- Italian TV announcers just love Ricardo Ricco. I think this is partly because he's a young, rising star, but also because they just *love* to say things like "Rrrrreeeek-ahrdo Rrrrrrrrrreeeeeekooooo... Fortissimo!"
- Italian TV, and European TV in general, sort of sucks. When a brother gets used to 1080i on the big screen, ESTC or whatever that crap European broadcast standard is just stinks. It's like watching TV through a bad case of conjunctivitis.
- Jens Voigt is the f***in man. In Monday's mountain stage #16, a brutal individual time trial at Plan di Corones that was just as ridiculous a climb as you could imagine, Voigt turned in one of the fastest times. He just hammered up the hill, and my goodness were the announcers surprised to see him come around the corner 1k out from the finish, head tipped, mouth wide open in a rictus of pain, eyes squinting, just pounding on the pedals. Voigt finished the stage in 11th, only 1:55 down on some serious climbers. While Phil Ligget's cliches have gotten a bit shopworn, the one that is always still fresh is when he refers to Voigt reaching deep into his suitcase of courage. For a guy who is allegedly a domestique, he wins a shitload of multi-day races and grand tour stages, and is always in the mix of every race, making things happen. He's also 36 and apparently a really good family man. I have a lot of respect for him.
- The Giro really is better racing than the other grand tours. In stage 15, which featured a mountain top finish after the second consecutive climbing stage, Danilo DiLuca wobbled across the line looking blown out. He looked really, really bad. This is news because DiLuca is the smoothest guy in the peloton since Cipo retired. He *never* looks bad. But at the end of stage 15, he looked like death. Yep, the Stage 16 hill ITT was brutal and unacceptable. The stages held in bad weather, that are too long, that feature nasty climbs too many days in a row and too many dangerous descents - these are all things the Tour de France lacks the balls to do, plain and simple. They stick to more or less hidebound tradition, which is lovely, but unsurprising. You won't often hear the riders in the TdF complain about the course because complaints aren't welcome, but also because the course is pretty much always the same. The riders know what to expect. Not so the Giro - it's like Forest Gump's box of chocolates, you just never know what you're going to get. Hey, check it out - three mountain stages in a row, no rest days, and we supposedly don't begin climbing until next week! Hey, here's Astana - thought they were on the beech! What's this... an American team in the Maglia Rosa for a couple days.
It's great stuff, even if the whole operatic Italian subtext does make David Millar throw his bike into the woods periodically.
8 comments:
How come Millar is always a victum? Ya know, a victum of the dope culture, now an eqiptment victum. Tough life being a victum poster boy.
Me, I'm a genetics and late night 7-11 burrito and Krispy Kreme and general poor training habits and laviness victum. Poor me.
Looks like your guy just pulled off a great win. Jens is THE Man, Today at least. WOW!
Thanks Boz, on behalf of Millar I think I'll just go out and shoot myself.
On a more upbeat note I've just arrived home, flicked open the cyclingnews.com Giro live updates to read... "Voigt has plenty of time to raise his arms in celebration, pull his jersey down and enjoy the moment as he rolls over the finish line.
blah
blah
blah
peleton at 8:00 minutes."
Nice call Jim
Boz, I'm with you. The problem with Millar is he's a woman's man. A lot of women say they want a sensitive guy, a really caring guy, a guy who really gives a s*** and isn't afraid to weep. Then they get somebody like David Millar who pretty much cries on cue, and they realize it's sort of a sickening spectacle. Yeah, I sort of thought Millar was like a breath of fresh air on the doping thing. Then I realized the whole weeping, whining thing was his schtick, and after a while, I started thinking, "give me somebody like Magnus who never, ever complains." I hope Millar doesn't read this because if he does, it will probably make him cry.
Same sorta impression of Millar. I didn't follow him all that much until the Slipstream thing came around. Yeah I know about the yellow jersey, the "wanting" to be caught doping thing, etc,... The designer suits, the prissy shtick, the dare I say, metrosexual whiney vanity of the guy is turning me off. Kinda like all the hollywood leading men these days. When are people gonna get sick of that stuff?
He's got talent as a rider, but he's no hardman, like Magnus, as you mentioned.
Jon, Big Mike - yeah, I think Jens was pissed at the promoters over that stupid ITT on the ski slope.
Damn. Voigt just leaves me shaking my head sometimes. I really should have called the stage because it looks a hell of a lot like the TdG courses that he wins on all the time, and a lot like the Criterium Internationale roadrace courses that he tears up. It's not just the stage win though - he hammered breaks on Saturday and Sunday, rode his ass off Monday on the hill climb, attacked hard yesterday, and went hard again today. He is *relentless*. As another well-known German tactician once said: "Attack, Attack, Attack!"
Chuck ain't got sh!t on Jens.
It will no longer be referred to as Man Up, it is now Jens Up.
I don't have a Man Card, I have a Jens Card. Getting punches in the man card is too easy.
HTFU, nah, JTFU.
I'm with you, Jim. The Giro has really rocked this year, although I've been catching it on the NRK webfeed when it's quiet at work. Loved the race director's comments in response to the rider complaints: "...we need to pull ourselves out of these mediocrities...".
And Jens today! very very impressive, especially bearing in mind who else was in the escape group.
These next two mountain stages will be amazing to watch.
best
A.
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