Look! The Footon Servetto kit is back!
Yes, it's Lampre in the lead as he takes the awkward right-hander onto the Champs Elysees, followed by Footon Servetto, with Footon Servetto close behind, and there's a Footon Servetto rider trying to take him on the outside...
Huh, makes our current problems in differentiating between the black-and-white kits seem quite trivial, doesn't it?
Could this possibly be "Bear-Back Riding?"
I don't think the ears are sufficiently close together to allow for a truly aerodynamic position, what do you think?
Oh dear, the road appears to be a bit damp up ahead.
And finally... yes, we've all seen it before, but just for Eli:
So, Paris-Nice is over and done with, not quite the finish that Frankie was hoping for, but it was an interesting race to watch - and personally, I'm still watching it!
Good old Eurosport have done their best by bringing us both Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico, and the HDD recorder managed to get most of it. Trouble is, we didn't get enough time over the weekend to watch it all, so I'm only half-way through the TT! Knowing the final result beforehand does slightly take the edge off the viewing experience, but it's still very interesting to see how they got there.
And Tirreno ends tomorrow - go boys! Go!
Cece made a good point in her comment - the one that got caught by the spam filters, I have no idea why and I have reported it to Google as "not spam!" so sorry, Cece, nothing personal! - with regard to race radios, and that is the question of what happens if a rider is seriously injured in a situation where race radios would have prevented it? Will there be lawsuits?
Jensi ("go Jensi!") has made his viewpoint very clearly known, in his open letter to the UCI. In case you haven't read it, he says - amongst other things -
If I had a fatal crash, who of you, who think the radio ban is a great idea, will go to Berlin and explain to my six children that it was the right decision and daddy was just an unlucky victim in the so important battle for more drama in cycling?
Oooer!
I've been trying to find out what was said when radios were first introduced, back in the mid-90s: were there complaints from the riders then? Did they complain that it was taking away their individuality? Did they object to having the DS take control of the race? It would be very interesting to see what the riders thought, at that time, so if anyone can find any archive comments, I'd very much like to hear about them.
Dear Coug,
ReplyDeleteVery quickly, since I am en route to a lecture about Bolsheviks.
1)The bear in the second photo has the ubiquitous pissed-off look of animals that I see taxidermically stuffed in Natural History Museums. As though at that moribund moment of being shot, they were thinking, “Oh no, I’m going to be stuffed, and put behind glass in settings that vaguely approximate my natural habitat.”
2) I wish Jens Voigt would keep a public journal of sorts. Anyone who cites a bear wiping out team Astana somewhere in the Pyrenees, as a possible determining factor in the outcome of the Tour de France, is really just someone I’d like to get to know better. : )
See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WfD7lYkKqA
3) My Research Paper is finished! Well, barring a sentence or two I’ll need to tweak to go under the word limit. So no more Ure, Dostoevsky, Freud, or Engels, at least not until I sit my final exam next month. YAY! I am free to read up on Herr Schleck-related shenanigans again. YIPPEE! HURRAY! etc.
Old woman that I am, I remember the introduction of race radios. I couldn't tell you anything about the riders' comments (no twitter back then and I didn't follow cycling forums in my early 'net days either), but as I recall it was treated almost like a gimmick, just something that Motorola were doing. I don't remember there being an outcry from other teams that it offered any sort of professional advantage or such, in fact I got the feeling that they thought it wouldn't last.
ReplyDeleteIt was almost like a curiosity, something they used to cover in the talky segments of the Tour de France programme ("look how Phil Anderson clips in this tiny little earpiece gadget and WOW he can talk to his team car and teammates while they're on the road! Amazing!")
I can't recall any dissent/objections, though it's likely the terrestrial coverage I was watching was somehwhat 'watered down' for mass appeal so it's very possible there was more going on behind the scenes.
What I can't remember at all is how it caught on with all the other teams. Did it happen slowly, a team at a time, or did they go away for the off season and come back and everyone was using them? Does anyone know?
I know none of this answers your questions at all CG but I thought I'd share anyway!
Thanks Kara, great to hear a bit of background on this ("old woman", hah!) perhaps this might jog someone else's memories of that time.
