Technology is not our friend. And neither is Super Spaniard, if your whizbang drivetrain happens to bite you in the ass while you’re sharing a mountain with him and he covets your pretty yellow shirt.
I don’t have a problem with Bertie latching onto Denis Menchov and Sammy Sanchez if they’re moving forward despite the yellow jersey’s mechanical. But Bertie was driving that train, and he knew exactly what he was doing when he lit it up from behind the spazzed-out Schleckalecka. He was thinking, “Here’s a cheap way to score myself a half-minute from this hill-climbing fool.”
They booed Bertie at the podium ceremony in Bagnères du Luchon, and I don’t have a problem with that, either.
I do have a problem with the friggin’ heat in these parts lately. We’ve been about 10 degrees hotter than normal lately, in the mid-90s, which sucks, frankly. I was sweating like a ditch-digger before I ever threw a leg over a top tube this morning, and on the climbs I was wearing my shades upside down in my helmet to keep the lenses salt-free, just like the big boys.
Jesus, it’s 84 inside the goddamn house. A refreshing glass of white wine is indicated. And I know just where I can find one.
Mad Blog Media 
Well put, scribbler. Bertie. I like that! Let’s hope Andy keeps his wits about him and give da Spaniard a what for. 3 minutes Andy, all you need.
I think Andy probably learned about 10 years of life lessons today – – shit happens and life isn’t fair. Which is actually probably the best thing that could happen to him. Sad as it is – – it’s hard to win much in life unless one can gain some savvy experience and learn how to navigate around all kinds of different people and manuever around one crisis after another around you. He is a huge talent and with time, will win the Tour.
If Andy had been clipped or otherwise knocked off his bike, its clear enough. From what is going around the intertubes today, it seems that the cognizanti think spazzing a shift also constitutes a reason for the rest of the field to take five and wait.
Way back in high school, which was the last time I ever did well at sports, I was anchoring the 4×220 relay. If you buggered the handoff of the baton, it sucked to be you. I did that once in an invitational meet and the rest of the anchor men blew by me as I scrambled to find that damn baton and ran like hell with a hopelessly big gap to close. No one felt sorry for me (except me) or stopped the race. But that was the understanding in that venue.
Given the race to the finish though, it really looked more like a team effort. Sanchez and Menchov weren’t just standing there. As Sharon says, shit happens.
What’s next? Medals for all participants???? Wha!!! He skipped his chain, BFD. He’ll survive.
When does cross season begin again?
It’s interesting that the pros are saying, no big deal, while the fans are in a tizzy. And while VN makes it seem like there’s a riff between the Spanish sensibility and the rest of the world, EuroSport polls show that the delta is really between the rest of the world and this uniquely American obsession with there always being a right way to do everything.
Did you catch the story on NPR the other day about how Americans rarely change their mind on an issue, even when confronted with new information that refutes their prior views? This is the same thing. If you like Fat-free Albert before this, then he’s cool not waiting, but if you’re not a fan, then he was wrong.
I’m trying not to get worked up either way, but find myself freaking out overhow everyone else is freaking out. Guess it’s time for me to find a sport w/o so many unwritten rules … or at least, not so many that the fans know better than the pros do.
Good point Steve O. I think this all goes back to the villainous Contador created by the BigTex nation last year when he had the nerve to win Le Beeg Shew instead of BigTex, despite most of the team working against him. The BigTex nation sees it the other way, that somehow AC was a traitor, so this year with BigTex more or less out of the picture while AC’s now in yellow they have nothing much to do but vilify Contador. I’m no AC fan- his involvement with Puerto is just as bad as the BigTex doping saga, so far both men remain unpunished while guys like Ulrich, Basso and (finally) Valverde have been kicked out for awhile. I’m starting to equate the BigTex fans with fans of OJ, no matter what evidence comes out, as long as the hero denies it, they’ll believe he’s innocent and everyone who disagrees is a “hater”. Meanwhile, lil’ Andy will finally have to come up with more than track-stands to get the jersey now. Can’t time trial, can’t descend well, has problems with dicey surfaces, can’t shift gears, whines a lot and his bro sent 7K euros off to Fuentes for “training advice”…but SOMEHOW this kid deserves to win cycling’s biggest prize?
Greatest story overtold, Larry.
Overtold? You’re right but I’m amazed at the BigTex nation’s irrational hatred of Contador while they cheer for lil’ Andy who, last time I checked finished ahead of BigTex last year too. With the pathetic performance of Schleck this year, he’ll be lucky to be on the podium in Pair-ee unless he uncorks something pretty amazing on Thursday.
On another note, this boring tour has the RAI commentators doing a lot of blabbing. In the past few days they’ve recounted staying in 2-star lodgings in France with no A/C and the difficulty of eating well in France. Cassani recounted how “French spaghetti is different than ours, and hard to eat” in a bit about how tough it is for the riders to eat enough in the heat and with the substandard cooking. He went on to describe the French pasta cooking technique and the usual results while Alessandra de Stefano said she liked doing LeTour — it was perfect for her to lose some weight! Meanwhile WE have a few more days here in paradise before Heather heads off to “philosophy disneyland” (Greece) to hobknob with her fellow wizards while I wrap up things here and return to the US of A…a place I’ve forgotten about a lot in the past 7 months we’ve been over here.
Larry, they tasted the Kool-Aid and have taken the ride. Now they will return to golf, dog racing and whatever else it is that people who care about TCWSNBN does every time he twits….tweets….farts…burps….dumps a load….sees a man about a horse….is mentioned in the news…etc.
The rest of us will wait for cross season to start…or some other fiasco in bike racing to position itself here.