Talking about the race, it was a very exciting one, although Leopard Trek didn't have a lot of luck in it. The line-up was much better than the one for the North Classics, since it was formed by experienced guys like los Schlecks, Cancellara, Voigt, Fuglsang, Wegmann, Monfort and Lund. Useless to say that, if they rode in different teams, guys like Voigt, Cancellara, Frank, Andy and Fuglsang would all be team captains in a race like Amstel. Unfortunately, none of them could get on the podium today, especially because key riders like F. Schleck and Cancellara were both hit by bad luck with about 23 kms to go, when they crashed right before of the Kruisberg. This fact unfortunately forced them to say 'adieu!' to their dreams of glory and postpone them to the next race.
But let's now review some key moments of the race thanks a brief resume of mine.
Things started to become interesting with about 100 kms to go, when De Gand, De Negri, Timmer and Ponzi created a good breakaway. 40 kms later, Ponzi and Timmer had been dropped, but their place had been taken by Jan Ghyselinck and Carlos Barredo.
Unfortunately for these 4 riders, their adventure at the front wasn't destined to last long and they were soon caught by the peloton guys.
With about 24 kms to go, Fabian Cancellara crashed in the middle of the peloton (yes, I'm as surprised as you by this fact). His crash unfortunately forced also Frank Schleck to stop and, when Frankie arrived at the bottom of the following climb (the Kruisberg), bad luck hit him again by making his bike chain pop (aaaaargh! Memories of the past, leave me aloneee!). By the time he stopped and changed his bike, his chances of winning the race had vanished.
In the meanwhile, an attack by Joaquim Rodriguez made the difference on the climb and created a big selection inside the peloton. Just 20 riders (more or less) could follow the Spaniard and, with 13 kms to go, it was Andy Schleck's turn to attack.
Andy's attack was very strong and it lasted a lot, although his maximum advantage consisted in just 10 seconds. Unfortunately for Leopard Trek and for its supporters, Gilbert (the main favourite of the race) pulled the group of chasers together with Van Den Broeck and a great Vanendert and Schleck was caught on the Cauberg, with just 500 meters to go (sigh!). Rodriguez accelerated as soon as he saw Andy, but Gilbert's kick was much more devastating than the one of the Katiusha rider.
The Belgian passed JR in a very easy way and he crossed the finish-line in triumph. Second in the race was Rodriguez, while third was Gerrans. Fourth instead was a very good Fuglsang.
After the finish-line, Phil Gil (can I call him this way?) gave us a great moment of tenderness by bringing his little child on the podium. Rodriguez played a bit with the baby, who started to cry when Joaquim and Gerrans joined Philippe on the top spot of the podium. In that moment, I could clearly read Gilbert's lips (he went: 'Noooo!'), whereas Rodriguez and the short Gerrans smiled. What a cute image!
After mentioning this little moment of tenderness, it's now time to analyse the race. First of all, big congratulations to Omega-Pharma Lotto. Gilbert was the strongest and he showed the world that, on this kind of climbs, he has no rivals. Moreover, he also booked himself as a main favourite for the Worlds 2012, which take place in Valkenburg.
Gilbert's great form was highlighted also by the fact that he helped Vanendert when he was chasing Schleck. Phil gave a single turn at the front, but it allowed his teammate to take a little break and it showed everyone that he was ready to win this Classic for the second year in a row.
Talking about Jelle Vanendert, I must say I was very impressed by his performance. He pulled for a lot of time and when one of the Italian chronists said that the Belgian was still pulling at the head of the race, Fangirl actually went bananas. 'For what stupid reason is he still there pulling?', she asked. Luckily Logic was ready to remind her that poor Jelle was just 'doing his job. And his job makes him pull at the front when someone has escaped the group in which his captain is. Apologise to him now, or I'll never talk to you again', Logic told Fangirl in a very annoyed way. Of course, Fangirl apologised for what happened and is still deeply sorry for what she said in that moment of anger.
Also Jurgen Van Den Broeck rode really well and he was a very important rider for Phil Gil.
Another team who rode very well this afternoon, imo, was Leopard Trek. Unfortunately this strong team has had a lot of bad luck today, since Cancellara and Frank Schleck both crashed at a key point of the race. Btw, was I the only one who thought that Frankie was going to throw his bike away when his chain popped?