ReplyDeleteThe arguments are certainly "raging" to and fro, no end of debate on the subject: I'm still wavering, I feel that I want to support the UCI, but I don't really agree with them: furthermore, I can't argue strongly against the ban, as I don't remember racing without radios, so how can I compare properly?
It certainly appears that the DS will convey his wishes to the team during the race, one way or another, and I'd rather that were done by radio than by team cars butting their way into the peleton.
Coug
Figbash! Welcome back, glad to hear that you are escaping from academia (is that how it's spelt?) (no jokes about wheat, please) and back with us in Schleckland.
ReplyDeleteLovely link - lovely, lovely Jensi! He is a scream from start to finish, isn't he?
Now with regard to that bear, I am coming to believe that there is a conspiracy amongst taxidermists to give dead stuffed animals ("call a spade a spade, Coug") that sort of pained expression. I mean, they can't all pull that sort of face just as they die, can they?
I reckon that at Taxidermy College they are issued with a selection of five expressions, and told that they have to master getting these expression onto their, er, projects before they are allowed to qualify.
These would be
1) Fierce/The Snarl
2) Cringing
3) Puppy Eyes (for pets)
4) Asleep (also for pets)
5) Aloof
Anyone who fails is sent next door to Hairdressing Academy with an option to learn Nail Sculpture.
Coug
Figbash, re "2)" have you seen Jens Voigt's blog on bicycling.com?
ReplyDeletehttp://bicycling.com/blogs/hardlyserious/
I'm like Kara, the radios just were there. I've got some faint memory that Armstrong & co introduced them, but I'm not sure.It was not an issue.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand I remember that the obligation to put helmets on was a much bigger issue. The riders were against because of too much heat (so for a few years they were allowed to ascend big mountains without helmets) and the fans (girls?) were against because of the difficulty with identifying the riders.
About the radio ban nowadays, I think the riders should have the main vote, although I'm, like you CG, switching my opinion by the minute.
Kara, thanks for the link.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, cycling coverage is pretty abysmal in Canada, so I can't comment on the radio ban debate. As I mentioned in an email to Coug, we only get live coverage of the Tour de France, pointless time-delayed broadcasts of the Vuelta, and local coverage of the new UCI ProTours in Montreal, and Quebec City (the latter two are of particular note to me, as I spent the afternoon looking for Jens Voigt, and admiring Jakob Fuglsang’s eyebrows on the telly : P)
Coug, I may have a self-imposed no collecting pictures policy, but apparently I have no qualms about accumulating bookmarks.
This one’s my favourite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0tVAQech7g&feature=related
I don’t know if it’s Fränk or Andy who says, “And now he’s a lady!”, but it’s the kind of random, unexpected turn of phrase that makes me chuckle, even hours after I’ve heard it.
haha, I believe it's Andy who makes the lady remark (he makes remarks like this quite often). Sadly (or not), I've watched that video so many times I don't even have to rewatch it to know the dialogue...
ReplyDelete...me too... but it's been a while since I saw it, so I've made a page for some favourite videos.
ReplyDeleteI'd better just go there and check that it's still working properly, 'scuse me.
Coug
Hi cougs- I don't mind being sent to spam--as long as don't have to eat it. Still can't believe Hawaii claims the real 'spam' as a national dish....
ReplyDeleteHas anyone else noticed lately how quick Andy is to return to Lux? He didn't even hang around to celebrate Fabs awesome tt yesterday.
Is it because he's got a lux lovely girlfriend or has he missed Frankie and Jakob too much or is it some home cooking? Strange.
He probably wanted to get back to Lux so quickly so he could look after Jakob after his nasty crash in P-N ;)
ReplyDeleteI think he might be eager to get away from Italy and a certain 'press' person that lives there... But I like Leela's idea, he's going back to nurse Jakob back to health so he can play more guitar hero :)
ReplyDeleteOh and spam is delicious! They have 'healthy' spam now with reduced sodium made of turkey (or so they say). Spam is a main reason I want to visit Hawaii :)
Emily B,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about Spam, and I'm rather sad it's become synonymous with junk mail.
I use it when I'm making Chinese take-away style fried rice, as a substitute for pork, or chicken.
However, I will say that I'm dubious about an imitation Spam product called Kam.
