Anyway, what's been going on in Cycledom over the last days? Well, first of all Andy Schleck has won the 'Best Luxembourgian Sportman of the year' award. The battle for the victory wasn't actually that exciting, since Andy got about 200 votes more than his brother Frank, who was second in the competition. The brothers couldn't attend the award ceremony, since right now they're having fun in Crans Montana's snow, therefore it was up to mum and dad to go and retire their son's prize.
On http://www.lessentiel.lu/fr/sports/story/--Ce-titre-a-une-vraie-importance-pour-mon-fils---21981619 you can find Johnny's words about the prize: "I'm very proud to see my sons racing at such a high level and see them receive the '2010 Best Luxembourgian Sportman' award. For me, the most important thing is that they have fun while cycling and that they have contact with the press, with the supporters and with all the people that approach them. It's not always easy, they're very busy. I myself am overwhelmed by the requests of people who ask for a jersey, for a hat or for a picture too, actually. Sometimes it is a bit complicated, but we try to answer those requests when it's possible. For my sons, this prize is very important (...) because they're very proud of their country" (translation by Google, so I don't actually know if there are mistakes in it).
Since I'm missing Andy a lot in these days, here's a picture of last year ceremony. Congratulations on your prize, Andy!!!
Talking about other news, Cipollini has recently criticised the lack of machismo in nowadays' cycling.
Mario is very particular personality in Cycledom, but I must admit that I sometimes agree with him about some matters. For example, I agreed with the critics he had made to Pozzato after Melbourne's Worlds. Anyway, back to his recent words, Cipollini told l'Equipé: “I lived a very different cycling. At the beginning of a sprint, I felt like a gladiator, ready to do anything to keep my place. And when I lost, I wasn’t capable of going to congratulate whoever had beaten me, like Andy Schleck did at the Tour. Me, I’d hate him because he’d taken the bread from my mouth.” Actually, Cipollini seemed to have some critics for Andy Schleck's friendship with Contador. I don't see anything wrong in friendship between two riders (Andy and Alberto are clever enough to separate private life and work), but their hugs after Tourmalet actually left Logic a bit disappointed too this year. I had expected Andy to be terribly angry, and instead... Talking about this fact, Cipollini said: “Seeing Schleck and Contador embrace on the Tourmalet after crossing the line and then seeing Contador affectionately pinch Schleck’s cheek during his interview was unreal for me. Logically, Schleck should have been raging, he had just lost the Tour after all.After the chain slip incident on the Port de Balès, he should have attacked the Spaniard day after day, in front of the microphones and on the air too, without giving him time to piss!"
Cipollini also added: “Machismo is disappearing, I can’t find it in Contador. He has the anonymous face of a surveyor or an accountant.”
Personally I think that Cipollini isn't totally wrong about this. Unless the Schleck brothers invite Contador to hunt with them in Luxembourg not because of friendship, but because of the chance of being with him, alone, in a wood and with guns in their hands... Ok, I'm joking. But still, I think Cipollini isn't that wrong when he says that cycling (or, at least, this year Tour) lacks/lacked of machismo.
On to another news, the Denis Menchov's manager has got so angry at Tchmill that he has even threatened him with legal action (http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/menchovs-agent-threatens-tchmil-with-legal-action). The last time someone publicly annoyed Menchov was in the last stage of the Giro 2009, when he crashed and lots of stupid Italian supporters in Rome went: 'Yeeeess!' Unfortunately for them, Menchov eventually won the Giro anyway (and Di Luca was found positive at the anti-doping). So, I'd suggest Tchmill to be careful not to annoy the Silent Russian (and his ds)too much, otherwise he could take revenge ;)
Since I have some free time, here I'm going to introduce Robert Wagner to you. Althogh he is already 27 (he was born on the 17th of April 1983), Robert isn't that well known, so I decided to look for some information about him. While doing so, I discovered his personal website (http://www.itswagnertime.com/ ), which is often updated and is full of news and pictures. Moreover, if you have Twitter and want to follow Robert, here's the link to his profile: http://twitter.com/robertwagner83 .
So, as said Robert (not Richard: that is the componist) was born in 1983 in Magdeburg (Germany). Btw now he lives in Belgium with his wife Sandra and his daughter Juli (you can find some pictures of his wedding on his website). Robert is 186 cms tall and has a weight of 75 kgs.
His hobbies are 'Family, Internet and Eating' and he says he loves Italian cuisine.
He started his cycling career when he was 10 year-old and raced for Magdeburger SV Boerde. In 2006 he started to ride for Continental Team Milram (please pause a minute to remember the end of Moo Moo team),which he abandoned the following year, when he moved to Team Wiesenhof Felt. Between 2008 and 2010 instead he rode for Skill Shimano.