Talking about the other Schleck, I must say that I really liked Andy's attack (well, who didn't? ;). He had no chance of winning against a guy like Gilbert and, rather than ending up 5th, our Glorious Leader fought to get a great victory with a great assolo. His action didn't end up with a victory, but I was very happy to see him attacking anyway.
On to another cyclist, a great Jakob Fuglsang was 4th in the race and this is a very positive sign for the future. In fact this boy was 4th in Lombardy 2010 and today he's got a 4th place in Amstel. Something suggests me that we may soon be able to witness his first important victory in a road race, how exciting!
Second in the race was Joaquim Rodriguez,Katiusha's rider. Unfortunately Cauberg is too easy for a guy like 'Purito', who needs climbs like the Mur de Huy to shine properly. Btw, he 'tried his leg' for Wednesday race this afternoon and I must say that the results were really good. Also Ivanov rode well, just like Kolobnev (5th).
Third was a great Simon Gerrans, 'the climbing sprinter', as I used to call him when people used to say that he was a sprinter. His podium placement finally signs a good result for team Sky (it was high time!), how nice.
Btw, where has Thomas Lovkvist disappeared? A race like Amstel could suit him, but he wasn't even selected in the team-line up. Why?
Talking about another team, Vacansoleil had a good result with Leukemans (7th), whereas Hoogerland was 12th (Andy Schleck was 11th, while Frank was 22th). Johnny tried to break away in the last part of the race, whereas Bjorn got another good placement.
Talking about J.H., I was shocked when I discovered that he's already 27. How can it be? :(
Talking about the disappointing teams du jour, Astana didn't particularly shine, although Iglinskiy tried a little attack and Gasparotto and Vinokourov could have done well in a race like this (Enrico was 2nd last year, Vino won it some years ago).
Also Lampre was disappointing, probably because its leader, Cunego, is suffering because of the doping rumours coming from Italy. Although he pretends the opposite, in fact, I've always had the feeling that Damiano isn't a Mster in handling pressure and so imo the news coming from Mantova may have played a role in his odiern poor performance.
Saxo Bank didn't get any striking result either, just like Garmin and HTC Columbia. Actually, Garmin's leader, Ryder Hesjedal, was stopped by stomach problems that forced him to get off his bike and ring a house on the parcours to beg the house owners to let him use their toilet for a few minutes. Then, he hopped back on his bike and finished the race 14 minutes after Gilbert. Amazing, isn't it?
Talking about Columbia, it showed us a very funny guy , the 24 year-old Jan Ghyselinck . After joining the original breakaway, this rider clearly made the usual 'I can't go on anymore!' gesture to the other breakaway guys. Of course, the other cyclists got pretty angry at him (especially De Negri did) and poor Jan had to take his turns at the front anyway. Poor thing!
However, we must say that Columbia has never shone in the Ardennes Classics and that this year team was formed by really young riders.
Another disappointing team was Euskaltel Euskadi (Samuel Sanchez didn't look in a very good form), whereas the only Liquigas rider that I could see during the race was the poor Dominique Nerz, who crashed with about 30 kms to go.
Farnese Vini didn't get any stunning result either, but at least one of the team riders was in a breakaway and poor Visconti has a good excuse for his disappointing result (he didn't feel well during the week).
However, the most disappointing team imo was Rabobank . At the beginning of the last climb in fact Freire, Martens, Gesink and Tankink were all part of the main group. In the end, the best team result was Freire's 6th placement. A bit disappointing, isn't it?
Perhaps one of the team guys could have tried to break away with Andy Schleck or they could have tried to anticipate Gilbert, instead they didn't do anything. And if you arrive at the foot of the Cauberg without a strategy, things can be very hard even if you have 3 teammates next to you.
So, this is all from me for this evening. Let's get ready to enjoy another great race on Wednesday!! Who will win on the mur de Huy? That is the question! Have a good evening all!
(Pic by Sirotti)
And here I go again, first comment. ;-)
RispondiEliminaI share your asinctote pain xD. Maths has never been my strong.
