Well, the unlovely Mr Becca has made his feelings quite plain today, in an act of sheer spite - he's pulled the plug on all non-essential racing for the rest of this season.
He has said that he won't fund any races other than the UCI World Tour races, the ones that all pro-teams are compelled to attend.
So our Leopards (and the RadioShambles bunch) will continue at la Vuelta, and will do the five remaining races, but won't do Paris-Tours, Paris-Brussels, or the Tour of Britain - although to be fair, we already knew they weren't coming to Britain as the organisers released the start list, and they weren't on it...
..shame...
...but there you are, we can't expect them to come all the way to the UK every year. Maybe Trek will come next year?
In the meantime, the end of this season is going to be somewhat difficult for the team, if not all of them are going to be allowed to ride races, as they need the race miles to work up their form for the Worlds.
Talking of which, I have never quite figured out who pays for what when riders compete at the Worlds - suddenly they are no longer riding for their team, but for their country, leading to some unexpected alliances, some strange kit, and the feeling that they are neglecting their pro teams.
Other Trek news includes this report confirming a few more riders going to the new team, which now contains:
Andy
Frankie
Fabu
...and
Stijn Devolder
Markel Irizar
Yaroslav Popovych
Gregory Rast
Hayden Roulston and
Jesse Sergent
Hey, Trek, don't forget Puncture Pim!
Tuesday 27 August 2013
Thursday 22 August 2013
LLB lubs me!
Remember the Lux ensign socks? Bought about three years ago, worn to death, finally consigned to the bin, amid much sadness and with a very glum face:
Yes, they had actual holes underneath, and you should have seen the heels!! It was a sad day when the second pair (above) finally gave up the ghost, and were thrown out.
It was even more traumatic, as I couldn't find them for sale any more - I bought those ones from Wiggle, and although they had about a hundred products from Sock Guy, none of them were Lux ensign ones.
After wailing about this for several weeks, I finally learned to live a Life Without Lux Socks: it was a hard adjustment, but eventually I came to terms with the loss.
Then LLB gave me a present - oooh! New Lux socks! How sweet is that? He searched for, and found, some very similar Lux socks for me, instead of sending me off to Andyhab (where I think I probably have a standing reservation). Perhaps it's because we haven't heard much from Our Andy this year... or perhaps I have been very good this summer.
The new socks are not quite the same - instead of Angel of the Mountains (in memory of Charly Gaul, not Our Andy) on the sole, these ones have L/XL. Apparently they don't come in my size anymore, so these one are a leader bit (as Magnus Backstedt would say) too large, but being extremely stretchy they aren't as overlarge as you'd think, and I just don't care, I wear them anyway!
So I am a happy, happy, happy Schlecklander again, and I am now wearing my new Lux ensign socks as often as I can. I'm wearing them now, actually!
Yes, they had actual holes underneath, and you should have seen the heels!! It was a sad day when the second pair (above) finally gave up the ghost, and were thrown out.
It was even more traumatic, as I couldn't find them for sale any more - I bought those ones from Wiggle, and although they had about a hundred products from Sock Guy, none of them were Lux ensign ones.
After wailing about this for several weeks, I finally learned to live a Life Without Lux Socks: it was a hard adjustment, but eventually I came to terms with the loss.
Then LLB gave me a present - oooh! New Lux socks! How sweet is that? He searched for, and found, some very similar Lux socks for me, instead of sending me off to Andyhab (where I think I probably have a standing reservation). Perhaps it's because we haven't heard much from Our Andy this year... or perhaps I have been very good this summer.
The new socks are not quite the same - instead of Angel of the Mountains (in memory of Charly Gaul, not Our Andy) on the sole, these ones have L/XL. Apparently they don't come in my size anymore, so these one are a leader bit (as Magnus Backstedt would say) too large, but being extremely stretchy they aren't as overlarge as you'd think, and I just don't care, I wear them anyway!