See: http://www.mapleleaffoods.com/en/market/butcher/canned-meat/luncheon-meats/maple-leaf-kam-luncheon-meat
On an unrelated note, has anyone ever seen a series of videos (I don't know if they're official ads, I can't believe any tourism board would approve of them!) called "Is it true what they say about Luxembourg?" Somehow, the phrase "surprisingly 21st century" makes me believe the opposite is true, even though I'm sure Luxembourg is very progressive, and in the very least, has a way better rail system in place than Ontario.
See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sw40VtmD00g&feature=related
Errr, Spam? Are we talking about the same stuff? Very pink, very unreal looking, tastes of plastic?
ReplyDeleteFiggy, I love the Lux advert! Go and watch it everyone! Strangely they don't mention cycling at all, so probably they aren't official ads.
Beautifully filmed: though strangely, they don't make me want to go there at all. I'm neither an epicure (had to look that up to make sure it meant what I thought it did - someone who likes food to the point of being pretentious about it - just in case it was something to do with a health fad) nor into classical music, so I don't quite fall within their target audience.
Besides (all together now) I don't have a valid passport...
Coug
Coug, when are you getting a passport?? I thought you'd applied already!!
ReplyDeleteAren’t they the strangest ads (if that’s what they are)? I’ve never felt less compelled to go to a place! It reminds me of the advertisements they run here to visit Ottawa, in that it makes a fairly interesting place, seem pleasantly boring. They would do better to imply the possibility of the occasional high profile cyclist sighting--think about the spike in overseas student applications to St. Andrews, when Prince William was a student there. : P
ReplyDeleteMaybe Spam is to Hawaiians and Filipinos, what Vegemite is to Australians—just something you had to have grown up with, and/or inculcated to. It’s definitely one of the more anomalous things in my diet.
Coug, you are speaking my language. My food philosophy is:
I don't have a cooking philosophy to speak of, except for an immovable belief that anyone who calls themselves a gourmand, gastronome, epicure etc., should be shot out of a cannon.
Figgy! *secretly hoped to be called figgy the whole time*
(*hangs head in shame*) Leelu, I have the form, I have the photos, I just haven't quite actually got around to writing the HUGE cheque yet.
ReplyDeleteI will, honest!
Aw, Figgy, sorry to have made you wait, that was the obvious thing to call you - you know how I love having pet names for all the Schlecklanders, or is it just an anarchic tendency to refuse to use given names? Discuss...
I've never tried Vegemite: I can't stand Marmite (condensed gravy, uck) so I didn't think I'd care for a meat-free version.
Sorry about the lack of a new post, all my spare time is now being wasted - er, spent - learning how to use Twitter (thanks, Auntie Leelu, for lessons 1-4, I'm now waiting for Lesson 5!).
Coug
Guys I'm going to "disappear" from this blog, I've been using the pseudonym Kara but now, wouldn't you know it, a REAL Kara has turned up (welcome Kara!) I don't want to cause confusion or claim first dibs on a name that isn't even my real name... so this is the last post from Naughty Corner Kara. If/when the real Kara posts, remember this is a new person, with no connection to me! So be nice (not suggesting you weren't nice to me)!
ReplyDeleteWhen I come back under a new name I'll make a totally fresh start because I'm not naughty really. Well, not as naughty as my reputation on here suggests! I won't mention 'Kara' so just treat the new me as a new joiner (which should mean we all get a new OGL picture as well - bonus!)
Hope that'll help avoid any confusion in future! Bye - for now!
Okay lady, no problem: look forward to seeing you again under your new name.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure we could come up with some suggestions, if you like???
(*laughs*)
Coug
PS You haven't just moved to Canada, have you??
ReplyDeleteI've just been reading all your older posts CG and just saw this!
ReplyDeleteawwwww, I hope that I havn't caused you to leave, 'Kara'!! :/ please don't leave on my account...! :(
Nooo mate don't worry! I'll be back, just getting some help sorting out my new identity (all very hush hush you know).
ReplyDeleteIt was time for a change anyway, blimey, I'd have to be a right prima donna to leave just 'cos someone else had the same name!
Imagine the scene if Fabian Cancellara had pulled that trick before signing at Leopard Trek:
Nygaard: Wegmann, we need to talk...
Anon
Formerly known as Kara