Benna the whiner

Excellent "Tour Diary" by Nicholas Roche. He paints the picture of the beloved Benna being a huge A**hole.

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It doesn’t really make sense to me why Roche attacked with 2k to go if he was trying to defend yellow. If you are there to defend yellow then just sit at the back and take 9th or 10th on the stage whatever it is. But why attack to try and bridge a gap at the end of the race like that? If the rest of the group follows you might end up costing that 5 seconds because of your silly attack when the stage win was already decided.

by ncmussell on Jul 20, 2009 5:11 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

probably because roche knew

that whatever he did, the bunch was going to contest a sprint, therefore keeping nocentini in yellow. he just isn’t going to write that at a time of such publicity for the team, where his managers might read it. or maybe he was told the pace had gone up in the bunch, nocentini would probably be ok, and that he should go for the win. he deserved a shot, after all the work he’d done in the previous week…

"at the end of the day, it's only the tour de france."- bradley wiggins (and majope)

by benrazor on Jul 20, 2009 5:26 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Defiance

Put yourself in his shoes. After that abuse, you’d probably want to take a swing at everyone. This was the next best thing.

Your power is turning our darkness to dawn,
Roll on Columbia, Roll on!

by Chris... on Jul 20, 2009 6:29 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

exactly

good for him!

by nicknorco on Jul 20, 2009 7:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

+1

Throughout the stage all I kept on thinking was: ‘don’t finish second, you can’t finish second again’.--Heinrich Haussler

by majope on Jul 20, 2009 7:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

+2

"at the end of the day, it's only the tour de france."- bradley wiggins (and majope)

by benrazor on Jul 20, 2009 7:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

+3

by Bruce Suomi on Jul 20, 2009 7:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It didn't matter when he finished though

the time was taken when Ivanov crossed the line, it didn’t matter when the other break-away members finished, just when the pack did. Him attacking late didn’t make Ivanov get to the line quicker. He knew he couldn’t get to Ivanov, he just wanted 2nd place.

Vamos Alberto!!!(Contador not Ricco)

by Phil H. on Jul 20, 2009 6:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

GC time wasn't measured on Ivanov but on Hincapie crossing

I haven’t looked at it again, but the key time for Ag2R was the time Hincapie crossed the line not when Ivanov crossed the line. By attacking he could have created a situation where the rest of the break grabs his wheel and speeds up essentially costing Nocentini the five seconds he had to spare. That was the extent of my argument.

Although it was pretty clear Bennati had no interest in anything but the stage win, given how he didn’t even try at the end. So once the stage win was decided Bennati should not have cared.

by ncmussell on Jul 21, 2009 10:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Heh

I decided to ask Lance Armstrong what he thought of the whole situation. I speak with him every day and he’s sound enough. I told him all the stuff that happened. He basically said that it’s just a bike race and every team has their own interests. There’s no right, no wrong, only points of view, which made sense actually.

Maybe he should have tweeted that instead? Less bruhaha that way.

by Jens on Jul 20, 2009 5:38 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

If you sit on all day, then attack, you're not going to win any friends

It’s a professional sport, and as long as it’s within the rules it’s OK by me – though I’m glad he didn’t win that particular stage – but by complaining about Bennatti’s complaining he just seems to be making more of it than is necessary

by William H on Jul 20, 2009 6:52 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

i don't call that complaining

i think he was stating the facts as he saw them, and i appreciate his apparent candidness in giving the inside story

by nicknorco on Jul 20, 2009 6:59 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I like the way he sounds surprised that

Lance’s “sound enough”

by Katiek on Jul 20, 2009 6:55 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Gotta say...

…Roche paints a pretty compelling picture. Anyone at the TDF understands the tactics there, and heaping abuse on a guy for doing the standard thing is pretty shitty. Even worse to call him out in the press later. Roche’s piece seems like perfectly pitched payback.

I strongly doubt anyone’s going to try to fuck with young Nicholas in quite that way again.

by Ed K on Jul 20, 2009 7:03 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Heh

Not many Italians, certainly not riders, will read that piece by Roche, I think.. Everyone just remembers Airhead Benna on TV.

by tedvdw on Jul 20, 2009 7:06 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well with luck there's one Italian journo who catches it and at least writes a blurb...

