It is a telling sign of the state of our sport that picking the Anit-V moment of the year was a more difficult task than picking the V Ride of the Year. Best ride of the year? Clean, unanimous vote among The Keepers on that one. Low point of the year? Dissention in the ranks as email traffic filled our inboxes to overflowing.
Veino in Liege. Piti continuing to rack up wins even as his suspension was imminent. The defiance of the Spanish Cycling Federation. The UCI’s thinly veiled “fight” against doping, as long as I’m naming governing bodies. The Landis Allegations. The Cavendish/Haussler crash in the Tour de Suisse. The neutralization of Stage 2 of the Tour. The threat of the rider protest prior Stage 3. FedEx’s expulsion for irregular sprinting. Bjarne Riis’ constant complaining about the mass exodus from his team. The Motorcus Myth. Alberto Contador’s positive test for Clenbuterol.
Which brings me to my nomination of the lowest moment of the season: Chaingate. The incident was more than a moment of poor sportsmanship, but marked a new phase in Cycling’s steady departure from the great traditions of our sport. Not to mention that the Grimplette’s chain needs a stern talking to. There is no higher honor for a chain than to get jammed onto the big ring while carrying the Maillot Jaune away from the bunch on its way up some fabled climb in the Tour de France. The fact that it cocked it up is inexcusable. Into the trash heap with you, Chain. But I digress.
There was a time when the sport was headed by great personalities who recognized they were but a chapter of a great epic that spanned generations. They understood that one of the things that distinguish cycling from other sports is the rich history and time-honored traditions; Cycling’s icons – the Great Races, the Cobbles, the Mountains, the Jerseys – are made up of much more than any one athlete and are to be respected as such. Their actions are the mortar between the stones of our sport and form a foundation for later generations. Coppi, Bobet, Merckx, de Vlaeminck, Zoetemelk, Hinault, Fignon – these were riders with personality and strength of character, who understood their place.
Like small fluffy dogs chasing a passing car, Chaingate marked the moment when the top riders of our sport forgot their place in the misguided notion that the time gained at the finish is the stick by which we measure their greatness when in fact it is how they get there: with no one else in the picture.
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right on Frank.
Chaingate put the exclamation point on 'how not to win' and why winning at all costs is devoid of class and style. It revealed to us a microchasm into Cuntadors soul, saddest part is, would he have won without chaingate?? And if so, why not hold the attack? Or was he that afraid and lacking the V...
I guess I am in the other camp- when you see weakness in your enemy, attack!
Great article Frank.
The last 3 lines!
Chaingates reminds us that there was a time when when the Tour was not just a three week fitness test.
The A.C. Enigma has been dispelled this year. At the writing of that article, the verdict, at least for me, was still out. After Chaingate and Clenbutador he firmly stands with one foot in the CoTHO room.
Nice work frank.
A-Merckx!
When watching it live, this year's Tour seemed like an engaging drama between two fierce competitors.
Re-watching it over the last few months, I think that places 1-2 were the least interesting to watch.
Stage 16 has been the most inspiring so far. A 10 man breakaway with repeated attacks by different riders up two tough climbs. Even Huevo gets out of his saddle and tries to surge ahead of the breakaway (unsuccessfully). Carlos Barredo attempts a solo 45km time trial to the finish line, an obviously foolhardy move for such a distance ahead of nine strong attackers. But I don't go to the effort of sitting down on the couch and turning on the television in order to see riders abide by safe calculations!
In contrast, Grimplette repeatedly rolls back to the team car for a few quick ones when he should be attacking on the Tour's second to last climbing stage.
And then there's Thor, who stayed with the main peloton up the climbs and sprinted for 10th place, reclaiming the green jersey (Petacchi and Cav were nowhere to be seen).
Stage 16 was thoroughly inspiring and, I think, showed a lot of V from several riders (but not the GC leaders).
Exactly. This misguided judgement of poor ethics on AC's part is just baloney. Shleck attacked so it was all on - it wasn't Contadors fault that Shleck fluffed his gear choice, and there's no way he should have sat around waiting for him while Sanchez and Menchov rode into the distance.
Oh, and Happy New Year! :-)
I'll just have to distance myself from this one I'm afraid. This was a non-event. Schleck fucked up. A competitor competes, and that's what AC did. Where do we draw the line? Incidents occur in all sports, and competitors utilise misfortunes or mistakes by their rivals to the full letter. You wouldn't see Alonso or Vettel et al hitting the brakes when Webber drifts wide in a corner or hits the wall and rips a wheel off the car because HE fucked up. "Oh bad luck old chap, we will all just stop the race because you were leading and we don't want to seem 'unsporting' by taking the lead." Yeah right.
Cavendouche's Swiss cheese sprint and subsequent hissing and spitting gets my vote. And Veino winning Liege? Loved it.
Coppi New Year to you all.