I caught a fish this big!
This post could also have been titled as an Anatomy of a Photo or Awesome Italian Guys-Guido Bontempi or The Hardmen.
As an Anatomy of a Photo…where do you start? All these sprinters and no one but Van Poppel is even wearing a helmet. What could go wrong? And back there is Sean Kelly, his thought bubble would be something like, ahhh for fuck’s sake, then a long string of unintelligible Carrick curses.
As an awesome Italian guy, Guido Bontempi could just flash this photo at the awesome guy hall of fame and walk in. He wore the Maillot Jaune, won multiple stage in all three grand tours and was a badass. I remember him as more of a passista than a pure sprinter. When I think back to his racing in the Tour and the limited coverage us in the USA were fed, two memories stand out. One was him in a break, either solo or with one other unfortunate soul and Bontempi, face flushed red with exertion, hammering and hammering away at the front. Hammering is not even a strong enough word for what he was doing. If they had power meters back then he would have broken his. The other was a Tour finish where he was up against some faster finishers so he just opened up a sprint from 800 meters out and just powered his way to the line. The pure fast-twitch riders just couldn’t burn it from that far out. It was an amazing show of bravado.
He also was not afraid to go up to Belgium in the Spring and win Gent-Wevelgem a few times. These old school riders who battled in Belgium and Northern France in the Spring and then kept it going through the Vuelta and beyond, that is a good way to get into the Hardman category too.
My friend and owner of my old LBS used to do a phenomenal mime of a sprint finish using just a set of loose handle bars that were lying around the shop. There would be much throwing of bars back and forth, faster and faster, then the bars drop and the arms go up, hands outstretched, “I caught a fish this big!” Every time I see a sprint victory photo like this I can’t help but think of the big fish.
Epilogue: In researching this photo just now, I thought wikipedia had missed Bontempi’s 1987 Tour win, stage 7 from Épinal to Troyes. Maybe I should correct this? No, don’t bother Gianni. Bontempi failed doping control at the end of this stage and the win went to Manuel-Jorge Dominguez. FFS, do I scrap the whole article? Oh cycling, you are a cruel mistress. If I scrapped this one I’d have to scrap a lot more than this one. I still say he is a badass, for these glasses alone.
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From Haussler profile, love the hardman finish with the bent bars after crash
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx6zJbU4M3o#t=39
@Ron
Riding a Battaglin, one of my favorites that I have not ridden in a while, not that I do it any justice by comparison. The red white and blue color scheme still looks great today.
@Mark he was obviously reasonably confident of his form leading in to yesterday...Cuore had already put this together.
@Mikael Liddy
Haha very good. I thought "What? No big fish?" when he crossed the line but I like your interpretation better.
@Gianni
A few years back I was in a seminar and the lady talking was going on about how to be confident. I was dozing but she got my attention when she mentioned testosterone was "confidence enhancing" and the body can be easily induced to release said hormone at will. She mentioned something about humans doing the "a fish this big" pose for millennia. Apparently, some sort of scientific study has shown that through evolution, doing the "a fish this big" pose and telling yourself things like "I am a winner" "I have won" "Yesssss" can induce a testosterone release. Cool I thought. I now do it for a good hour and a half hour after every training ride for a legal boost.
@Mikael Liddy
I hope Frank gives Heinrich Hausler's Haircut a Green and Gold jersey for the year. The dude deserves it for sticking with him all these years he has been shit! I was lucky enough to be at the race, what an awesome day it was. HH looked calm all day but his chase back on on the last lap was great riding, good to see him nail one. As for Caleb, we have a classics rider there I think, dude can climb and sprint.
@Daccordi Rider yup, Coppi's quote came to mind after watching Caleb attack over the hill & drive a few times on the way down. Watch the last half of the lap once Heino tacks back on the front group, his nose doesn't see the wind again.
@Mikael Liddy
Yep, gutsy by Ewan to have a crack on the climb though. Can't beat experience.
HH's power figures were impressive also @Mikael Liddy @Daccordi Rider
Have to admit I did a double take when I saw the headline "Haussler out-kicks Ewan" . Not many can do that, which I guess is what Ewan was banking on when he opened up.
Well done Haussler - pleased for him and I hope it augurs a good year for him.