SHO on the Web - Cycling documents

My latest cycling documents...

(excerpts of my cycling diary 2006-2007)

Sunday, December 31^st 2006

Well the year is almost to an end but here goes… The greatest event in my cycling year thus far is the inclusion of my girlfriend in my rides. Yes the Alpe was great… yes Mt. Ventoux was a memorable birthday… and cracking my record (details to follow) was a great one too. The Beefort classics time is a great goal to be cracked in 2007 and I’ve liked to ride with Alex or Penning during the year… But NONE was such a great event as I’ve experienced last weekend with my girlfriend at my side.

How did this all come about? Well… Since we’ve ordered her scooter at the beginning of the month, we’ve been on needles ever since to get it. Last week on Thursday it was delivery time for the 50ccm Sym Mio and TA and myself rode my Furious to Esch where we picked up the Mio. TA was a little shaky at first but then rode the black, shiny machine back and forward across the parking lot in Belval, beeping her horn which resulted in the sales staff having a good lauch.

We then proceeded at a rather slow pace towards my crib and parked the 2 engines side by side in the garage. Then on Saturday the 23^rd it was crunch time.

I saddled up California Blue and my sweetie suited up in winter gear and got on the black Mio… We then headed out over the Zolverknapp, Pissange towards Bettembourg. Wow. Pretty nice. We had arranged a couple of hand signals so that she knew when to overtake me and when to wait… and we rode back home after a loop around the south part of the country. For the first test a 55 km ride was great although sweetie’s hands were frozen stiff at the turnaround point in Bettembourg.

Sunday it was more of the same. I left the house for a 20 click warmup and were back together in Limpach for a total of 75+ clicks.

Monday was a different matter… The problem was that it was Christmas. So nothing was open, not even the gas stations. We rode around for 80+ clicks, made our way across the city and up to Mersch. Then we buzzed through the Eisch valley and back to my crib. TA was frozen stiff since it was colder than the 2 previous days.

The first scooter-assisted weekend in the bag, it was time for a short conclusion… TA is awesome when it comes to dedication and stamina on the scooter. She needs new gloves since the ones she has do either not warm enough, or are unpractical to use on the scooter where you have to brake and handle the switches on the handlebar. For me it was a great experience because the drafting behind the scooter was awesome. First and foremost it was great to have her around while I was doing what I loved. She will use the camera in the future as well, snapping pics of yours truly and act as a support vehicle for my stuff. Sweet.

So after 3 days of work we were at it again on Saturday… or so we thought. Saturday we took a day off and just sat around the crib.

Today then we wanted a big cycling day. I needed to get the kilometers in… We left a little late around noon and rode up the rte de Hussigny over the Maus and down towards the border with France since my baby needed to refuel her Mio. We then got going towards Hautcharage and caught another rider near Fingig. We had no trouble catching up with him but then he hung on and actually passed us on the way to Dippach. Since I wanted a nice photo I send baby ahead towards the Reckange roundabout when we passed Dippach so that she could get set up and shoot my snapshot. But as she left the rider came up to me and we started talking. Turned out he was from Soleuvre, named Luc and working as a butcher at a local supermarket. He rides for Kayl and also races. 32 years old. I told him about my girlfriend, the scooter, Canada and the move back. We passed my sweetie in Reckange but she was not ready to shoot so we just continued towards Bettembourg. I split with Luc and I waited for my sweet pea to arrive a couple of minutes later. We stopped at a gas station but we did not need to refuel or anything. I ate a Mars bar and drowned a sports drink. We rode onwards to Frisange, then over to France and looped through Rodenmack over to Mondorf. I checked the time and decided that we needed to head back home because it was getting dark.

Sweetie was there all the way back towards Bettembourg, then towards Reckange and we rode up towards the train crossing in Dippach. Instead of going further towards Dippach I took command and sneaked through Bettange and over to Limpach. Since it was getting dark after 4 pm I preferred to keep the scooter behind me, which was a smart move. The traffic picked up somehow on the way up to Soleuvre and I was secured by the well-lit scooter at my backside. Sweet. Although I wanted to go on home passed the Kronospan, I saw another bike go up the Zolverknapp just as we approached the intersection. Sweetie was in front and pulled me up the hill, sheltering me from the wind. We passed the other bike about halfway up, an elderly rider on a retro steel-framed bike. I blasted through Soleuvre, happy to be on my final stretch. My carb reserves were empty by the time I swooped down towards Differdange in front of my honey. I looked at the odo and found that I was about 500 meters short of 100 clicks… so I looped around the center of town real quick and got to my place just as my baby was parking Mio.

101.5 clicks to round of the year… a whopping 13448 kilometers (some 450+ as last year). Very happy my baby and I made our way over to her place for new year’s eve dinner.