As for the race itself, I'm beyond mad at Eurosport, even more now when I know it was a good race start to finish. By the time LBL rolls by, more likely than not I won't be alone. So I really hoped for a nice, relaxing afternoon, just me, my banana bread and the race xD. What I got was a delayed and short -the last 30 km only- streaming because watching a bunch of idiots fall off of their motorbikes at ridiculous speeds. (Okay, I have a little personal problem with motorbikes to begin with, but still).
While I was still trying to figure out what was going on, Fabian crashed, though I could've sworn it was Andy he pulled along, rather than Frank. Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention :P My big question is - how in the world did he manage to fall in the middle of the peloton, on a flat road? The chronist insisted that he'd been pushed (then again, it is a Swiss chronist we're talking about xD) but when they showed the closeup replay thing, I failed to see any real reason at all, other than possibly being distracted and losing balance.
I don't think Frank could've picked a worse place for that mechanical to happen if he really tried to. Okay, maybe if you're leading the race with like one km to go and then, but as far as realistic goes... xD
I loved Andy's attack and I loved Andy for even trying, but it was clearly doomed even before he actually got caught. Just one look and you could tell he doesn't have it in himself to keep it up long enough.
I absolutely loved Gilbert's baby moment. Soooooooo sweeeeet :-) Okay, chalk that up to my own baby xD.
I have little to add to the analysis of the race, thanks to a bunch of morons (Eurosport, I'm talking to you).
One thing I must mention is how I'm beginning to like Omega-Pharma Lotto more and more. Until this year I just kind of ignored them. Well, in retrospective, until this year I was a hardcore Schleck fan and practically ignored anything not Schleck-related, while now I'm more of a general cycling fan, if that makes any sense.
Fortunately, Leopard Trek seemed to be doing better at Amstel than RVV and PR. They went in with an amazing, strong lineup and they really could've made a difference. Now, the bad luck is a whole other story. And no, you aren't the only one who thought that Frankie was going to throw his bike. In fact, he looked so exasperated, and then grabbed the seat and the frame, I was genuinely surprised that he didn't actually throw it. Okay, such an outburst probably wouldn't have been very Frank-like, but the situation sure did warrant it.
As I already said, Andy's attack was doomed, but kudos for trying. If you really want to win, sometimes you have to risk it all.
In the little that I've seen, I failed to notice any Astana rider actually doing something.
Lol, hop off your bike and go use someone's bathroom. I'm laughing so hard I almost dropped my laptop. Poor thing though... If I were Hesjedal, I'd probably blush like a tomato and burst out in apologetic and embarrassed laughter before even finishing my question, and if I were that house owner I'd probably just stand looking baffled and trying to figure out whether someone's playing a number on me. Thank you so much for this laugh.
On a side note, I must add that I adore the Amstel parcours. Amazing scenery, even more so on a sunny day like this.
Now I wave goodbye, as I've already said way too much for someone who basically didn't watch the race.
Two blogpost in one! One from Fede and one from Cristin ;)
RispondiEliminaAll I want to add is that Jakob really needs to go for his own chances soon! I was so happy to see him doing well all the time. But don't get me started about chronist.... First Jakob was just a Leopard, then he was Lund, then he was Schleck. After that they found out that it was 'his friend' (he really said that) Fuglsang. But when Andy attacked they said Fuglsang attacked. Idiots.
Well, it was a very nice race to watch :) And I have to agree with Cristin about the lovely scenery and sunshine! When I was little, I've spent some holidays there :)
Fede, you’ve made this Canadian laugh. Poor Ryder! I mentioned on Coug’s blog how much I enjoyed the views of the Netherlands, especially the forested paths, and rather envied the people watching from their houses along the route. Now when I think back on those houses, I’ll be wondering which one Ryder rang!
