Paris-Nice

Well, shock horror for me, I am waiting in for someone to come and collect some stuff, thought I'd fill the time with a quick Blog post, and was just looking for a pic of OGL storming around the TT course, only to be greeted on the RadioShack site with the news that he's withdrawn from the race with gastric problems.

*shoulders slump dejectedly*  We've waited so long to see him race again....

Oh well, never mind, what are my thoughts on the race so far? Well, LLB and I have only watched Stage 1, the not-quite-a-prologue individual TT. By the way, did you know that to be called a Prologue, it has to be 8km or less? This one was 9.5km, apparently, which is why it has been called Stage 1. There, don't say I never tell you anything.

Right, the Time Trial.  Lots and lots of TV coverage on Eurosport for us, so Yay! for Eurosport. Much better coverage than in the Tour of Quatar, where they showed the riders bracing up to leave the ramp - leaving the ramp - and then on to the next one waiting on the ramp. We didn't see any of the racing at all, and not all of the finishes! Bizarre....

Anyway, we saw lots of riders coming off the ramp, we critiqued their style (as you do) until finally, Andy! Andy! I nearly didn't recognise him in the silly TT button-mushroom hat. Is his face filling out a little bit? Or is it where those wisdom teeth were removed? No, that would make his face narrower, not wider, wouldn't it?

(Pause for Figgy to make allegations about there not really being any wisdom tooth removal during that untimely but imperative dental operation. There, feel better? Good, then we will continue.)

Andy did a storming take-off from the ramp, he showed real determination. Luckily he couldn't hear the somewhat sarcastic commentary from David Harmon, who referred to him as "Andy Schleck, the famous non-time-triallist". Well, actually, MISTER Harmon *sneer in voice* he had a nice position, he was looking good, he was taking the corners well, his lines were good, so there.

Eleven minutes later: oh dear. One minute down on an 11-minute TT is not very good. Nor is coming 103rd (at the time) out of 180 or so riders.  Oh well, it's early in the season - and at least he got a huge amount of screen time! Luckily the other riders on the road were not particularly interesting, if they will forgive me for saying so, so it was Andy, Andy, Andy nearly all the way. Sadly, a lot of it was helicopter shots, but at least that way we could see that he has indeed improved his road lines, and was showing a much smoother course.

Frankie had his turn a little later, and guess what! He came in within 7 seconds of Andy's time, putting him (at that time) 102nd.

Now, this pleases me hugely: it proves that neither of them have been on drugs over the winter, neither of them have been subject to any torture or "special fitness" regimes from Mr Bruyneel: if either or both of them had shown a greatly improved performance, don't you think that Things would have been Said? No, the season is still young, I am happy with their performances.

In the meantime, Bradley Wiggins of Sky (my second team) did a storming performance to come second, just barely missing the top slot - but he went round in the rain! Nice one, Wiggo. We are allowed to call  him that - you might have heard me praising Sky's decision to put the rider name on the side of the jersey, oriented so that we can read it when they are riding. Here's a quick montage so that you know that I am not kidding:

...and if you look again,you can see that Wiggins' suit says WIGGO, with the O being in Union Jack colours of red, white and blue.  So that proves that we are allowed to call him Wiggo. Just thought you'd like to know that.

At the end of the TT, we had Irizar in 8th position, so at least one Radioshack rider in the top 10, that's a good start.

Had to laugh at the podium experience: not quite as slick as some other, larger races... Gustav Larsson won, (beating Bradley by just one second: have to rub that in a little!) so he went up on the podium to collect his stage winner's award of a tasteful transparent plastic medallion. Lovely. The solitary podium girl managed to give him the flowers, and the obligatory kisses. Kiss! Kiss! Turn away - oh, you wanted a third kiss? Ok, Kiss! No, not awkward at all, really. No-one noticed.

She then held her hand out behind her back and was handed the yellow stuffed lion thing. (Momentary pause - we're not in TdF yet, are we? Oh, same jersey sponsor. That's all right, then.) She started to bring the stuffed toy out to give to him. But wait! He's not wearing the yellow jersey yet! Oh no, panic! She hides the lion behind her bag, waving it frantically at her colleague, while maintaining a fixed lovely smile, until it was taken from her hand and whisked away until Larsson re-appeared to collect the yellow jersey.

I love moments like that. They just make me laugh and laugh. Not to mention the podium outfit of, er, cream coloured slacks: and an anorak. Nice. (NB use of the word "slacks" is deliberate and malicious: it implies that the leg-wear in question is frumpily out of date, possibly from the late 50s or early 60s, and is probably made of crimplene

So, that was the first day, then. Today, Stage 4, we hear that Andy has had to retire due to an unseemly but imperative stomach disorder, which is such a shame. Never mind, I will continue to cheer for the rest of the boys, and for Sky, and for one or two particular "pets" I  may have among the other riders. Like Barbie Barbie - the confusingly named Australian, Heinrich Hausler; Egor Anton, my favourite Carrot (Euskaltel); and of course, Bum-fluff himself, TJ Van Garderen.