Stage 5, Tour of California, Steff'n D'neff'l and Oscar Freire broke away from the peloton and were having a lovely time until Steff'n got a flat tyre, and then this happened:
Squark!
(That's me having a worried moment. I mean, Steff'n has a nick-name, he's one of "my" boys...)
But luckily, next minute, with a sound effect something like "doinnnnnnnnng"
There he is, more or less upright again.
With a big 'ole in his knickers.
Yes, Figgy, it is true, they don't wear underpants under their bib shorts. Did you not know that? Really? There are many, many pics of bottoms hanging out... in fact I think I had one in the previous entry, after the bit about kangaroos, there was Baden Cooke of SaxoBlank with his botty hanging out, having hit the tarmac at speed.
That's one of the things that makes this sport so extraordinary, that these guys hurl themselves down mountains, round corners, through towns, etc, while wearing a plastic helmet and pretty much nothing else. They don't call them "skinsuits" for nothing, you know!
No time for more!
I honestly assumed that they were wearing some kind of protective clothing underneath. So yes, Baden Cooke was a shock for me. As far as I'm concerned they should be armed in mithril! Does the extra weight of cotton / fabric affect how well they can race? I just can't get my head around the fact that they're basically defenseless.
ReplyDeleteGrr, watching the Tour of California time trials now, and apparently, Jakob Fuglsang is wearing the "Norwegian" flag, and is the "Norwegian" national time trial champion. Oh, and Jens is out with a broken scaphoid bone, poor man.
Speaking of no underpants, here is another example-
ReplyDeletehttp://www.steephill.tv/2011/tour-of-california/photos/stage-05/#210-DSC_8509.jpg
In this instant it would have been excellent if he was wearing mithril underpants as figbash has pointed out (sorry, I dont know her name so hope saying figbash is ok :)), but boy wont he be sore!
Oh and yes figbash is right again, Jens is out with a broken scaphoid bone :/... Oh and Cough I have to tell you, you know Ken Sommer's right?, well of course you know Ken, I mean you know all who are related to LT, well anyway he TWEETED ME :O... Lee and I we consider him a rockstart, so getting a tweet from him is like getting a tweet by Andy (well IF i did get a tweet by Andy, I would faint and probably not wake up for many days :P. And it was about Jen's borken bone. Why I'm telling you this, cause YOU should come back to TWITTER, so you dont miss all the exciting action that gone on over there! ;)
bye bye
xx
Hi Nimani, I'm susan, but figbash is perfectly ok :) I'm named after my mum, so I rarely get called by my proper name anyway--especially not at the doctor, and dentist' office, too much confusion for their records.
ReplyDeleteWow, you got a message from Ken Sommer! I think it takes guts to interact directly with the Leopard Trek guys, or anyone you admire, really.
I think if I actually ran into anyone on the team, I would feign ignorance (Huh? Andy who? Sorry, never heard of you--is my nose growing Pinocchio style?), or pretend that I can't speak English (I call this the Lost in Translation tactic):P
Mithril would probably hurt after a mountain stage... but if it's anything like the material Tolkien describes, it shouldn't weigh anything... now where's a dwarf armoury when you need one?
Oh, Jensi! (*pulls face of woe*)
ReplyDeleteSee how tough he is, he rode a whole stage with a broken (cracked) bone and all he said was "my hand hurts a bit, I might get it x-rayed later."
Wow, Nim, you got a tweet from Ken Sommer, wow! (*impressed*) Did he want to check the Andy-roster with you? Or did he want to ask you if you could possibly add Jakob to the schedule?
Coug
Awwww.... I'm glad that Stefan is ok!!! that photo makes it look so extraordinarily close :((
ReplyDeleteHaha!! Mithril... that would be awesome. I'm surprised they havn't developed some kind of hyper-modern material that protects them and prevents the ripping and stuff. I guess motorbike riders wear leather.... can you imagine the peloton wearing their kits but made of leather?! haha!! too hot I guess... :P
That photo is one of the scariest things I've seen. Stefan said in an interview that he didn't realize how close he came to more serious injury until some twitter followers of his sent him that photo. And yet he pulled really hard on today's stage at the Tour of Cali (at least I think it was him, I can't really trust Phil and Paul on this sort of thing).
ReplyDeletePeeDee
Hi Susan, nice to meet you :) I do like figbash, so figbash it is :)
ReplyDeletehaha yes I was hyper when I realised he had tweeted me, I wasnt really aiming to get a reply for him but yeah- was NOT expecting it (which made me go even more fangirl crazy!:P)...now, to work on getting a tweet by Andy ;)
BAHAHA you know I'll probably be like you if I met any of them too, or more likely I'll faint if I ever met Andy or Jakob. They'll take one look at me lying on the ground and shake their heads and walk away :P...
I think we'll have to put an order into Gandalf or Gimli to get us some dwarf armoury for the LT boys ;)
xx
lol Coug, no, it was all talk about Jens and that poor broken Scaphoid!. He sends me personal memos when it comes to discussing what I can provide for Andy..and hmmm I should talk to him about adding Jakob to the roster. Thanks for the idea ;)
x
Not about the Amgen, or the Giro, but an important, if not utterly demoralizing, interview with cyclist Tyler Hamilton. Perhaps it's not going to "change the history of the sport" as the reporter Scott Pelley rather loftily declares, but if Hamilton's account of his experiences are true, it's another black eye for cycling, and a rather sad development in the case the US federal government is building against Lance Armstrong.
ReplyDeletePart I:
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7366948n&tag=contentMain;contentAux
Part II:
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7366946n&tag=cbsnewsMainColumnArea.6
:(
Boo....
ReplyDeleteI'm not an Armstrong fan, but I've read his books and I do admire his strength and persistence.
I'm also sick of hearing these allegations - particularly as he's now retired from the sport.
I think that in a lot of cases, when a person has been caught doing wrong, they are very keen to put some of the blame on other people, don't you?
Coug
Coug, another horrible news related nor to Amgen nor to the Giro: Tondo has passed away! :'(
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cyclingnews.com/news/xavier-tondo-dies-in-domestic-accident
Awww, noooooooo! Not Tondo! But he was one of my "pets"...... (*glum face*)
ReplyDeleteIt's no good, I can't stand being out of touch, I will have to go back to scanning the cycing news every day, even though it includes the results of the races that I haven't been able to watch yet.
Oh, poor Tondo, what a horrible way to go, not even cycling but thwacked by the garage door.... I bet there will be someone out there drawing conclusions about him standing up to the dopers and naming names recently.
I hope it's nothing like that, and really is just a freak accident.
(*more glum face*)
Coug