What a year… It started in cold confusion being back from Canada, with a lot of cycling plans but with fresh bruises from a late 2005 crash in Kopstal… Then it thawed slowly through realizations of frustrations with my inability to ride offroad on a mountain bike, through the spring where a late snowstorm drove me South for a climb up my first Col in Provence. I got warm after meeting the girl of my life and igniting her interest for cycling (both on and off the bike) and greeting the professionals in Belgium at LBL 2006. It got hot while separated from my new-found love for 7 weeks, while I pursued my passion burning the asphalt in Beefort, climbing the Alpe and the Mt. Ventoux in late Spring… Then it burned, first finding my love again, showing her the professional riders in Esch for the Tour, melting a few days later with a high fever and screaming of pain… seeing Floyd win and then being stripped of it… Relaxing summer with less cycling than anticipated but much more fulfilling experiences with my baby.

A nice fall with a few interesting cycling novelties (bikes for my baby, trainer room rearrangement at home, scooters etc…) and finally a cold but eventful winter, culminating in scooter-assisted 100 clicks on New Year’s eve… the year was AWESOME !!!!

Cheerio and best wishes for 2007.

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Friday, December 08, 2006

Of circles, wind and black, hard plastic…

Today I had an afternoon off, rushed through my morning with a couple of client meetings and got home by 11:30am. Actually this was the second afternoon off I’ve had in a row. I originally planned of taking the whole Friday but a crappy meeting skidded into the Friday morning like a dead fish across the floor tiles of a French restaurant.

So I had to swallow my cyclist pride and split my vacation into two 4-hour chunks that took effect at 11:00 am on each morning. Sweet. Well… yesterday I got stuck in another meeting from hell and only got out of there by half past 11. Since my sweetie and I needed to go to Germany to taste the delights of the Trier Walmart shopping center and maybe even the delights of the Trier BurgerKing restaurant… we decided to gun the Peugeot engine and hop over to Trier for some serious room-enhancing shopping. The Burger at BK was the cherry on top of the cake and we made it back to my place in the afternoon…without giving any thoughts of riding the bike. In my mind, I had the Friday reserved for that.

Well today was a crappy weather day. Rain pissing down from the skies and a wind that blows stuff across the landscape. But at the time I was ready to ride the wind was not too bad, the rain was not too heavy and I was ready to take care of serious cycling business. I wanted to test my theory of repeated climbs à la Montreal and directed LampoNero towards Soleuvre right after the Get-Go. Although I had a change of mind and decided to ride the Zolverknapp from the backside first, I was going ok. The back-climb was ok but the road was blocked by some construction. Well… I did not accept the detour and got through nevertheless, hopping off LaNe and remounting it after having heaved it over a ditch that the construction workers were just patching up.

I was wearing way too much warm cycling garb as it was well over 10 degrees out. I was sweating in my heavy rain gear even after I started picking up speed across the Scheuerhof and over to Belvaux. Then onwards to Obercorn and through the city. Finally towards Niedercorn and then I hooked a right towards Sanem. Okay… so far so good… up the Zolverknapp for the second time. Second climb was ok too… I jumped the ditch a second time and made it back over to Belvaux, this time I rode through the center of town. Climbing back out of Belvaux and getting to Obercorn for lap number two, I was doing fine. I rode through the city and once again got down to Niedercorn. This time I kept going over the second bump and then onwards toward Bascharage. Dodging traffic and swerving around the cars, lorries, busses and space shuttles that were held up by some crappy and totally unnecessary traffic lights in Bascharage, I got going to Sanem again and finally arrived at the Zolverknapp for climb number 3. This time I had trouble jumbing the ditch as the friendly neighborhood road workers were tarmac-ing up the ditch. But I got around and got going towards Metzerlach and then back to Belvaux (glimpsing at the building I will work in soon… Yeah I’ve changed jobs… I will write about that soon). Climbing through Belvaux I was ready to gun my legs towards Obercorn once more, when I noticed the disturbingly gusty winds that were now blowing LaNe and her rider from left to right and reverse. The wind gusts were so strong that the wind was actually bouncing off houses and blowing back onto the road. I was concerned at some point that I would be blown into traffic… but I’ve managed to stay the course.

The location: Obercorn
The time: about 2:30 PM
The event: A damn empty black rubber trash can that got blown into the path of the oncoming SHO on LaNe, approaching at 45 kph.

Actually I had no chance to escaping the can. I was way too quick and the can was 50 cm high, lying on its side… so I did the only logical thing, I braced for impact and got ready to lay some expensive Hincapie cycling garb and painful SHO-skin on the Obercorn road, heal my wounds in the hospital later and going to Urbany to get LaNe in rolling shape again. I am pretty sure now, looking back, that I did not even slow down and kept pedaling. I know that I let out a loud yelling curse and headed directly for the black plastic obstacle… and HIT it! My front wheel hit the SOB at full blast and I saw myself flying through the air… but OH WONDER…. I was still upright in the saddle. After the impact and a wobbly split second, my front wheel and the rest of the bike attached to it, including the rider, kept going into the afore selected direction. The trashcan was send traveling out of my way, having received a vicious tire kick in its mid-section.