So I am a happy, happy, happy Schlecklander again, and I am now wearing my new Lux ensign socks as often as I can. I'm wearing them now, actually!
Monday 19 August 2013
Eneco Tour: Pim and the Puncture
Just time for a quick note about the Eneco Tour, having watched all but the last day of it - no! Don't tell me who won!
Actually, I'm not that bothered by who won what jersey, as only a few of my "pets" were in it, and neither of the Schlecks were. Nor Jakob.
But it was still an enjoyable race to watch, and in fact I've adopted a new pet, the humorously-named Pim Ligthart of the about-to-be-disbanded VacanSoleil.
Did you see what happened to him? He was out in a break, for hour after hour, and it was something like 13k to go, he was still out in front in the break, the peloton where charging up behind but the three of them were working well together: when he got a puncture. The time gap was about 38seconds, so the team cars had been pulled out, but the Neutral Service should still have been there.
But they weren't.
He had to pull over to the side, and wait for 38 seconds until the bunch came past... then he had to wait while the whole peloton whizzed past... then he had to wait for the team car... then he had to wait while they got the right wheel for him, and THEN he had to work his way back onto the peloton.
Did he cry? No, he did not.
Did he stamp his feet in rage and throw the punctured wheel into the hedge? No, he did not.
But it must have been heartbreaking, all the same.
So he is now an honorary Schlecklander (despite being ginger), as he is only a puppy, and he took what must have been a crushing disappointment like a man.
Other points of note, from all but the last day of the race:
Firstly, I loved the crash-into-a-banner episode: if you didn't see it, no doubt it will appear on Watts at some point. Here's what happened:
It was at a run-up to a roundabout, lots of bottle-necking, cyclists hopping up on the pavements and cycle paths as they always do in Belgium, nothing unusual there... but some kind person had strung one of those stout paper advertising banners across the two poles supporting the roundabout sign.
The back of it was facing the race, so it was plain white.
And yes, one of the cyclists failed to see it, tried to cycle between the two poles, and whanged right into it. He had to stop and rip it to bits, looking somewhat bemused, before he could rejoin the race.
Laugh? We hooted!
Secondly, Taylor Phinney and his really, really bad crash: now, I don't normally find anything nice or funny or sweet about crashes, but there was a lovely moment in this one. He was sitting in the road, dazed, unable to bend his knee and therefore unable to get up. His DS took him under the armpits, another BMC guy picked up the damaged leg, and they gently lifted him to the side of the road.
Yes, I know you're not supposed to move accident victims until the medics get there, don't shout at me, but if a guy is lying in a very narrow road with a large convoy of team cars all hooting and desperate to get past, well - you do what you have to.
Anyway, having moved him to the verge, the DS (a former pro cyclist himself) let go of the armpits, then just gently squeezed the tops of Taylor's shoulders, in that sort of semi-massage manner.
It seemed a very sweet gesture: not deliberate, just a tiny physical reassurance that it was all going to be all right.
Awww!
Shades of stage 3 of the Giro last year, remember when Phinney had to be helped across the finish line with a suspected broken ankle? Poor boy! But once again, he hasn't actually broken anything, so I guess we can be thankful for that.
I haven't watched the final day yet, but we did squeeze in time for the Tour Des Fjords, which means exactly what it says on the box. Southern Norway, lots of fjords, looking less intimidating when not covered in snow. We saw the second day, for some reason - no sign of the first or subsequent days, just the second day - and I have to say that the finish line was hilariously under-played: instead of ending in the nearby small town, they ended at what appeared to be a minor road junction, apparently so that they could park the team minibuses in the car park of the Cultural Centre. There wasn't room for the proper team buses, so the riders had to get changed after the race out in the open, on the grass.
Hilarious!
No word from Andy recently - errr, not that he contacts me, no! no! I just mean that he hasn't done very much lately, other than appearing at the Trek presentation along with Fabian and Jensie:
Here he is, looking relaxed and happy while Fabu waves around an enormous cowbell.