This year Robert won the 2nd stage of the Die Drei Tage von West-Flandern, better known as Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen. Then he also won the Ronde van Noord-Holland, the second stage of Tour of Bayern and the second stage of Delta Tour Zeeland.He was also second in a stage of La Panne's 3 days. Robert actually seems to love Delta Tour Zeeland, since he won stages there in 2010, 2009 and 2008.
As far as his education is concerned, Wagner went to a Realschule and then he practised to become a car-seller at Peugeout. In 2007 he said that his favourite race was Ronde van Noordholland but that, when he feels well, every race can become his favourite one.
According to that same interview, before beginning a race Robert always controls whether his bike is ok and whether his looking glasses are clean (that's the same thing I do before driving my car). Still in that 2007 interview, Robert said that, after the end of his career, he'll eat a lot of chocolate (this was his answer to the usual: 'what will you become at the end of your career?' question).
Robert considers himself a sprinter who can do well in the Classics and seems a very funny guy (just read his interviews at Cyclingfever to know more about him). This year he had to close his season earlier than expected because he had to undergo an operation on his femoral artery (if I understood correctly...). Btw now he's back on the bike and ready to race with Cancellara and los Schlecks next year. Let's wish him good luck then! :)
So, this was my very little introduction to Robert. Hope you've enjoyed it and, remember, Robert isn't a relative of the AustinPowers actor-and don't confuse him with Richard Wagner!!
Could somebody tell Mr Cipollini that there is the 21st century, through all this time the mankind has become already a bit civilized and it isn't still necessary to behave like a barbarian. If he is longing very much for the antiquity, so he can watch the film with these two guys who hit each other with the wheel this year. In my opinion all enthusiasts of the cycling should be grateful for Andy's peaceful attitude to the world and the certain Spaniard. And thanks to that they avoided greater scandal than dissatisfaction of a few persons. I wasn't in France during TdF, so perhaps my image of this race and the receipt by the audience are distorted. However I think that Contador at the podium of winners with Arc de Triomphe in the background booed by the Paris audience wouldn't be a good advertisement of the cycling. Even if by him there would be Andy presenting the most beautiful of his smiles. Perhaps somebody is of different opinion.
RispondiEliminaI actually admire sportspersons who can be fiercely competitive 'on the field' but can maintain a friendship off it. I am a big tennis fan too and I just love how a lot of the guys on the ATP Tour are great friends off the court, but they know that when they have to play each other it's all business - that's their job. I did like how Andy and Contador seemed to be friends, though I wonder now if the events of this years Tour and since have put a big strain on that relationship. And who says machismo is dead? What about Jakob's dust-up with Hunter?? :P
RispondiEliminaI think Cipollini confuses machism with competitiveness, otherwise us girls should be worried:P I don't like Cipo that much, I think he's a petty man; take a Simoni for example: he had his share of bitter pills to swallow, he's not so much unsuspecting anymore, but he's still a generous athlete, big-hearted even.
RispondiEliminaI had the same thought as Leela, tennis players shake hands immediately no matter how gruelling the match, in rugby there is the "third half" altogether in a pub with beers :-)
Having said that, I don't agree with Cipo about Pozzato, because it was one of the few times Pippo said he did wrong. But at least I agree with Fede's Logic; without Chaingate I would have appreciated the deep respect of these two rivals, but with it and Andy's declaration of revenge in the end I'm a bit disappointed, on the Tourmalet action and attacking were lacking.
But the best thing about cycling, even with us mere mortals, is the great respect for somebody else efforts met on the road, something that Cipollini sometimes forgot.
Francesca
Now I'll explain you, in a long way, why I wrote that imo this year Tour (or, better, the fight between Andy and Contador in this year Tour) lacked a bit of 'machismo' (or competiveness, if we can call it this way). Therefore, prepare yourself to a long and boring comment ;)
RispondiEliminaAfter watching Andy's calm reaction to Chaingate, I had managed to find a reason for what had happened. Andy had probably made a mistake with his gear and Contador had taken advantage of that in a very selfish way. Moreover, they say that there's no piety in cycling races, so I had managed to swallow my disappointment for what had happened.
Then, Contador excused himself by saying that he hadn't seen that Andy had had that mechanical problem. After reading about that, Fangirl could have killed him with her own hands. I think it would have been much better if Contador had said that he had decided to attack Andy because there is no piety in cycling races. That excuse instead made me feel terribly angry, because it sounded (and it still sounds) amazingly false to me.
After that, I started to think that Andy should have reacted very badly to those words because Contador had taken the mickey out of him and had stolen him the Tour. I thought that Andy had just went through a big injustice and I expected him to fight very hard against Contador, both in the press and on the roads.
Perhaps I expected him to behave that way because my character is different from his and because, for supporters, it is always easy to say what the riders should do/should have done in certain situations.
Instead,rather than taking his revenge, our adorable man accepted Contasor's excuses in his usual lovely way and even managed to look nice when Contador pinched his cheek after the Tourmalet stage.