I could not believe my luck. Observing the front wheel for any bending or wobbling I continued on my merry way. I looked back and actually had to check for vanity purposes if someone observed my heroic deed… nobody there. A car about 100 meters back may have seen it but I failed to flag it down and inquire as to that purpose. I turned around though after a few meters and revisited the crime scene… the trash can was lying not on the right side as I had expected but had somehow been relocated to the left side of the road… Okay… I thought about stopping quickly to go knock on the door of the owner of the black plastic monster… maybe about raising hell that their plastic pet was not on a leash and thus safe from being blown every which way,… but I caught myself imagining wild accusations of me savagely violating the right of road-crossing black trash cans and attacking them with my bike as a lethal weapon… So I thought I would have my front wheel trued and would forget about the entire thing as far as monetary involvement and recovery would be involved. I was NOT going to forget about the incident though from a bragging, heroic, vanity point of view.

After having completed yet another lap and raked up 56.25 clix, I was home and safe at my house. After a shower and a quick episode of computer gaming fun, I welcomed my sweetheart and soon found myself telling her my heroic tales. She was only mildly impressed. But anyway… I think I’ve done good and well today and deserved the second helping of cereals for dinner.

Tomorrow is another day and I hope that the cycling gods will confer with the gods of wind and weather to avoid any of those surprises while yours truly is riding LaNe (with CalBlue’s front wheel for the time being). Anyway… cowatrashcan dudes!!!

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Oh how painful is the aftermath of vanity-induced highs and bragging ego-trips… Yes, I will have to report that I’ve eaten my socks and come down from my Friday afternoon ego-booster only to find myself in the deranged dirt of cycling enthusiast hell.

The Saturday morning ride on LaNe started after I changed the front wheel, actually swapping the blue Bontrager on LaNe for the black Bontrager on CalBlue. I was on my merry way with in-ear-mp3 and all… rode to Esch via Belval while racing the CFL-train in which my baby was making her way to the city… and hopping over to Audin/Tiche for a ride South of the border to France. I rode up and down some 10+ percent inclines and made my way passed Cattenom towards Sierck and finally back over to Luxembourg and Schengen. I will never forget the parking spot I’ve selected because this is where the perfect world I believed myself to be in crashed down and shattered into a million pieces.

Over the last few weeks I’ve regained some of my cycling will, I’ve restarted my diet, I’ve conferred with Doctor Schmitt and set 70.9 kilos as a Diet goal while also getting a Chiropracter’s appointment referred to by the Doc… I also have exciting career news for February 1^st. I’ve made plans for me and my baby including living arrangements and cycling exploits… But on Saturday, December 09^th 2006, I have experienced a stinging piercing of my cyclist soul… For the first time since Quebec 2003 I’ve felt that I may loose one of my dear bikes to scrap metal heaven. Now I know for sure… My Friday encounter with a trash can was high on the scale of ego-boosting potential; my Saturday conclusion was as if the rug was being pulled under me… I discovered, just as I was about to finish a short snack, at the side of the road near Schengen, the bitter truth…

I noticed a small spec on the down-tube of LaNe’s frame… upon closer inspection I’ve discovered that the spec was not dirt but a paint-chip that pained and chipped a piece from my heart. As a matter of fact the aluminum frame was bent in 2 places… Bent downwards as if to acknowledge that the Friday impact deserved to be taken far more seriously than I could have imagined and that trashcans made of hard rubber are lethal enemies to aluminum tubes. I felt my blood run cold and realized that I was a few bumps and potholes away from having not only a bent frame but probably a broken frame followed by a nasty crash and dire straits to get back to my crib in Differdange.

The trashcan had done it’s heartless job: the front wheel had absorbed the shock only to hand it on towards the frame… the frame that is now bent! The frame that is now 1000€ garbage! The frame that still needs to take me home in a very gingerly fashion.

I remounted the steed and knew that this would probably be the last time I would ride it outside… My soul started crying lonely aluminum teardrops and I formulated a plan in my mind to get home. I could always call Renk or Carlito to come and pick me up if need be. For the time being, I had to watch out for potholes and storm drain lids.

I was furious. Not necessarily at myself but more at the idiot who let his/her trashcan flop around in the wind. And I was mad at myself for not having stopped after the incident and checked for damage and rung the doorbell and…. And… and…

So I gingerly picked my route towards home, avoiding major bumps in the road and riding around every hole and cover I could see and detect. I was going rather slowly until an elderly rider passed me in Huncherange. I stayed in his wheel and got up to 30 kph and more working with him and alternating the pull at the front until I split for Pissange and a dreaded few seconds over a small strip of cobblestones.

When I was home I showed my girl the damage and settled in for a moody evening. I nevertheless had ridden 103 clicks on Saturday adding to 8 more on Friday after the impact. So I decided to shelve any thoughts of scrapping LaNe right away and instead switching it with CalBlue who vegetated on the trainer for 10 months already. I will now ride CalBlue outside and LaNe will be a trainer bike until I will need to cannibalize it for parts. At the latest I will use the Ultegra/SRAM group on Teri Ann’s new bike somewhere in February or March when we start her first official road season. Until then… Farewell LaNe. I liked you descending Mt. Royal Cemetary last year and I loved you riding a few 160 click-rides in Luxembourg. First and foremost you’ve accompanied me to France on my first European cycling trip in March and I love you for the Col de Notre Dame des Abeilles!