No, I have no idea why!
It's now been confirmed that Jensie has signed with Trek for a year, although he is saying - again! - that he's going to retire after that one final year.
We shall see, Jensie, we shall see!
Actually, I'm not that bothered by who won what jersey, as only a few of my "pets" were in it, and neither of the Schlecks were. Nor Jakob.
But it was still an enjoyable race to watch, and in fact I've adopted a new pet, the humorously-named Pim Ligthart of the about-to-be-disbanded VacanSoleil.
Did you see what happened to him? He was out in a break, for hour after hour, and it was something like 13k to go, he was still out in front in the break, the peloton where charging up behind but the three of them were working well together: when he got a puncture. The time gap was about 38seconds, so the team cars had been pulled out, but the Neutral Service should still have been there.
But they weren't.
He had to pull over to the side, and wait for 38 seconds until the bunch came past... then he had to wait while the whole peloton whizzed past... then he had to wait for the team car... then he had to wait while they got the right wheel for him, and THEN he had to work his way back onto the peloton.
Did he cry? No, he did not.
Did he stamp his feet in rage and throw the punctured wheel into the hedge? No, he did not.
But it must have been heartbreaking, all the same.
So he is now an honorary Schlecklander (despite being ginger), as he is only a puppy, and he took what must have been a crushing disappointment like a man.
Other points of note, from all but the last day of the race:
Firstly, I loved the crash-into-a-banner episode: if you didn't see it, no doubt it will appear on Watts at some point. Here's what happened:
It was at a run-up to a roundabout, lots of bottle-necking, cyclists hopping up on the pavements and cycle paths as they always do in Belgium, nothing unusual there... but some kind person had strung one of those stout paper advertising banners across the two poles supporting the roundabout sign.
The back of it was facing the race, so it was plain white.
And yes, one of the cyclists failed to see it, tried to cycle between the two poles, and whanged right into it. He had to stop and rip it to bits, looking somewhat bemused, before he could rejoin the race.
Laugh? We hooted!
Secondly, Taylor Phinney and his really, really bad crash: now, I don't normally find anything nice or funny or sweet about crashes, but there was a lovely moment in this one. He was sitting in the road, dazed, unable to bend his knee and therefore unable to get up. His DS took him under the armpits, another BMC guy picked up the damaged leg, and they gently lifted him to the side of the road.
Yes, I know you're not supposed to move accident victims until the medics get there, don't shout at me, but if a guy is lying in a very narrow road with a large convoy of team cars all hooting and desperate to get past, well - you do what you have to.
Anyway, having moved him to the verge, the DS (a former pro cyclist himself) let go of the armpits, then just gently squeezed the tops of Taylor's shoulders, in that sort of semi-massage manner.
It seemed a very sweet gesture: not deliberate, just a tiny physical reassurance that it was all going to be all right.
Awww!
Shades of stage 3 of the Giro last year, remember when Phinney had to be helped across the finish line with a suspected broken ankle? Poor boy! But once again, he hasn't actually broken anything, so I guess we can be thankful for that.
I haven't watched the final day yet, but we did squeeze in time for the Tour Des Fjords, which means exactly what it says on the box. Southern Norway, lots of fjords, looking less intimidating when not covered in snow. We saw the second day, for some reason - no sign of the first or subsequent days, just the second day - and I have to say that the finish line was hilariously under-played: instead of ending in the nearby small town, they ended at what appeared to be a minor road junction, apparently so that they could park the team minibuses in the car park of the Cultural Centre. There wasn't room for the proper team buses, so the riders had to get changed after the race out in the open, on the grass.
Hilarious!
No word from Andy recently - errr, not that he contacts me, no! no! I just mean that he hasn't done very much lately, other than appearing at the Trek presentation along with Fabian and Jensie:
Here he is, looking relaxed and happy while Fabu waves around an enormous cowbell.
