techniques with him. And right now Cav is showing the explosion that a younger McEwen had, as well as the ability to get out of a boxy situation if necessary. He’s a joy to watch.
"I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass... and I'm all out of bubblegum."
Oh , I'm sure Robbie is enjoying that too
“OOhh I’m such a big fan, could you give me some pointers…. uh huh thats really interesting…..... sorry gotta go, see ya” (takes off and wins stage by 5 metres)
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