Farewell, my friend. You shall never be forgotten.

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Friday, April 21, 2006

Yeah I know… I am not the World’s best diarist lately. This journal could be 15 pages thicker by now but alas… So what has happened that made me loose my typing touch? Well… there is a lot of riding going on. Well let me check that… I am in the saddle quite often but not necessarily for the distance I want each time. Last week for example (Easter Weekend) I rode every day, but on Thursday I did 75 clicks, on Friday 100, on Saturday (as stated) 60 and on Sunday I did only 50. Why? I don’t know… but I get going late so the riding is not that grand. Why am I going late? Because I need to sleep… Why am I not getting my sleep? Well… New girlfriend for once… No I do not blame her. I blame myself. I could be a little bit more proactive and organize my life better. But instead I rush out the door to be with her, letting stuff lying around my life that I should be taken care of.

Needless to say last Sunday was a downer that I only rode for 50 clicks. But the good part is, I felt pretty crappy about it. I went to Teri and we nevertheless had a great evening. In fact… We are officially a couple now. This is new to me… a new situation. I will try to work this into my cycling but no idea what the effect might be in the end. I strongly believe that the bike will remain 51% of my life even if TA will take the other 49%. Since Monday April 17^th 2006 I have a 100% human girlfriend (in addition to my mechanical ones, i.e. bikes). The ego-boost that gave me is unbelievable. And here’s the result.

For a couple of weeks now I was complaining to Carlito that I had not yet managed an English Century. BOOM! DONE! Last Monday I was so full of confidence that I did 170 clicks. BANG! Nuff said!

Seriously I rode LaNe who looked miserable after 4 rides in more or less rain. Dirty, filthy… and is in dire need of a good cleaning. I shoved off around 10:30 and made my way up the Metzkimmert, then over Belvaux and Soleuvre towards Bascharage and finally over to the Windhof. Down to the Eisch-Valley and onwards to Mersch, then to Angelsberg, Larochette up through Medernach and I wound myself down to the Mullerthal. Finally Echternach where I seriously stopped for 2 Powerbars and a sports drink. Then I climbed my way over the somewhat busy national road to Junglinster and onwards all the way to the City. Through the Rollingergrund towards Merl and over to Reckange-Mess. I saw my odo and it was not good. I would have ended the ride with 145 or 150 clicks… No way Jose! So over the parade grounds towards Bettembourg to add-on the extra mileage. I was clad in USPS-blue and in Bettembourg the skies had been friendly enough for me to remove my long-fingered gloves first and then I stopped and removed the long legs as well. I looked like a biker then J

I actually rode by Carlos’ crib to ask him about going to dinner that night but he declined wishing me a great rest of the ride and congratulating me on Teri and on the 160+ I was about to pencil into my books J Nice!

I got home at 170 clicks after having done the Zolverknapp over the backroad as an encore. Let me say this though… 170 clicks and NO cramps. NICE! I took it easy in the beginning but nevertheless did a 29+ average. Nice! NIIIIICE! This must have been the “Teri Ann” effect !

So I dedicate this 170, my first Century of the year, to my sweet Teri Ann, who provides emotional booster every time I see her, to Carlito, who is the friend I really need now and to the great sport of cycling, that has shown me the way since 2002. I hope I can patch up things with Sergio otherwise I will have trouble.

So Tuesday I took a deserved rest day. 455 clicks for the long weekend are worth taking a break over.

Given that I had been a week out of commission I would now estimate that I got 55 clicks back on the 400 I’ve lost during the previous week.

On Wednesday I went swimming with TA. We were only fooling around in the water for about 30 minutes before she AND I got cramps… I was also pretty cold and that is interesting. Since the last time I went swimming in a pool I’ve lost some 30 kilos… there you have it! Less insulation, colder quicker. We were at the pool in Obercorn… my first time in 15 years. I still remembered the settings and all… Nice.

The following Cycling Journal entry is dedicated to the Renk-Man who’s a great sport, Carlito who can’t seem not to whoop my ass at every competition we go against each other and to Teri Ann who brightens my already nearly perfect days to new levels.

Yesterday, Thursday 20^th of April 2006, was another cycling day but the interesting part is the weather… FINALLY decent temps. It was at 18 degrees when I got home so I decided on USPS blue shorts and the retro Motorola jersey. I looked snazzy J I also rode SHO for the first time since she got back from Urbany and we were flying up to Obercorn and through town towards the Metzkimmert. Then all hell broke loose. I thought I was back in Quebec or any other place where I encountered morons on the road. This may have taken the proverbial CAKE!