No, I have no idea why!
It's now been confirmed that Jensie has signed with Trek for a year, although he is saying - again! - that he's going to retire after that one final year.
We shall see, Jensie, we shall see!
Saturday 17 August 2013
Fractured pelvis and gritted teeth
Poor Andy, he must be sick to death of hearing about other riders' wonderful recoveries from broken pelvises!
Pelvisis?
Pelvi?
Anyway *shakes head* whatever the plural of pelvis is... first we had G in the Tour, falling off right at the beginning, fracturing his pelvis, and not only continuing to ride, but after a very quiet, hang-on-grimly-at-the-back week or so, he even started taking turns on the front of the peloton, and contributing to the team effort.
Then, today, we hear that Barbie Barbie - Heinrich Haussler - who broke his pelvis in the Tour de Suisse earlier this year, is not only back on his bike, but is about to participate in the Tour de Poitou-Charentes (chorus of "Where?") after making a better recovery than anticipated. And at one point, he was in a wheelchair!!
Whereas Our Andy was struggling to ride for, how long? Aaaaages. It must be very galling for him to read this reports.
Of course, none of us know exactly how bad each injury was - G's fracture must have been, with due respect to him, a small one, for him to continue riding. Likewise we don't have all the details of Barbie Barbie's injury.
However, this does not stop people criticising Our Andy for taking "too long" to recover. I have more or less decided that I am never going to read the cycling forums again, as they are just so spiteful and generally horrible. Not just to Andy, I hasten to add, the attacks swing around from rider to rider as time passes, but as an Andy-fan, I do feel that Andy has come in for a lot of what you might call "Anti-fan" attention.
That's not quite the right word for them, but I can't think of anything better right now: you know the sort I mean, the ones who are not exactly cycling fans, as all they can talk about is how doping is ruining the sport, how cycling is finished, how everyone is doping, how [insert name of rider] is rubbish.
Why, I have to ask, do they bother to follow the sport if it upsets them so much?
The answer, as with "why on earth do teenagers continue to log on to a web site where they get cyber-bullied?" seems to be that they are desperate for attention, and any attention is better than getting a life of their own.
*sigh*
Talking of desperate for attention, what about the unlovely Pat McQuaid, then? Anyone else been following this story, mouth open and staggered (despite being sitting down at the time) at the bare-faced effrontery of the man?
In case you haven't noticed, he's been the president of the UCI for years, and he is not a popular man in cycling circles any more - mostly, it seems to me, because he does not seem to be at all interested in the rights and safety of the cyclists. I don't know exactly what he IS interested in, other than keeping his position and swanning around as a VIP visitor.... presumably "money" is there somewhere in his agenda, and "showing everyone that I am in charge" as he seems to be unable to work with any other person or organisation, even when it is a situation that would benefit all the riders and the sport in general.
I'm thinking of one of the USA races from last year, was it, when he, as leader of the UCI, refused to supply the usual Doping Controls to a race, because the race organiser had said that the UCI system was not strict enough, and that they wanted to bring in a private company to do the testing. Not only did Mr McQuaid ban this outside company from attending the event, he then refused to send the UCI testers, meaning that the race went ahead with no doping control at all.
What he should have done was to either allow both systems to run side by side (if he really, truthfully doubted that the private company were up to the job) then to compare results afterwards, to see if one team or the other were "better" at detecting irregularities. Why would he not do this? The only sensible conclusion is that he was afraid that his own doping control would be found to be less effective.
*throws hands in air*
So now he's facing the utter humiliation of not being re-elected as president, and he is squirming around finding every loophole that he can, to try to get the re-election.
Firstly, when his own Federation (Ireland) shocked him rigid by voting against his nomination, (after he had tried to fiddle it, this is) he announced that his "other" federation, Switzerland, would nominate him.
That nomination is being legally challenged.
