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!!