On the swoop down through Obercorn to get to the intersection and then to the railroad crossing up the avenue Charlotte, I passed a couple of cars since a driving school was holding up traffic. I was flying but I did not take unnecessary risks… well at least not uncalculated risks. With my MP3 in my ear I was ready to warm up on the Metzkimmert before proceeding with the rest of my ride.

I got out of the saddle as I rounded the town hall and got my gears sorted out to start climbing. Since I put the Bontrager X Lites on the rear and since the gears are “climbing” gears, I was surprised that I had the extra light gear if I needed it. Then a car pulled up behind me. I looked back and it was one of those shitty small Mazda egg-type motherf-ers. The type that teenage girls and old menopausal frustrated hags drive. Well the driver of this one was the latter. And not only middle-aged but also stupid as they come.

Since I am the most important thing on the road whenever I am in the saddle, plus I was wearing a very well respected cycling garb, the Motorola jersey being the same that a certain Lance Armstrong rode to his 2 first stage wins in the Tour de France, the second one being into Limoges a couple of days after Fabio Casartelli died… anyway… The other piece of cycling garb was the 2004 USPS bib shorts that make me feel like a million Euros. The bike, Trek 5200 Project One “SHO” the love of my life, recently revamped with a new handlebar wrap… and clean as a whistle. Helmet, Oakley M-frame glasses that hide my eyes and give me the killer look I need… As I said… the MOST important thing on the road…. I always take some liberties in terms of road real estate. Especially since the Metzkimmert is a narrow climb and one side is always parked on by cars… Plus the surface is rather shabby and crusty so there I was as always, eating up the entire road. The car was there, right behind me and the old bag started honking. I turned around and let out a stream of obscenities. I somewhat moved over to the side and she immediately passed me but not too fast so that she could have the passenger side window down and yell at me. Well guess what? She was at the right sounding board. I let loose with a mother of obscenities at her, telling her what she could do to herself and where she could stick that car horn of hers. Since she was yelling in Luxembourgish and I in English, I don’t even know if she understood. Well the message was nevertheless clear. She passed me and immediately slowed down. I wanted to pass her but she accelerated so that she could yell at me some more. I told her again what I would do with that horn of hers and what she could do to herself. Also I made a reference to the canine female that she was and her intelligence level.

She accelerated again and drove onwards to the turn-around area near the last house of the MK. Now all this time I was climbing and I was pretty good. I believe I have never climbed Metzkimmert as swiftly. She then stopped her car and kinda parked in the road to block my way. Since she was parked uphill she had to push the break from having the car run downhill on her. By that time I was pissed and as I approached her garbage can of car I aimed my front wheel on purpose at her front bumper. She actually thought I was going to hit it so she eased off the brake and let her car run backwards a few centimeters.

As I passed her I believe she started honking again, followed me, and honked all the way up to the parking lot at the end of the climb. I blocked her on purpose but she nevertheless overtook me and I believe tried to run me off the road as she swerved into my path. I wanted to ride by her car but she accelerated one final time and proceeded to the parking area.

As I crested the top of the climb I started yelling at her and this time I was livid. After telling her for the 3^rd time what she could do to herself I told her to get her overweight rear end on a bike and I would kick just THAT part of her anatomy (or words to that effect). She was still yapping and yelling but I guess she wanted to stay up there on the Rollesberg… Or so it seemed when I saw her blue piece of junk parked… But as I let loose my tirade and rode around those traffic islands up there in the parking lot, and proceeded to go downhill, she maneuvered her vehicle back into position to descent the MK as well. I then did my best to disappear as quickly as possible but to no avail. She was driving behind me honking like an idiot.

I swooped down the hill, passed the city hall and down to the center of town. And all the time, guess who was back there honking like she lost her marbles?

People stopped and stared, children cried and dogs barked… The scene was ridiculous. I was determined to put it to rest once and for all. So as I approached the intersection I did my best Montreal biker impression and failed to stop at the Stop-sign while making my right turn into traffic. Honking granny was still at it.

Since the light at the pedestrian crossing was red in front of the school, there was a column of cars on both sides of the crossing. I passed them on my side and then proceeded to ride on through the red light, checking for pedestrians of course. In the distance I still heard her honking but I told myself if she would catch me now I would stop and have a serious word with that old bag.

Needless to say she never showed up again.

Morale of the story… None! Crazy people everywhere.

I rode on to Soleuvre, up the Knapp and over to Limpach and finally the parade grounds towards Bettembourg. I ascended the Poteau de Kayl from Kayl once and then made my way through Esch into Schifflange where I called Carlito with the details of the night. Since we needed a 4^th person I then decided to stop at Renk’s place and ask if he fancied bowling the odd bowling ball down the odd bowling alley. I first climbed the Poteau for the second time from Kayl and then swooshed to Rumelange and over to Kayl and Noertzange. I was flying though. Wow my form is really there.

I called Renk to see where he was and he told me that he would be home in 5 minutes. So I rode a short distance over to Huncherange before whipping the bike around and back up to Noertzange. The Man was standing in front of his crib and (to protect me from evil stares of stupid neighbors) I rode straight into his house after he opened the front door.

