Guess who was at the top of the scale? No, not America, it was Luxembourg.
Figgy, are you shivering? Do you have goose-bumps? Yes, you are being haunted by Luxembourg.
Here is the page - obviously this is just a screen shot, so you can't input your own figures on it:
...but if you follow this link, you can go to the webpage, and you can (if you are so minded) put in your own country and your own monthly wage, and see where you sit.
Fun, huh?
I was wondering how much the average Lux wage is affected by having Andy and Frankie living there? After all, it's a small country with a tiny population, so those two must represent a significant proportion of the high earners, I would have thought?
OK, I might possibly be joking...
Heartbroken after Fabu crash in Flanders. Was it a badly pitched bottle again (Katusha??)
ReplyDeleteBE
"@tourdejose" just tweeted that Becca sent his plane to fly Fabian to Bassel but I haven't seen anyone else tweeting that. I didn't see any of the television coverage but I hope for the sake of his wife and family that there weren't too many pictures of the crash. My heart goes out to them all. - Kat
ReplyDeleteBelgian press is reporting that too, Kat. Good thing they flew him home by private jet, instead of queing to board the plane etc. He must have been in a lot of pain with a triple fracture in his collarbone.
ReplyDeleteI was at the finish line today and seeing the crash (on the screen) was horrible. It looked very serious for a while, with Fabian lying motion less on the road surrounded by all his team mates. I was relieved to hear it was "only" his collarbone, as I feared it to be much worse...
He was looking so incredibly strong and the team was doing so well! :( Hope he heals up soon!
Inge
Inge, are there any reports on how the crash happened? I can't find any information on my usual websites. - Kat
ReplyDeleteThe Radioshack spokesperson said in an interview with Sporza (Belgian TV) that there was a water bottle on the road and Fabian couldn't avoid it. Normally water bottles pop open when a rider rides over it, but this one didn't.
DeleteHe crashed on his right shoulder and hip and it was clear from the very first moment that he had broken his collarbone and would not be able to continue the race.
He also said that the deception for Fabian was huge.
Dirk Demol, the DS, said in an interview with the same TV channel that his collarbone was actually sticking through his skin....
Both interviews are here, but they're both in Dutch:
http://www.sporza.be/permalink/1.1261492
http://www.sporza.be/permalink/1.1261523
Inge
Thank you so much! :) Kat
DeleteI saw a picture (while Fab was on the ground) and there were bottles strewn everywhere and another person (spectator?) laid out face down as well just a couple of feet away. I've heard nothing about a spectator being involved in this crash.
ReplyDeleteI fell for an April Fools joke (that lot's of people got really angry about) but it was "reported" that they would be replacing Fabians collar bone with a match from a cadaver - and it would mean a 3-5 day recovery period, all for 5.6 million euros and the sponsers were all contributing...
Felt pretty silly.
And...Levi got hit by a car today...
Rough days in cycling eh?
BE
I saw the replacement collar bone referenced on twitter. I'll be completely honest with you, if I had seen it as a "report", I would have been standing right beside you in the April Fools joke line up! And yeah, there are way to many stories about cyclists getting hit by cars these days! Kat
DeleteOMG!!!! Bone thru skin............YIKES!!!!!! I just hollared out loud when I read Inge's post. But I don't understand what this means "He also said that the deception for Fabian was huge." Can you clarify Inge?
ReplyDeleteI was relieved to see Fabian tweeting today. Quadruple fracture! OUCH. I also read they they would remove the pins in time. Interesting. My son has pins in his collarbone and they will not be removed...so I don't understand. Sounds like a similar procedure with just minimal "flesh cutting". My son was out for 4 months - they are talking about Fab's riding again at end of May? That seems too soon - but then again, it's Fab's....and he's a pro and it's a different world than a civilian. His post was about which chocolate to get - so he's either really drugged (I hope) or really funny!
Hey, I was all for the "bionic" Fabian possibilities! I feel bad for the guy who posted the "joke"....he got a royal ration of caca from Fab's fans.
Ah, the season has begun eh?
BE
Me too BE, after watching that interview. Being a medical professional, I have seen (and smelled) quite a lot, but this made me feel sick as well..
ReplyDeleteOf course I can clarify for you. English is not my fist language, so I think something got lost in translation. Here's what they said: "Fabian was very sad and dissapointed, he was in a super shape and then this happened." When asked if he had already said something like "I'll come back stronger than ever before", the spokesperson replied by saying "No, he hasn't said anything like that yet. He's too dissapointed and sad right now."
Hope that clears it up for you! :)
His tweet about the chocolate made me laugh. I hope he's both drugged up AND funny. He now has a good excuse to be on a morphine drip and to eat lots of chocolate! ;-)
Inge
You both have reflected a couple of the same emotions that I was experiencing; relief to see his tweets this morning and the laugh at the candy display. I rarely tweet these guys because it just feels like a weird thing for me to do (and yet I'll chat with anyone on Coug's blog and respond to other tweets when I don't know the person - apparently I'm confused!) but I did send Fabian a tweet this morning when I saw his posts.
ReplyDeleteI'm always so impressed with people who speak multiple languages, Inge. Thanks for translating that for us. I took 5 years of French in high school and hardly remember a word. One of the cool things about following this sport is that it is an opportunity for me to re-learn that language.
Kat
I'm with you on the language thing Kat. Once....I used to be pretty fluent in french and german and also swiss german&french, as I went to school in Suisse for a few years. So I love watching feeds in other languages and I can still understand some but I've really lost a lot in the 40 years of not using....
ReplyDeleteThanks for the clarification Inge! I get it now!
Sadly, I don't know how good the drugs will be for Fabs. My son got a few Vicoden----but that was it. When he was 11 was when he first broke both collarbones...they gave him NOTHING~ We left the hospital with instruction to see an orthopedist - and they wouldn't even provide a brace or harness or anything for my broken boy. I did a great Shirley McLaine (Terms of Endearment) impression..."Give my child drugs!!!!!!" The reality was, he was fine and if he'd had drugs there might be more opportunity to move too much....so, it's really using nature at it's best. If it hurts, don't move it!
Still, I hope Fab's does have good meds.
BE
Coug!
ReplyDeleteActually, I still shudder whenever I hear Luxembourg, and the Duchy still manages to come up for no reason. Of all things, last Tuesday I overheard a conversation on a train, mostly about one woman's travels to Scotland, Malta, and... Luxembourg.
It was like a second alarm clock had gone off.
Also, last week of classes this term, then exams! So more time for things like gainful employment, grand tours, and bad internet streams of classics races.
Hey everyone,
ReplyDeleteI've been a bit busy, but I'm working on the next post - honest!
Poor Fab, eh? And poor Levi, getting clouted by a car: who would have thought that cycling was such a dangerous sport, compared to, say, boxing, or pro-bull riding, or F1 driving.....
Coug
PS Hi Figgy! *sniggers*
And Fab's is going to be a Daddy again! Cool!
ReplyDeleteAnd...will Andy finish a race this week? Hope so.
BE