Sinners!
“Like one who after a night of drunken revelry (and VSP picking) hies to his bed, still reeling, but with conscience yet pricking him (Voeckler, really, fourth place?), as the plungings of the Roman race-horse but so much the more strike his steel tags into him; (huh?) as one who in that miserable plight still turns and turns in giddy anguish, praying God for annihilation until the fit be passed; and at last amid the whirl of woe he feels, a deep stupor steals over him, as over the man who bleeds to death, for conscience is the wound, and there’s naught to staunch it; so, after sore wrestling in his berth (Voeckler has worn the yellow jersey repeatedly. Yes? He could be in there), Jonah’s prodigy of ponderous misery drags him drowning down to sleep.”
-Pastor Mapple’s Sermon, from Moby Dick
Oh right, Thomas Voeckler rides at the very back of the peloton, making sure he misses every split thus bringing his GC threat factor down to 0.001. A few years back he actually rode with GC ambitions but now he has a better chance of making it into the break when he is two hours down in the overall. Hell, it did get him in the maillot jaune all those years ago.
Of course it was a terrible pick. A choice of passion, maybe fueled by some vin rouge. It was your choice and you need to own it. You need to auger into the ground with it. You need to ride that pick down like Major Kong in Doctor Strangelove.
School children will point and snicker from the school yard, he picked Tommy Voeclker. Yes I did you little brats. I was high. I’m a dreamer. Fuck you.
But to strike that choice and put in Tee Jay on a rest day swap, shameful. More shameful than cursing at school children. Second chances, do-overs, that doesn’t fly when on the bike, I don’t know why we tolerate these mid-course corrections for the VSP.
Why do I care? Was it too much tubular tire gluings down here in the bunker? It is more likely the damaged DNA of my dick-ish puritanical New Bedford whaling church going ancestors. Make a choice and ride it all the way, like Major Kong.
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@frank
That could also be read that he was getting the juice without paying. Has nothing to do with sporting ethics.
@Gianni
Dave Millar did a cracking review of the first week yesterday on ITV4 Gianni, available on ITV player on line and worth checking out. He said how he was a big fan of Thibault but how it wasn't the reaction he would expect from someone of his quality. Nibali makes a superb comment "we're not footballers" only for Pinot to behave like one.
@Gianni
New Bedford, MA? Really? Melville knew of which he spoke. The picture below is the actual pulpit from the Old Ship Puritan meetinghouse in Hingham, MA, built by my dick-ish puritanical ancestor Peter Hobart in 1681.
Not sure if Peter Hobart would have approved of rest-day swaps, but he definitely would not have approved of Frank's orange shoe covers!
@Minnesota Expat
Holy baby jesus, I've been in that meeting house many times. Forced christmas pageants, I was the black king once. I went to school in Hingham.That is a hell of a building. And Peter Hobart would not have approved rest day swaps. Right out!
Rest day swaps are bad enough but Vino has had a big VSP shuffle after the first day in the mountains. Nibbles out. Fuglsang in.
Dipped my toe in the pool with a cheeky swap of Bardet out for Rigo in to the 4th place smokey spot...Mr Jagger has promptly repaid my faith with two spectacular backward attacks in the first two mountain days.
Bardet's been no better, but at least I wouldn't have the 5pt penalty, lesson learned.
@chris
yeah that went well, the pace Astana set over the Aspin & Tourmalet yesterday cracked Birdsong while Nibbles sat second wheel.
@Mikael Liddy
Yes! Love that you call Fuglsang Birdsong. Been doing that for years, and no one else seems to get it.
@Gianni
Unbelievable! Really? Personal message inbound. We need to talk.
Dammit. This is why I love this site. A pic of Father Mapple played by the inimitable Orson Welles in a decent adaptation of one of my favorite books of all time. So many great lines, but this one's a fave: Better to sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunken Christian.
Captain Ahab, sure master of Rule 5 when it comes to hunting whales.
No swaps for me. I was on vacation and my switches would have been as worthless as my original picks.