The plans for the night materialized and I returned to my place later after kicking my own ass up the Zolverkanpp and down into Differdange at break-neck speed.

Tally for the day: 75 km, one crazy old hag and a bowling evening organized. Not bad.

The bowling was uneventful since I got my ass kicked like there was no tomorrow. Both Carlos and Manuel killed. Teri and I were left in the dust and not even that was ok since she beat me one of the 2 games. Can anyone spell LOOSER?

But anyway… a great day and an eventful ride. Semper Fi Mofo’s.

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My letters on Cyclingnews.com

Armstrong and the Classics

(May 09 2003 - This letter was in response to criticism of cyclingnews.com-readers that Lance Armstrong did not go all out, balls-to-the-wall at the 2003 edition of the Liège-Bastogne-Liège cycling classic. A great race by the way, won by Tyler Hamilton. I watched it shortly before taking off to Canada).

I basically agree that it would be nice to see Lance go all out and try to win even the "test races". But it is important to keep in mind that he will have all the time in the world to win an LBL, Amstel Gold or Ronde (if he decides to keep on going) after he wins the "grande boucle" for the 5th and hopefully 6th time. The risks that he would face now, at this time are for too great for him to accept. The worst case scenario: Lance is in the lead group for one of the classics, attacks on the last hill, breaks away, and gets caught by another driver who lives for just that moment in time and does not give a hoot in hell about anything else. Lance and this guy fight it out, a false movement, a momentary lapse of concentration, they both touch, Lance crashes, breaks a leg, season over. However, playing it "safe" (like he did it this year) he largely reduces these risks but nevertheless achieves the goal of "testing" himself for the "Tour" preparation.

We have to admit that it would be far more exciting to see an Eddy Merckx II in Lance, but the risks far outweigh the possible benefits involved.

I also agree that the Americans look great this year. I go around for a few months already telling people to watch out for Tyler as a Tour-rider. The excellent win at LBL only confirmed my expectations in Tyler but winning a great tour is a different matter. Last year's Giro was a preview of bigger things to come and, hopefully, an indication of another American name to be written in the golden book of Tour de France winners.

Laurent Schoux
Luxembourg
Friday, May 9 2003

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French campaign against Spanish cycling

(August 2003 - A quick joke about a crazy Spanish excuse after being tested positive for EPO)

After hearing Javier Pascual Llorente's response to the EPO accusations, I started thinking: what if there is more than just a campaign? What if it is a "conspiracy"? Now bear with me and think about it. Why would a country let the sun shine at such intensity that the asphalt actually melts and bring the number one Spanish TdF contender down? Think about it - it's crazy man! Also, why would a country allow "Yankees" and "Boches" into the country, and even (albeit former) Soviets? Just so that they can place better than the Spanish in the TdF? (Hey I am onto something!) Maybe there really is a conspiracy here; I am scared, man!

All fun aside, I deeply respect the Spanish cyclists (although they sometimes make bad decisions when it comes to strategy, especially in the Tour) and I can just laugh at Llorente's comments.

Laurent Schoux
Canada
Friday, August 8 2003

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Vuelta? What Vuelta?

(September 30 2003 - After touching down in Canada and being able to watch the Tour de France on Canadian OLN (Outdoor Life Network) I soon became frustrated that the Cannucks did not also broadcast the other cycling races... actually NOBODY in Canada did. So I had to duke it out on the Internet, on the phone at the same time to my buddies in Luxembourg who watched the exciting last time trial stage live on TV. Heras won which was a double punch for US Postal that year. I was looking forward to the World Championships in Hamilton, Ontario though... :-) )

As a true-blue USPS-fan living in Canada, I was thoroughly pleased with the excellent coverage that the Vuelta a Espana had on television. I did not miss one single second, I saw all the stages and I was live onboard when Roberto Heras zoomed by the rest of the world to take the golden jersey on Saturday. Yes. Excellent! ... and then I woke up and found out that it was just a dream. Actually I have not seen 5 minutes coverage of the entire Vuelta (some bits and pieces on a European news channel that I get (albeit in French) here on cable. But nevertheless, I was there, live, via the Internet (and the Cyclingnews play-by-play) and phone with some buddies in Europe who saw the final TT on Spanish TV and described to me that "Roberto really looks strong" and that "Nozal really is suffering". The reason the Vuelta was not on world-wide TV (as the TdF)... Easy: It's not popular. Not from a spectator point of view, not from a sponsor point of view, not from a prestige point of view, not popular, period.

But why is the Vuelta not popular? Some BIG riders were absent (which does not diminish Roberto's excellent victory one bit mind you) and some even bigger riders made a joke out of the organizers (Yes Mr. Cipo, I mean YOU!). And even the organizers themselves were close of turning the Vuelta into a "nada", if you remember the "very interesting" egg, of having 2 pelotons merging into one, that they were trying to hatch in the off-season last year.