So he rounded up another couple of Federations - really obscure ones like Thailland and Morocco: like, "who?", not exactly major cycling nations - and persuaded them to put forward an amendment to the UCI's soul-sucking rules to say that any two federations could nominate someone.
Now this, really, is cheating.
But then - and this is the real "cheating" part - he got them to ask for this change to be applied retroactively (or do I mean retrospectively? Backdated, by any name) so that he could use it to sneak in to this year's election.
What a slimy little rat!
And not once, as far as I can tell, has he said "the reason I am going to these extraordinary lengths to remain UCI president, is that I am the best man for the job, and only I can lead cycling through this bad time and safely out the other side, to the overall benefit of cycling."
No, he just wants to stay in charge.
And the worst he can throw at his rival, Brian Cookson (who I have never met, never heard speak, but he runs British Cycling and has turned it around from a minor sport somewhere way below Darts to something that now gets news headlines in this country) is that Mr Cookson has not travelled around the cycling world and made lots of contacts with lots of federations in the way that Mr McQuaid has.
But Mr Cookson is head of British cycling - and as such, I'd be pretty cheesed off if he were off wasting time on whizzing around the world, sucking up to other federations and being offered fake memberships in much the same way that universities give fake degrees to famous people. (And no, I have never realised why someone should get an honorary degree when they have not studied that subject.) I would expect him to do sufficient research visits to learn whatever was needed, but I would expect him to stay in the UK and get on with his job.
Mr McQuaid appears to be a sad, desperate, man (for "man" read "egotistical maniac/tyrant"), and I hope that he disappears without trace. Whether Mr Cookson will do a great job of it, or a merely mediocre one (blimey, who will be looking after British Cycling if he does?), he can't be any worse.
Pelvisis?
Pelvi?
Anyway *shakes head* whatever the plural of pelvis is... first we had G in the Tour, falling off right at the beginning, fracturing his pelvis, and not only continuing to ride, but after a very quiet, hang-on-grimly-at-the-back week or so, he even started taking turns on the front of the peloton, and contributing to the team effort.
Then, today, we hear that Barbie Barbie - Heinrich Haussler - who broke his pelvis in the Tour de Suisse earlier this year, is not only back on his bike, but is about to participate in the Tour de Poitou-Charentes (chorus of "Where?") after making a better recovery than anticipated. And at one point, he was in a wheelchair!!
Whereas Our Andy was struggling to ride for, how long? Aaaaages. It must be very galling for him to read this reports.
Of course, none of us know exactly how bad each injury was - G's fracture must have been, with due respect to him, a small one, for him to continue riding. Likewise we don't have all the details of Barbie Barbie's injury.
However, this does not stop people criticising Our Andy for taking "too long" to recover. I have more or less decided that I am never going to read the cycling forums again, as they are just so spiteful and generally horrible. Not just to Andy, I hasten to add, the attacks swing around from rider to rider as time passes, but as an Andy-fan, I do feel that Andy has come in for a lot of what you might call "Anti-fan" attention.
That's not quite the right word for them, but I can't think of anything better right now: you know the sort I mean, the ones who are not exactly cycling fans, as all they can talk about is how doping is ruining the sport, how cycling is finished, how everyone is doping, how [insert name of rider] is rubbish.
Why, I have to ask, do they bother to follow the sport if it upsets them so much?
The answer, as with "why on earth do teenagers continue to log on to a web site where they get cyber-bullied?" seems to be that they are desperate for attention, and any attention is better than getting a life of their own.
*sigh*
Talking of desperate for attention, what about the unlovely Pat McQuaid, then? Anyone else been following this story, mouth open and staggered (despite being sitting down at the time) at the bare-faced effrontery of the man?
In case you haven't noticed, he's been the president of the UCI for years, and he is not a popular man in cycling circles any more - mostly, it seems to me, because he does not seem to be at all interested in the rights and safety of the cyclists. I don't know exactly what he IS interested in, other than keeping his position and swanning around as a VIP visitor.... presumably "money" is there somewhere in his agenda, and "showing everyone that I am in charge" as he seems to be unable to work with any other person or organisation, even when it is a situation that would benefit all the riders and the sport in general.
