Domination, at least from the spectator’s point of view, can quickly wring the suspense and excitement out of watching an event. In most cases, the sporting events we look back on most fondly are those most closely fought; even in recalling my own competitions, those where my winning margin was smallest feature most prominently in my memories. The smart money says Greg LeMond feels the same way.
Cycling is a difficult sport to spectate, or has been in the past. Point-to-point races covering hundreds of kilometers are hardly friendly to an audience who waits for hours at the roadside only to watch a colorful blur speed by. The modern days of start-to-finish coverage that you can watch on your mobile while driving to work, sitting on a conference call, drinking a cup of coffee, texting a friend, eating a sandwich and raging at inattentive drivers are a relatively new innovation; in the past, the races were documented only by journalists who may or may not have been in attendance of the event. The sole purpose of holding a bicycle race was often to sell newspapers, and in accordance with that goal, the journalists did what they needed to in order make the racing sound interesting. In other words, they lied like their pants were on fire.
Nevertheless, the feats documented were herculean. They built the leader and championship jerseys of our sport – the jerseys reserved for the elite of the elite – into sacred fleeces handed down from the very heights of Mount Velomis. These were jerseys that the hardest and most respected names of our sport drew unimaginable overdraft fees from the V-Bank in order to earn.
Certainly, this is why Rule #16 exists; we mortals have no business sullying such holy garments, however good our intentions may be. But the modern Pros claim their adherence to Rule #16 through their actions when offered the privilege to briefly bear its burden; invariably, they will dig deeper than ever before to stay within contention to honor their jersey. On some days, these jerseys give them wings while on other days, the jersey’s weight may prove too much.
Watching Froome lead the Tour from Stage 8 onwards challenged my interest in the event; his show of dominance on Ventoux did so even more. But with his final attack on the climb to Annecy-Semnoz, with nothing left in the tank, I recognized as a show of honor – of respect for the jersey. Of panache. He had no need to win that stage, and he had no realistic means to do so under those circumstances, given that his legs had already left him on the slopes of l’Alpe d’Huez.
But honor drove him to try – honor fueled by a respect for the Maillot Jaune. It would have been glorious for him to win the final climb of the Tour in the leader’s jersey, but attacking and failing is what earned him at least one more fan.
There’s no such thing as a failure who keeps trying
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@PT Ha! Also true indeed.
@Souleur
We have a guy kicking around the local peloton, a Cat 5 (can't use Cat V as a 5 doesn't know what that means yet), that's been racing in Sky kit. If you have to rock generic team kit, do it out by yourself. And never, ever think you can wear Yellow, Green, Red, Pink, Dotty, or Hoops unless you earned those fuckers.
Another local guy has won the Stars n Stripes and Worlds at Masters in the TT. He gets to wear them, and he even knows enough to only wear them when he's TT'ing. Not while in the bunch.
To extend the question, do you think the jersey has the power to permanently change a cyclist? I do in that it opens new horizons, new possibilities in their minds. depending on the conditions in which it is won and retained, even briefly, it confirms that they can push themselves beyond their self imposed mental limits which is some powerful mind fuel. I saw it all the time in wrestling where a pivotal win over a key rival can change the arc and dynamics of someone's career. New expectations, better performance, and the cycle continues assuming good coaching. Everyone has physical limits but that being said we most often never even approach them. The psychology is the same for selection into Special Forces, Delta, SAS ( caveat: am not and never was any of those). The soldier accompanied only by a weapon, map, compass, impossibly heavy packe, and his own self doubts trudges endless miles with zero feedback and no known end point. There is no published standard, they are only told to do their best. It becomes an internal struggle between mind and body to push through ones limits only knowing that you must go faster and farther. Those that make it, like the champions of sport reach a critical psychological break point where they simply refuse to recognize when they are physically beaten. Find a man like that, and with the right coachung and training you have a winner.
regarding rule 16, john does it apply to teams no longer in the peloton, teams so far gone it would be farcical to even think the wearer was frontin'? I lust after that wool Cinzano warmup that just oozes class. I also wear my MG jersey mountain biking with baggy shorts. Call me a philistine, but I love that jersey.
I too was impressed by Froome's respect for the Maillot Jaune. Rode with his regular black sky bibs and not the garish "everything has to be yellow" kit. The way he rode in the Alps was impressive by any Tour standard. Trying to win on Semnoz was classy indeed. I have a new found respect for Froome - or I should say, I now have respect for Froome. Not knowing much about him in the past, he came off as somewhat of a douche. Seems like a real good dude and a fitting champ.
@Scott Martin
Missing the point friend. While the true purists here probably wouldn't wear team kit, it's acceptable as long as you don't mix n match (no 7-11 jersey with Garmin bibs and ONCE socks for example). It's kinda like having a replica of the Stanley Cup or Super Bowl ring on your mantel at home. Did you earn it? No. Then why do you have it?
However, do you love Nibili? Cool, wear the Astana kit, just not the Maglia Rosa version of it. That make sense?
@jmulca, @Scott Martin
@Bianchi Denti still have a pair of those Brikos in yellow blue. My kids call them the bug glasses. Totally pro look there, casually deliberate with three points of contact while sporting the WC strip.
@Jamie
When did I attack Froome? I just said he looked like shit on the bike. Which he does. Its not even an opinion, its been proven mathematically at this point.
Other than that, it was quite complimentary:
Also, I'm not 100% clear on what a Velonomati is, but it sounds serious.
@PT
Its not a violation unless you wear it. Hang it in the workshop.
@Scott Martin
Except football and baseball suck.