Traditionally the Vuelta was always earlier in the year (April, May) and this was considered by many of the great riders (Merckx, Anquetil, Hinault, et al.) as a serious event. But the UCI decided to "elevate" the Vuelta a few years back to make it a "great" 3-week Tour and along with the Giro and the Tour de France it was said to be one of the "big three". But it never became that... Nowadays the Vuelta is used by many teams to "save" an otherwise failed season (see Ullrich in 1999). None of the 6 top riders in the 2003 Tour de France made it to Spain this year and even worse, not even two of the best Spanish riders of the moment were there (Zubeldia and Mayo). Yes, we saw some great new "espoirs" come along and make their stand (watch out for this Nozal-guy!) and some strong riders have confirmed their importance to the cycling world (Petacchi, excellent!) but come on people... Where are the rest of them? And don't even get me started on the upcoming World Champs... Even a certain George H. went home to prepare for Hamilton before the Vuelta was over.

Conclusion: Bad timing, UCI! Bad timing!

There is probably nothing that can be done by anyone to reduce the Über-Tour de France in importance. But a season build around 3 big tours in addition to a World championship (and every 4 years an Olympic event) might be to risky. Why not reduce the Vuelta to a 2-week stage race, take another Spanish race (like the Vuelta a Murcia early in the season), add on some stages to make it longer and more interesting (teams preparing for the Tour de France might like it), and keep the racing schedule in September free of "big" tours for riders to prepare for the World's?

Miguel Indurain said on Spanish TV that the riders "are tired after a long season"... According to the calendar the long season is not yet over. But if you believe the interest generated by the public, the season was over when the peloton crossed the finish line on the Champs Elysées. But thanks to Roberto and the boys, we have had one more chapter written in the history of cycling, even when some of us never saw it live.

Looking forward to Hamilton...

Laurent Schoux
Canada
Tuesday, September 30 2003

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Tour 2004 - Epic Battles on the horizon

(October 23 2003 - Hot reaction to the announcement of the 2004 Tour de France)

WOW! Just as a true cycling fan would have imagined. This Tour promises to be something else. Just looking at the parcours of the 2004 Tour de France, one can only admire the organisers. If you keep in mind the epic battles we had during 2003 in the three-week saga of triumph, defeat, bad luck, good luck, sportsmanship, fighting to the limit of human possibilities, ... well, PURE excitement, coupled with the historic opportunity that Lance has to become the first in achieving what no one has achieved ever, we MUST look forward to the 2004 edition.

I will mark two stages with a thick red marker in my calendar: Stage 13, mountaintop finish at the Plateau de Beille where Armstrong already crushed his rivals once. A couple of days after, Stage 16 could even be more decisive. As we all remember the "Look" of 2001, we know that a certain German wants his revenge on this stage. But all in all the TT to l'Alpe could result in history by itself, namely the fastest ascension of the Alpe ever. And time trials in the mountains are always something special (see Vuelta 2003).

Let's not forget the excellent opportunities for the sprinters as Belgium will welcome the opportunity to see Cookie and Robbie, Erik and Sandro battle it out during the first week.

With Ulle back to his old "Mannschaft", Lance promising to be "better prepared" for 2004, new domination in the sprinting class by Petacchi, rising stars such as Igor the Champ and other classic contenders that may have a shot at the Maillot Jaune (Beloki, Sevilla, Botero, Basso and the like) and finally Tyler Hamilton who now will be in command of what looks like an impressive Phonak team... WOW! I can hardly wait... Only 36 weeks and 2 days to go!

Laurent Schoux
Montreal, Canada
Thursday, October 23, 2003

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Uphill Battle

(November 12 2003 - Okay... This one was out of the blue. I was just starting my (now) extensive cycling book collection and one of the first was this one.)

So with the days getting shorter, the winter temperatures settling in (at least here in Canada), and the opportunities for quality outside rides getting so rare as Cipollini-sightings at the 2003 Vuelta, many of us find themselves getting reacquainted with the trainer at home and watching TV (or in my case the DVDs from the 2003 Tour de France) while spinning away. I've recently experienced a fun alternative to the TV: Books! (Yes, in an age of electronic high-tech gizmos and gadgets the good 'ole books still work.)

Some of my fellow Cyclingnews readers have already pointed out some "mistakes" in Lance's second book, 'Every second counts' and I do not really want to dwell upon them... Well okay, here's one that I found: Benoît Joachim is actually from Luxembourg, not from Belgium. I think there are two disappointments with the overall book: It's shorter and (for lack of a better word) it's 'erratic'. The book is written probably in the same way Lance's life has been since 1999. A whirlwind of activities packed into a tight schedule between Tour de France races. And sadly there are no pictures.