That is why I was a bit 'disappointed' by Andy's 'lack of competiveness' (although I don't like calling it this way: lack of revenge would sound much better). I had expected him to let his anger out during the races and in the press, and instead he behaved with his usual amazing calm (and I admire him a lot for this).
I think this is also what Cipollini meant by saying that in his opinion this year Tour (or, better, the fight between Contador and Andy during it) lacked of 'machismo'.
Btw, why does Cipollini call it machismo? Girls can be very mean too, if they need to ;)
Btw I agree with you girls: respect and friendship between rivals is terribly important. I once was a big football lover, but now I've stopped following it because there is too much 'machismo' (or hatred, call it as you want) between the teams and their supporters. I don't want cycling to end up this way, with supporters booeing at the riders and riders hurting each other.
In my opinion Andy did everything he could in order to win TdF. It wasn't possible to get on Tourmalet faster and attacking Contador could end even worse. Of course he could also run from one journalist to another and tell of how he had become a victim of international conspiracy. I don't know, maybe it could change something in general classification, but I am doubting. Instead of that he decided to behave with the class and admit that he wasn't better than the rival. Personally I prefer such attributes at real champions.
RispondiEliminaFor enthusiasts of arenas of Roman circuses and sand streaming with blood I can tell that during TdF I quarrelled with one guy on Twitter. He stated that I was too young (this remark just pleased me very much :] ) to remember how wonderful cyclists had been previous time and what heroic battles they had fought. Whereas current riders are only complaining.
I also do believe that Andy did everything he could to win the Tour. That goes without saying.
RispondiEliminaDates prove that on the Tourmalet he kept an impressing pace, although apparently his attacks weren't that open. He tried to increase his speed gradually, 'Basso's style', becase he couldn't attack 'Contador's style' too many times.
I don't believe the international conspiracy theories at all and I admired how Andy took care of what had happened too. Simply, Fangirl expected him to be as mean as she would have been if she had been in his situation. But luckily, it seems that Andy isn't a mean guy at all and so he handled the situation in a very calm and cold way (chapeau to him for that!)
You're right in saying that talking to the journalists wouldn't have had any consequence on the GC and, now that I think more carefully about it, I think that perhaps it would have just showed Andy's nervousism to Contador.
Hey, it looks like the latest fashion here in Cycledom is to tell people that they're too young to understand anything about sport and life!
If someone told me that current riders can only complain, well, I would have proposed them to race in the Tour for just one week. And, possibly, I would have proposed them to ride the first week of this year Tour, with the slippery roads in the TT, the cobblestone stage and the big crashes of Spa.
As you said in your first comment, we're in the 21st century. Riders have families and I think they're completely right in complaining when the stages they have to face aren't safe.
lol I love that some people seem to think that age has anything to do with following/enjoying a sport!! I'm 30 and only just really got into watching cycling. I know a lot of younger people that have a lot more knowledge about it than I do!
RispondiEliminaI also think Andy did all he could to win the Tour. I do think he was mad as hell about Contador though, but he chose not to mouth off about it. The worst we got was the 'stomach full of anger' quote (and yes, I own that t-shirt! ;P). But Andy is usually a very calm and collected guy who goes about his business in a quiet manner. We just have to look at what happened when he got kicked out of Vuelta. He could have publicly vilified Riis for that, especially since they were all there for Frankie, but he didn't. All he said was he shouldn't have disrespected team rules and that Bjarne was the boss. He's right, he did a stupid thing, no matter the media beat-up about it... but he kept his tongue and basically went underground. We don't know what's going on in the background, but I'm pretty sure some choice words were had and some tempers were lost, even if we don't get to see it!
Anyway, I think I went off on a tangent there and I don't really know what I was trying to say anymore! lol
So I'm not the only one who sometimes goes off on a tagent in her comments! Well,good to know it ;)
RispondiEliminaI hate people who tell me that I'm too young to understand things about cycling or life. I mean, it doesn't matter which age you are, there are people of 20 who are much more mature than people of 60 (just like there are boys of 15 who know more than people of 40 about cycling)!
When people tell me that I'm too young, I always feel as if they were treating me like a child. It's like a way to say: 'You should shut up because you don't know what you're talking about'. And when they add that I shouldn't get angry, because I actually am just 18 year-old, I really lose my temper.
No one ever said that you must be at least 45 year-old to express your opinion, so why should I avoid telling someone what my view about a certain subject is? I don't break any law by doing so!
Btw, I totally agree with what you said about Andy. He was probably very angry after Chaingate, but he was cold enough to keep things under control. I admire him so much for this!
And the same happened after Beergate. He could have said everything he wanted about Bjarne (many people would have supported him in a word-battle with Riis) and instead he handled things in a very classy way. We can be proud of our boy ;)