I'm thinking of one of the USA races from last year, was it, when he, as leader of the UCI, refused to supply the usual Doping Controls to a race, because the race organiser had said that the UCI system was not strict enough, and that they wanted to bring in a private company to do the testing. Not only did Mr McQuaid ban this outside company from attending the event, he then refused to send the UCI testers, meaning that the race went ahead with no doping control at all.
What he should have done was to either allow both systems to run side by side (if he really, truthfully doubted that the private company were up to the job) then to compare results afterwards, to see if one team or the other were "better" at detecting irregularities. Why would he not do this? The only sensible conclusion is that he was afraid that his own doping control would be found to be less effective.
*throws hands in air*
So now he's facing the utter humiliation of not being re-elected as president, and he is squirming around finding every loophole that he can, to try to get the re-election.
Firstly, when his own Federation (Ireland) shocked him rigid by voting against his nomination, (after he had tried to fiddle it, this is) he announced that his "other" federation, Switzerland, would nominate him.
That nomination is being legally challenged.
So he rounded up another couple of Federations - really obscure ones like Thailland and Morocco: like, "who?", not exactly major cycling nations - and persuaded them to put forward an amendment to the UCI's soul-sucking rules to say that any two federations could nominate someone.
Now this, really, is cheating.
But then - and this is the real "cheating" part - he got them to ask for this change to be applied retroactively (or do I mean retrospectively? Backdated, by any name) so that he could use it to sneak in to this year's election.
What a slimy little rat!
And not once, as far as I can tell, has he said "the reason I am going to these extraordinary lengths to remain UCI president, is that I am the best man for the job, and only I can lead cycling through this bad time and safely out the other side, to the overall benefit of cycling."
No, he just wants to stay in charge.
And the worst he can throw at his rival, Brian Cookson (who I have never met, never heard speak, but he runs British Cycling and has turned it around from a minor sport somewhere way below Darts to something that now gets news headlines in this country) is that Mr Cookson has not travelled around the cycling world and made lots of contacts with lots of federations in the way that Mr McQuaid has.
But Mr Cookson is head of British cycling - and as such, I'd be pretty cheesed off if he were off wasting time on whizzing around the world, sucking up to other federations and being offered fake memberships in much the same way that universities give fake degrees to famous people. (And no, I have never realised why someone should get an honorary degree when they have not studied that subject.) I would expect him to do sufficient research visits to learn whatever was needed, but I would expect him to stay in the UK and get on with his job.
Mr McQuaid appears to be a sad, desperate, man (for "man" read "egotistical maniac/tyrant"), and I hope that he disappears without trace. Whether Mr Cookson will do a great job of it, or a merely mediocre one (blimey, who will be looking after British Cycling if he does?), he can't be any worse.
Thursday 8 August 2013
Frankie, is that you?
... and for the first time, doesn't he have Andy's eyes!!
Thanks to Barbara for pointing this out - here is the fabled picture of Frankie with a beard, from his Twitter account.
When I read "Frankie has a beard" I thought oh no! He's letting himself go!! After all, no pro cyclists have beards, presumably it's not aerodynamic, apart from the obvious problem of being full of sweat and drool ("eeeeeeuw!") so by growing a beard, Frankie is kind of saying that he's given up being a cyclist, for the time being.
Of course, ten minutes with the scissor and another five with a razor and it would all be gone, gone, gone....
...but I couldn't help thinking that he should be striving to present a good image, what with the ban and everything, and whether he was hoping to get a short-term contract with another team, or was going to wait for the new Trek team next year, surely he would still be out on the bike every day?
Who knows.
Maybe he's taken time out for a couple of months, on the grounds that as soon as he is back on a team, he will be working like a dog to prove himself again, so he might as well relax and take a complete break while he can?