RispondiEliminaI can sympathise with you about your studies. I’m supposed to be reviewing for a European Civilizations exam, but instead of learning about the manorial system, Tridentine council, Mirandola, the Thirty Years War, Kropotkin, Mazzini etc, I’ve been completely distracted by the Classics races. And tennis. I’m afraid when the time comes to write the exam, that I’m actually going to foolishly write a Leopard Trek team member’s name instead of an actual historical name, e.g. which member of the National Assembly wrote “What is the Third Estate?”, and instead of Sieyes, I’ll write, “Jakob Fuglsang.” :P
Am I really the only one that couldn’t bear to watch Andy get devoured by the lead group? You would think I would get used to seeing people who attack early, getting overtaken by the peloton eventually, but I was still hoping that with 900 metres left to go, that Andy would pull it off somehow. I think if I actually do end up attending the Champs-Élysées stage of the Tour de France this summer, or any race for that matter, I wouldn’t be a able to give a very good report about it, because my eyes would be closed for the finish. Also, I would be encumbered by the guidebook I would be carrying, titled, “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Cycling”—because I’m still honestly learning “how” to watch it.
Mar: I watched streaming British Eurosport coverage of the race over the internet, as we don’t get Eurosport, RAI Sport or any of those channels in Canada, and I noticed that when Andy attacked, the commentator did keep changing his mind about who was attacking. I was thinking the whole time, “Hey, you don’t actually have to know what you’re doing to do that for a living, perhaps I should apply.”
@ Cristin: A banana-bread? Hey, you should share some with us! ;)
RispondiEliminaUnfortunately Amstel always gets snobbed by Eurosport, it's so annoying!
So Olivia is almost ready for her great appearance on the world stage, eh? Fingers crossed for you both, dear(s)! Let us know when the little one arrives! :D
When I first saw Fabian's crash, I thought it was Frank. Then I realised that the fallen rider wasn't as skinny as a Schleck but, right before I could scream out something in relief, the cameras pointed to Frank, who was at the side of the road. And to say that I thought he had escaped that one!
Fabian's crash was a mistery also to me, especially because Cancellara is one of the most balanced rider of Cycledom. I would have expected a crash like that from Frank (Frankie, you know we love you also because of this, don't you?), but not from Fab. Well, it was another proof that supermen don't actually exist (in spite of what Cyclingnews said about Gilbert ;).
A worse place to have a mechanical problem? What about Port de Balés, in France?
As far as the timing is concerned, instead, what about seeing your chain pop after you've just attacked Contador in one of the decisive stages of the Tour? ;)
I actually didn't believe in Andy's attack at the beginning, but with about 5 km to go I was convinced he actually had good victory chances! Then Vanendert ruined everything (and Fangirl hasn't forgiven him yet) :P
I know the 'from Schleck fan to cycling lover' transformation really well. And it's great when it happens! :D
Poor Hesjedal! I had always thought that riders would stop in a field every time nature called them, but now they've probably understood that stopping in a proper toilet is the most comfortable option and it also guarantees the highest level of privacy!
Amstel is the Ardennes Classic that I like more. Liége is much more important, the mur de Huy is much steeper than the Cauberg, but in spite of these facts I prefer this race to the other 2 ones :P
Frank is way too polite and thinkative to throw away his expensive bike in a moment of anger!
@ Mar: I hope Jakob will be the team leader in a GT (Vuelta perhaps?), he'd deserve it and he'd have good victory chances in it (I don't think he could actually end up on the podium already this year, but I'm sure he could get at least one stage victory!)
Aah, chronists! That terrible kind of creatures! ;)
At least, Jakob is as good-looking as a Schleck. An Italian chronist once confused Chris Anker Sorensen and Andy, it was shocking! Especially because Andy didn't even take part in that stage of the Tour of Germany and, as if that wasn't enough, CA was even showing his grimacing face to the world when the chronist made that mistake! I mean, Andy and Chris actually don't look that much to one another, do they?
Fede, I posted a comment here a few hours ago, but just as in Coug's blog, just after it published, it disappeared about a nanosecond later. It apparently ended up in her spam folder, though I cannot figure out why it did, as there were no curse words, or anything that should have triggered the filter. *starting to feel a little suspicious of technology*
RispondiElimina@ Figbash: I've just recuperated your comment, dear! It's strange that it ended up in the spam folder, since it doesn't usually happen. I had this problem also with 2 other comments in the past, but I actually can't work out how the damn spam thing works. The most astonishing thing is that it actually can't recognise true spams, but sometimes it doesn't publish people's comments. Perhaps the spam folder wants to pretend being useful by eliminating people's comments at random :P
RispondiEliminaPoor Ryder, he must have been desperate to do a thing like that! He must have gone through very bad moments yesterday :P And now there is a person in the Netherlands (possible an old, single woman with a lots of cats in her house) who can say: 'There I was, doing the ironing, and here comes this tall rider who doesn't speak a word of Dutch and makes me understand that he wants to use the toilet... I was going to call the police!'
