Busy, busy, busy. It was amusing watching Saxo Bank try to croak the Astana boys today, especially when the apparently shelled Texus Maximus went rocketing up the hill as if he just couldn’t wait for another dope test.
But seeing poor Jens Voigt hit the deck at speed took a lot of the fun out of the workday. An “inherently dangerous sport,” as the USA Cycling release puts it, and sometimes a guy doesn’t just leap up, remount and ride on with his bloody ass hanging out of his shredded shorts. Here’s hoping the big German heals well and quickly.
All the cube farmers following the stage on VeloNews.com slowed the site to a crawl, so loading stories and photos afterward has been like trying to push volleyballs through a garden hose using a pipe cleaner.
Still, it beats getting a brain scan in the Grenoble hospital while nurses buff the gravel out of your face with a wire brush.
Mad Blog Media 
Going to wear my WWJD (What Would Jens Do) bracelet in his honor.
Heard he was unconscious for at least a few minutes. I’m no doctor, but that’s never a good sign.
With Jens, you expect to hear: Voigt his the pavement, pavement believed to be okay.
Last thing we need is another Casartelli style memorial. Three or four minutes in dreamland is not good. JFC…
When I heard about Jens, I thought immediately about Saul Raisin. I wish Saul was still in the peloton. He’s got his foundation now–Raisin Hope–for brain injury awareness…
http://raisinhope.ning.com/
Man, I hope Jens comes back. I miss him already.
Jeff, I’ll trade you one ol’ Racer Who Shant Be Named for Jens, a Pantani, Cadel (when he raced for C’Dale on the dirt…and was awesome!), and a 1986 Lemond?
Do we have a deal??
And Steve, “yep” Jens is the bikey crowd’s Chuck Norris…..hehe
James:
Absolutely. I wouldn’t take the rider who shant be named (or capitalized) for anything or anyone.
Yep, that really hurt just watching that crash yesterday. I Hope he is going to be OK.
Cool!! I’ll even throw in a Danny DiLuca just because…
I swear, these morons are starting to act like former NFL greats who get away with murder and then ‘smarten up’ by trying to ‘regain possession of’ their memorablia.
I guess the pros won’t be showing at Interbike this year.
FYI: Saul Raisin did a two hour olympic distance tri a week or two ago.
SteveO:
Yeah. When Saul got the word he couldn’t race in the peloton anymore, he got straight into tri and moved out West. Such a stud.
FYI, when Saul’s old webpage was started right after the accident, I was one of the gazillion people who dropped him a one line email to wish him well. And the guy responded by email, to me, personally. We corresponded for a while during his rehab and right up to when his book came out. Truly a genuine good guy, from my experience. Married to Zabriskie’s sister now, I think.
James:
Seriously, I’ll take anyone else but the rider who shant be named or capitalized. Having been a racer in Texas during his formative years, I’ve met him, raced him, and know people who worked and work for him. As long as he sticks with racing, owns a bike store, and raises money for cancer, terrific. I’m not in any of those circles. Hell, he could start a bike company, a chain of restaurants, and a dog training school. Again, not my lines of work. But if the political aspiration rumors fire up again, I will be truly frightened. A narcissistic politico from Texas with a global name brand, surrounded by sycophants and extremely powerful lobbyists, sounds vaguely familiar. The ones without name brands are bad enough.