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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@Daccordi Rider
I agree. Honorary Green & Gold seems appropriate.
Its been a long time between drinks for HH and given his preference for the classics and hardman tendencies like racing without gloves I think the Velominati should embrace his year as Aussie champ.
@ChrisO
Ewan... Such huge expectations on such a tiny kid. The kid's barely out of the Junior ranks, and yet we've been hearing of his coming for two years already. He might just find himself in Sagan's spot - marked and outgunned in the Classics that seem to suit him so well. He does seem to have a knack for tactics though - a few days back he tagged onto Greg Henderson's attack despite being the overwhelming bunch sprint favourite, and this turned out to be the winning move. He's got more than a few eggs in more than one basket.
Haussler is just the epitome of the casually deliberate, old-school cyclist. Too cool for gloves.
Wow, Haussler put down the comb long enough to win something! I'm impressed.
Not impressed with the Budget Forklifts kit or their shorn off knickers doubling as bibs. The gap between the Euro PROs and the continental dudes is massive. Look at the bushy haired dude on the podium. Looks like a caveman and he's in a skinsuit. Looks like a race between PROs and some club guys.
Ewan as a classics rider. Really? Is there any way a guy that small can put up with the punishment of those races? Seems like the big and stout guys do the best, even if not all that all, still usually the thicker built guys handle the distance, climbs, and cobbles better.
And of course I'm joking. I know how hard it is to win at the top level. But, still seems like Haussler is so close, but just missing that little something to put him from the top 10 to the top step on a consistent level. I'm sure that win felt great, even with a saggy chain.
@Ron
Not all classics have cobbles. Gerro isn't exacly huge either and yet he's managed to snag Milan-Sanremo and Liege-Bastogne-Liege - and Ewan sounds like a similar type. A lethal finishing sprint coupled with the capacity to survive the shorter climbs can take you far.
@ErikdR
Did you remember all this history meaning the details of your comments, or do you have to research it all? Constantly amazed.
I always liked Big Guido, but he rode against Kelly so I didn't root for him all the time. Man, he was a bigger lad than I thought - I saw him listed at 185 cm and 80kg. That means we're almost the same height but he's a bit lighter.
That Carrera bike/kit combo was one of the best, most synchronized ever.. You were a winner before the race started wearing that gear.
@The Grande Fondue
Unshaved legs? Just how unshaved? minor stubble or sasquatch? The latter would be grounds for a DQ or a charge of bringing the sport into disrepute.
@Ron
The Caveman is Neil Van der Ploeg who (along with his brother) seems to switch between MTB (world cup level) and road with relative ease. The beard does look incongruous but he still finished on the podium ahead of a lot of WT pros including Cadel, Richie, Durbo..
Is it mere coincidence that Brett has just posted on the topic of shaving? Beards are a strange business, rarely understood.
@Mikael Liddy
Having watched Haussler with despair for the last year or two, I really enjoyed watching this win and have pored over the finishing kilometres of the race many times already. Watch Hausslers rear wheel as he kicks past Ewan in the overhead footage. It visibly flexes with each pedal stroke, huge amount of effort going down. No wonder his chain gave up. Ewan is a class sprinter who just owned the Bay Crits last week and yet at the Nationals, Haussler trounced him. Most of the analysis says that Ewan burned too many matches over the final lap by covering breaks and then making one himself. Probably true but that's racing and Hausslers effort was superbly timed, superbly delivered.
I'm calling it now... Haussler to win a Classic this Spring. Let's say Gent-Wevelgem.