…but yeah.

by Ed K on Jul 20, 2009 7:12 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I admire his courage to confront Bennati on Benna's own turf.

If Jens! Voigt was a planet, he' be the "World of Hurt"

by flying dog on Jul 20, 2009 7:29 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Heaping abuse on a guy for doing the standard thing

is itself a standard thing, I imagine. If you don’t work in the break, you will get yelled at. Roche should have just smiled and shrugged at the silly Italians. Similar deal with Cadel getting a mouthful from Hincapie and Cancellara — if you’re bad for the break, you will be informed of it.

by Pendleton on Jul 20, 2009 7:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Pretty much

Some funny shit right there, really. I think this is my favorite stage of the race.

by gavia on Jul 20, 2009 8:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

the irony being, in that case

it was Cadel’s break… ;-)

by civetta on Jul 20, 2009 8:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

yep

by gavia on Jul 20, 2009 8:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

irony indeed

by nicknorco on Jul 20, 2009 8:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

True...

…so either NR is whining, or they really went over the top. Seems like the latter, since I just don’t get the sense that NR is a crybaby. But who knows.

by Ed K on Jul 20, 2009 8:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

So if he went up to Bennati in front of the Italian press

wouldn’t that mean that there would be video footage, or photo’s, or at least an article about it? Does anyone have anything?

Vamos Alberto!!!(Contador not Ricco)

by Phil H. on Jul 20, 2009 7:07 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Can only find a reader's comment under

http://www.tuttobiciweb.it/index.php?page=news&cod=23212

by tedvdw on Jul 20, 2009 7:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I tried to register to leave another comment with a link to the Roche article but the confirmation mail is taking too long to arrive.

by tedvdw on Jul 20, 2009 7:17 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Are the Italians who are commenting...

enraged with Roche or do they not really like Bennati? Or do they not care?

Vamos Alberto!!!(Contador not Ricco)

by Phil H. on Jul 20, 2009 7:19 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

They sound pissed at Liquigas

for having bad tactics and a bad attitude. That is my reading.

by Jimbo... on Jul 20, 2009 7:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

mine too

and like they should not be calling on the Lord to help them get a win, but getting on with the job of bike racing instead

by nicknorco on Jul 20, 2009 7:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

"Now I understand why this team does not win ever"

Translation courtesy of Google… excellent comment by that reader. I would love to see the photos

by Jimbo... on Jul 20, 2009 7:19 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's a fab comment

in wonderfully sarcastic Italian. I’d translate the whole thing were it not gone one in the morning… I get the impression that Bennati’s not terribly popular though.

by civetta on Jul 20, 2009 8:20 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Right, that's it.

No. More. Bennati. Pictures. Evah.

by tedvdw on Jul 20, 2009 7:07 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

you may find that a hard sell in these parts ;)

by nicknorco on Jul 20, 2009 7:31 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm with Ted

I propose a Benna ban. Cold turkey is best in these scenarios, ladies.

by Jimbo... on Jul 20, 2009 7:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

we are gonna get

a Benna butt kick if we keep this up :)

by nicknorco on Jul 20, 2009 7:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Benna is a pretty boy punk

If I were Roche I would have rearranged that pretty little face in front of all the cameras. And as for Righi, I don’t recall seeing him doing any work over the last 30 miles of the race, and yet he didn’t even have the strength to launch an attack like Nicolas in the last kilometers. Good for you Roche, next time it’ll be first.

by La3000 on Jul 20, 2009 7:07 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

That's taking it too far. Punch another rider and you'd probably be disqualified from the tour.

by ZoeRochelle on Jul 21, 2009 1:26 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Benna should be DQ'd for verbally assaulting Roche

He wasn’t even content to keep his mouth shut after harassing Roche for the entire ride, he also had to make an even bigger ass of himself in the post race interview. And this coming from a rider who’s not really a great champion, I mean we’re not talking about Paolo Bettini here. Maybe he should focus more on winning and less on running his mouth and posing for the camera.

by La3000 on Jul 21, 2009 8:06 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs