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!