I've actually given in as far as studying for tomorrow test is concerned. I've had enough of asinctotes, German romanticism, Ruben Darìo and Freud!
LOL at the 'Jakob Fuglsang' part! If tomorrow I get a question about 'free associations', I could write 'Schleck-Amstel-crash-interview- Luxembourg', it would be a perfect example of it!
And you're studying Mazzini, how great! The main street in my village is called 'Via Mazzini', if this can interest you ;) And if you're studying also Garibaldi, Bergamo is called 'The city of the Thousands'!
Ok, enough local history for today.
Don't worry, you weren't the only one who couldn't bear watching Andy being devoured by the peloton. In that moment, I might have even screamed something like: 'You, bad Spaniard, leave my cute puppy alone!'
(I said 'I might' because in that moment Logic had temporarily lost her control over Fangirl).
It's not that difficult to go watching a cycling race, especially if you go to watch a 'stage in laps' like the Champs Elysées one. You just need to stay there, screaming at the guys as they ride past you and trying to spot LT riders. You don't always succeed, but the feelings you get can be amazing.
@figbash
RispondiEliminaYou most likely didn't do anything wrong. That kind of stuff just happens every now and then. ;-) Some of my comments have disappeared in a similar manner.
@Fede
There's still some banana bread leftover. Help yourself, dear <3
Worry not, when Olivia arrives, you'll know. ;-) Thanks for the good wishes!
One's gotta love Frankie's ability to crash anywhere and everywhere. If it were a bit less dangerous, it'd actually be really endearing.
How do you end up confusing Andy and CA? I guess there is *some* similarity, if you really squint... Like, so much you can only make out the team color xD Seriously though, they don't look that alike to me.
I heard Fabian hit someone elses wheel, because everyone was starting to get nervous at that point. This is my interpretation of Fabianese. He told something like this in an interview with lots of background noises. But it sounds reasonable...
RispondiEliminaPhilippe Gilbert was just amazing, once again! And then Gilbert junior came on the screen.. so sweet! #girlygirl
RispondiEliminaYes, Amstel is a wonderful race.. Unfortunately the rest of The Netherlands does not look like that, haha ;) It's Zuid-Limburg, the most southern part of our country and the rest of our country is pretty flat ;) I actually was in Zuid-Limburg last october and saw a lot of these famous Amstel spots, which was really cool :) I hope to be riding there on a bike some day as well!
Yeah, Rabobank was a bit disappointing.. but then again, they did their best and had quite a lot of guys left at the end, which I think is also an achievement. I can't watch on Wednesday.. I have class, so maybe I can see the finale, but most likely I come home and I see the podium, like last week ;)
Mar, you clearly watched the NOS haha, I kept correcting Mart Smeets too ;) But I wanted to see those special shots from the team car, so that's why I didn't switch to Sporza this time :) Eurosport I can't stand, with all those ads in between..
Sorry Fede, I wasn’t very clear in my first comment. I meant that I couldn’t bear to see Andy lose in those last few hundred metres at Amstel, and honestly disconnected from the Eurosport stream. Let’s just say that I’m not very practical, and was rather hoping a giant rabbit would jump out of nowhere, and disrupt the chase group--even though I was delighted for Gilbert.
RispondiEliminaThe Port de Balès incident at last year’s Tour de France nearly gave me an aneurism! I remember that I was talking on the phone with my aunt at the time, and I’m honestly amazed I had the self-control not to scream, and throw the phone at the television! Whenever I hear Contador’s claims that he didn’t see the chain pop, I always think, “Why, were you temporarily transported into outer space by a hole in the space-time continuum? Did you have your Schleck-filter glasses on, which allows you to see the rest of the peloton, but not the guy in the BRIGHT YELLOW jersey?” I think not.