Again, who knows.
But I have to say, I don't agree with comments about "the sad, sad look in his eyes". I think he actually looks quietly happy. He looks as though he is concentrating on something, like driving, and that is very nearly a small smile, there.
What do you think?
Thanks to Barbara for pointing this out - here is the fabled picture of Frankie with a beard, from his Twitter account.
When I read "Frankie has a beard" I thought oh no! He's letting himself go!! After all, no pro cyclists have beards, presumably it's not aerodynamic, apart from the obvious problem of being full of sweat and drool ("eeeeeeuw!") so by growing a beard, Frankie is kind of saying that he's given up being a cyclist, for the time being.
Of course, ten minutes with the scissor and another five with a razor and it would all be gone, gone, gone....
...but I couldn't help thinking that he should be striving to present a good image, what with the ban and everything, and whether he was hoping to get a short-term contract with another team, or was going to wait for the new Trek team next year, surely he would still be out on the bike every day?
Who knows.
Maybe he's taken time out for a couple of months, on the grounds that as soon as he is back on a team, he will be working like a dog to prove himself again, so he might as well relax and take a complete break while he can?
Again, who knows.
But I have to say, I don't agree with comments about "the sad, sad look in his eyes". I think he actually looks quietly happy. He looks as though he is concentrating on something, like driving, and that is very nearly a small smile, there.
What do you think?
Monday 5 August 2013
Frankio, Frankio, where art thou?
Pff, I have just noticed that the RadioShambles website no longer includes Frankie on their team page.
Oh, they know how to wound, don't they?
Oh, they know how to wound, don't they?
Sunday 4 August 2013
Tour of Poland and Inflatabubbles
Ah, I had been looking forward to the Tour of Poland ever since the end of le Tour - although we think of it as a shitsmall race, it's actually a proper UCI race, second only to the three major Tours, with 100 points for the overall winner. But somehow it has the feel of a shitsmall race, not least because most of the teams are a bit short of people to send - they've worn out one set at the Giro, worn out their A team at le Tour, and are holding on to the next rank for la Vuelta. So they often end up sending a bit of a Z-team to this tour.
This year, this was more apparent than usual as they are trying out a couple of new things, one of which was to reduce the number of riders to 6 per team. So the peloton was quite a bit smaller than usual - and was it coincidence that there were hardly any fallers? I don't think think there was a single major crash in the whole tour - not a bad thing, of course, and interesting in that I have suggested 6-man teams once or twice in the past, and this was a chance to see what that would look like.
Of course, my suggestion was to have a rolling selection of 6 riders from a team of 8 or 9, but I'm still prepared to take credit for the idea, ha ha!
Additionally, they have invented a strange new points system, aimed to give an incentive for breakaways, by offering points for the first guys to reach various lines along the way, and the ones with the most points each day were awarded bonification seconds off their GC times.
This gave a very strange slant to the results - the stage winners were obvious, but the GC winners were impossible to calculate until all the riders had finished, and they were unable to have the podium presentations until about 10 minutes after the race ended, as it took them that long to work out the timings. Not helped by the near-total lack of on-screen graphics, so we had no idea of time gaps, and no idea at all of how many kms there were to go.
So it was quite hard to follow the race each day, and impossible to work out who was leading the GC until an hour or so after the event, but it was - as always - thoroughly enjoyably full of giant inflatables all along the route.
They have the common or garden air bridges, of course, but they also have light-bulb shapes (which I call inflatabulbs). I'd love to have one of my own... but I've been completely unable to find out how much it costs to have one, despite numerous google searches for "tour of poland inflatable advertising" and so on.
There are a few firms in the UK who do something similar, but not quite the same, and judging by their prices, they probably cost several hundred pounds each... not to mention the cost of transporting them, inflating them, anchoring, packing them down afterwards and so on. Having said that, I don't even know if they are filled with helium, or just with normal air. If anyone knows, do please tell!
It's a tribute to the nice people of Poland that if they tried to use them in the UK in the same sort of way, they would be stolen: punctured: turned upside down: used as giant light sabres, sat on, used as bouncy castles... actually, I noticed a trend that must be a three-for-the-price-of-one deal, where you get an airbridge and a pair of inflatabulbs in the same livery. How much fun would that be? And no, I don't actually know what I would have on them... Eisen Andy, perhaps? Schleckland? Who knows....
LLB and I had another game to play during this race - Magnus Backstedt was commenting, along with Carlton Kirby, and we had noticed previously that Magnus has a particular way of saying the phrase "little bit", it comes out in his Swedish accent as "leedle bit". Every time he says it, we do a mini-mexican wave on the sofa. And he says it quite a lot.
Alas, of course, no Andy in it: no sign of what he's going to be doing next, as Shack are one of the worst teams for not announcing who is riding until about ten minutes before the start of the race. OK, I appreciate that there are tactical reasons for not announcing your team too early, but I do think they should think of their fans from time to time: we do like to know what we are looking forward to!
This year, this was more apparent than usual as they are trying out a couple of new things, one of which was to reduce the number of riders to 6 per team. So the peloton was quite a bit smaller than usual - and was it coincidence that there were hardly any fallers? I don't think think there was a single major crash in the whole tour - not a bad thing, of course, and interesting in that I have suggested 6-man teams once or twice in the past, and this was a chance to see what that would look like.
Of course, my suggestion was to have a rolling selection of 6 riders from a team of 8 or 9, but I'm still prepared to take credit for the idea, ha ha!
Additionally, they have invented a strange new points system, aimed to give an incentive for breakaways, by offering points for the first guys to reach various lines along the way, and the ones with the most points each day were awarded bonification seconds off their GC times.
This gave a very strange slant to the results - the stage winners were obvious, but the GC winners were impossible to calculate until all the riders had finished, and they were unable to have the podium presentations until about 10 minutes after the race ended, as it took them that long to work out the timings. Not helped by the near-total lack of on-screen graphics, so we had no idea of time gaps, and no idea at all of how many kms there were to go.
So it was quite hard to follow the race each day, and impossible to work out who was leading the GC until an hour or so after the event, but it was - as always - thoroughly enjoyably full of giant inflatables all along the route.
They have the common or garden air bridges, of course, but they also have light-bulb shapes (which I call inflatabulbs). I'd love to have one of my own... but I've been completely unable to find out how much it costs to have one, despite numerous google searches for "tour of poland inflatable advertising" and so on.
There are a few firms in the UK who do something similar, but not quite the same, and judging by their prices, they probably cost several hundred pounds each... not to mention the cost of transporting them, inflating them, anchoring, packing them down afterwards and so on. Having said that, I don't even know if they are filled with helium, or just with normal air. If anyone knows, do please tell!
It's a tribute to the nice people of Poland that if they tried to use them in the UK in the same sort of way, they would be stolen: punctured: turned upside down: used as giant light sabres, sat on, used as bouncy castles... actually, I noticed a trend that must be a three-for-the-price-of-one deal, where you get an airbridge and a pair of inflatabulbs in the same livery. How much fun would that be? And no, I don't actually know what I would have on them... Eisen Andy, perhaps? Schleckland? Who knows....
LLB and I had another game to play during this race - Magnus Backstedt was commenting, along with Carlton Kirby, and we had noticed previously that Magnus has a particular way of saying the phrase "little bit", it comes out in his Swedish accent as "leedle bit". Every time he says it, we do a mini-mexican wave on the sofa. And he says it quite a lot.
Alas, of course, no Andy in it: no sign of what he's going to be doing next, as Shack are one of the worst teams for not announcing who is riding until about ten minutes before the start of the race. OK, I appreciate that there are tactical reasons for not announcing your team too early, but I do think they should think of their fans from time to time: we do like to know what we are looking forward to!
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