We’re only reading Mazzini’s The Duties of Man, I wish the course was more comprehensive, but it is attempting to cover 550 years of European history, so I guess it’s not possible to be detailed. It must be nice to live in a place where there’s a rich history behind the names of things, as opposed to where I live, where the streets seem to have been named after the building company who constructed the houses. I don’t know if you have something like this in Italy, but a lot of sports venues / arenas in North America, are usually named after some corporate sponsor, and that’s sort of what happened on my street. Sometimes, I feel like writing my address with a copyright, or trademark symbol. :P
Cristin: I've been blocked on two blogs now, so it's hard not to feel a little bit snubbed by the spam filter. I do agree that Frank's ability to crash anywhere is kind of endearing--I'd love to see him attend one of the UCI ProTour races in Quebec, just to see if that unfortunate streak continues. Joking! I'd rather see him do well, of course.
We don't get much choice here in the UK, it's Eurosport or nothing, so we have to be grateful for what we get.
RispondiEliminaAs Leelu now knows, we record it onto LLB's brilliant new toy, a Hard Drive Recorder, then start watching it about 15 mins later. This means we can fast forward through the adverts while it carries on recording (wonderful technology) and we can go back and re-watch bits as well! So much better than video used to be.
And I can tell you, the peloton got a bit too nervous at that point, you could see them wobbling, and poor Frankie was one of those who fell off, but I daren't tell you, it looked as though he was the one who took Fabian out! Wups! We watched it several times to try to make sure, and it really did look like Frankie fell first, and Fabian went over the top of him.
Which reminds me, really ought to write my comments on my own blog, not on FeeDee's one!
Coug
On cyclingnews.com there is an interview with Fränk and it really seems,this time Fabian crashed first because he hit another wheel.
RispondiEliminaCristin, wish you a very good delivery and try to enjoy this twilight time...
I also went to transitions: first I liked cycling because of chauvinistic reasons, then I liked it more in general before I kind of lost my interest. Slowly my enthousiasm came back, mostly due to Armstrong and then there suddenly were the Schlecks and somehow cycling became really vibrant again and got me completely hooked.
@ Cristin: Banana bread, yum! Thank you dear <3
RispondiEliminaI never stop asking myself how Martine can manage to watch her husband racing when she knows that, every time he hops on a bike, he risks of hurting himself seriously.
There aren't actually a lot of similarities between Andy and CA. I mean, one is blonde and has blue eyes, the other one has brown hair and has brown eyes; one has a 'long' face, the other one hasn't; one is Luxembourgian, the other one is Danish; one is good-looking, the other one is... charming. Let's say he's charming :P
@ Mar: Frank apparently was on Fabian's wheel when they both crashed. I watched a vid on YouTube and it seemed that Fab crashed because a rider in front of him braked as softly as I do when I'm driving my car and the traffic light suddenly turns red :P
In an interview on Cyclingnews, poor Frankie said: "Let’s face it, Fabian’s the best bike handler we’ve ever seen, he crashes once every five years. Today I was on his wheel because you can trust him with your eyes closed and today he’s crashed”. Poor Frankie!
Talking about interviews, congratulations on your fan question, dear! It made its way to Frank's special interview, we must celebrate! :D
@ Marleen: You had special shots from the team cars? I'm so jealous!! Did they show how the guys on LT car reacted when Baby Schleck was caught?
Rabobank's results were disappointing, but then I discovered that Gesink had cramps in the finale. And after knowing about this, Freire's 6th result looks much brighter than before.
I don't know if I'll be able to watch Fleche either. Btw Contador and Rodriguez are both racing, so I'm afraid we can predict the names of 2 of the podium guys without too many problems. Luckily, our Andy has some very good chances for tomorrow too!
Talking about classes, I survived my morning at school, although I actually didn't do half of the Maths part of the test. I hope the teacher doesn't get too angry! :P
@ Figbash: A giant rabbit, wow!
RispondiEliminaPort du Balés incident was one of my worst days as a cycling supporter. I don't think I had ever insulted a rider in such an angry way :S Actually, I would have even forgiven Contador if he hadn't come out with all the 'I didn't see him' thing. Logic was ready to forgive him for having stolen the Tour from Fangirl's favourite rider, but still, she wasn't ready to be insulted in that way.
I remember screaming: 'Go go Andy!' when Baby Schleck attacked. Then, when Contador rode away and Vinokourov stopped, I passed from disbelief, to shock, to horror, to the need of telling someone about what had just happened('Maaaaam! Switch on channel 3, now! They're stealing the Tour from my puppy!!') and, after doing all these things,, I eventually started insulting Conti. My insults were actually interrupted by some 'Go go Andy! Go getting that man! Tell him how to behave! Go dear, goooo!' screams.
Ok, this may sound very rude, but in that moment I actually WAS very rude and there's no point in denying it :P
In Italy (and in every other part of Europe, I think) most of the names of the places (and the places themselves) have something to do with history. Bergamo (which means something like 'City on the mountain' in Longobardic) for example is surrounded by ancient Roman walls and on the river Brembo, near to my village, there is an old Roman bridge.
It's actually strange to think about this fact, I'm so used to take local history for granted! It would be really weird for me to live in a country with a very 'recent' history :P
@ CG: A hard drive recorder, great! I actually have one too, but I've never liked it. I suspect it has some problems, since every time I record something it deletes all the older recordings. How annoying.
Actually, I think Frank may have ended up hitting Fabian's rear wheel, but that seemed to happen after Fabian had already started his fall. Unfortunately I couldn't make things out from the YouTube vid I watched...
@ Barbara: Ah, the magical hooking power of the Schlecks! :D
In 2004 I followed the Giro very carefully, then I lost all my interest. My cycling enthusiasm came back thanks to Andy Schleck on a cloudy day of May 2007 ;)
Ops, I've forgotten to mention two things in my comments, apologies for that!
RispondiEliminaFirst one, Frank apparently crashed twice on Sunday (why am I not surprised?). Secondly, Boogerd won 'Dancing with the Stars', a YAY for him!! ;)
Haha Fede, you found out that Michael Boogerd won Dancing on Ice?? :-D I watched it actually.. but I thought that his opponent, Jenny Smit, should've won, because she was way better IMHO ;) But still, he did great! And he won!
RispondiEliminaNo, they only showed the Rabobank and Vacansoleil team cars (very nationalistic haha).. :)
Fränk crashed twice? Well, that kinda doesn't suprise me either ;)
There was the news of Michael's triumph on Cyclingnews, when I read it I couldn't stop laughing! ;)
RispondiEliminaBtw, am I the only one who thinks that Michael looks a bit like dr. Cox from 'Scrubs'? :P
Rabobank's car, it would have been interesting to watch how the ds behaved during the Cauberg climb!
Perhaps for the Giro they'll manage to put a camera inside every team car, that would be cool!
Poor Frankie, he's such a crasher! Hopefully he won't crash on the big day (Sunday) ;)
Sorensen's not brown haired, come on... he's mild blond, as well as the Schlecks... I'm not defending the Italian RAI couple here, but from a distance you CAN confuse all those nordic people, let's take the Belgians and the Dutch: they will always look like tall blondish "horse-faced" northeners to the average Italian eye... okay, Jelle Vanendert and Jeroen Blijlevens were quite different, I know, but yet again, didn't Spain rule over those lands once? I met plenty of Dutch and Flemish who look like Spaniards... but to the average Italian eye, Dutch, Belgians and Luxemburgish will always look tall, blond and horse-faced... and Sorensen actually looks like that! :-)
RispondiEliminaI probably overreacted to that 'mistake' by the RAI couple (although I wrote about it just for kidding) because I really like los Schlecks and Sorensen and to me they look very different. In particular, they have a very different way to ride. In fact Sorensen usually moves his shoulders a lot when he rides uphill and usually pulls very suffering faces 'a la Voeckler', whereas los Schlecks look much more elegant on their bikes. However, I probably noticed this difference just because I'm a great fan of Chris and the brothers ;) Moreover I must admit that, although I can tell the difference between Schleck and Sorensen just by looking at the way they ride, I have lots of troubles recognising the other 195 riders that usually form the peloton :P Therefore, respect to all the cycling chronists of the world!
RispondiElimina