But besides reading 'Every Second Counts' I read 'Uphill Battle' by Owen Mulholland [details from Dymock's Australia, Amazon US & Amazon UK/Europe] and this is a masterpiece. It retraces the history of professional cycling from a climber's perspective, depicting a whole array of great riders and selecting their feats in the mountains that have marked the sport. Mulholland does a marvelous job at describing the moments of glory in which the riders were elevated to the realms of supernatural stars (even though a lot of these riders never experienced the fringe benefits of stardom). I am especially fond of 2 chapters on Charly Gaul (who is also from Luxembourg) and who was called "angel of the mountains" by his peers for his extraterrestrial climbing abilities. Mulholland oftentimes connects the dots of cycling (climbing) history and gives the reader an understanding on how, for example, Gaul's cycling style was pretty much similar to Armstrong's, half a century later.

Of course the book features the big names (e.g most multi-Tour de France / Giro winners) as you need to be good in the mountains to be a big name. But there are unlikely additions as well (as for example Wim van Est who did not really experience glory in the mountains other than being rescued from a fall down a ravine in the Tour de France 1951 and immediately inquiring about the state of his bike).

'Uphill Battle' is a gem of cycling literature and Mulholland is an excellent cycling historian. I can only recommend this one for the long, dark winter evenings in front of the fireplace (or on the trainer).

Laurent Schoux
Montreal, Canada
Wednesday, November 12, 2003

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How will the Tour 2004 unfold?

(February 2004 - I got fed up with all the folks debating and specualting on the 2004 Tour so I wrote this one... Interestingly after this one was published cyclingnews.com started the "Letter of the week" with prizes... I guess I was a little bit too early. "Pascal Llorente"... see above.)

It was a dark winter night in the Canadian snow-packed Laurentian mountains. From the star-studded sky came a small but clearly visible light beam. It hit the snowdrift in front of my log cabin and began melting it. I was afraid at first, but then I saw that the beam was merely writing something in the snow... Here's what it said.

Predictions for the 2004 Tour de France.

The big news about the TdF 04 happens before the Tour. In early March at the Vuelta à Murcia, Armstrong and Ullrich meet in a heavily media-covered event. Before the start of the first stage they look at each other and decide that sportsmanship should be the order of the day. When the stage finally begins, both decide that it would be unsportsmanlike not to wait for the other guy, so both refuse to turn a pedal before the other. Reports from Spain in early July have both riders still standing at the start line at Murcia, five-month beards on their chins, surrounded by empty musette bags and drink bottles, still giving each other "The Look" and waiting for the other guy to move.

Another story breaks just before the prologue. Jean-Marie Leblanc (in an unprecedented move) decides to ban all Spanish riders that are not riding on a French team or a French bike, finally proving Pascual Llorente's point. Somewhat interestingly, ASO forgets to ban Roberto Heras, thinking that he is still riding for USPS.

The prologue is won by Joseba Beloki, with David Millar close second. Millar has to carry his ride across the last part of the 6 km course after both pedals, his saddle and the handlebars come off. Tyler Hamilton breaks his collarbone after being hit by Millar's left pedal. He will continue the Tour.

The first three stages are decided by mass-sprints and are all won by Sandro Petacchi.

The team time trial is nullified after it is discovered that theoretically an entire team could lose sufficient time for the leader to lose the TdF. After checking the race's history, Leblanc discovers that a lot of Tours were decided by less than a five-minute margin.

Stage 5, 6 and 7 are all won by Petacchi but he crashes after his sixth win while trying to having to raise six fingers to point at the camera and not noticing Graham Watson, who wanted to take one of his famed snapshots at the finish line. Petacchi retires, Watson is okay, his camera is not. Tyler Hamilton breaks his second collarbone after being hit by Watson's camera lens. He will continue the Tour.

Stage 8 is won in the rain by David Millar after a solo break away of 171 km, which starts after the first kilometre of the day. Millar is happy but tells everyone that the course is too dangerous and the race should be stopped.

After the rest day it's time for the sprinters again. O'Grady and Zabel battle it out on the Stage 9 finish line, only to find that they mistook the "flamme rouge" for the finish. Cooke and McEwen sprint to the real line and cross it at the exact same time. The photo finish proves it. They share the podium, the ceremonial handshakes, the flowers, the podium girls... Both fail to go on to stage 10 and open a flower shop in the center of Guéret, which is a nice city for settling.

Stage 10 is won by Axel Merckx. His dad is so proud that he knocks over a couple of spectators on the way to the podium. He also runs into Tyler Hamilton who falls and breaks his left arm. He will continue the Tour.

Stage 11 sees a 20-man breakaway getting caught by the peloton with only 50 meters to go. O'Grady wins the sprint but is later disqualified after it is found that "the bulge" he was packing in his shorts on the podium is actually an aluminum-wrapped cucumber.

Stage 12 is a classic mountaintop finish. Botero wins the stage in front of Heras, who gets the yellow, Virenque is third but gets the King of the Mountain in the process. Virenque fails to start Stage 13 as during the night he develops a rash as a result of sleeping in the polka-dot jersey. He now has permanent polka-dot scars all over his upper body.

Stage 13 is won by Beloki in front of Heras. Beloki breaks down in tears at the finish line. A minute later Tyler Hamilton passes the finish line, not noticing the puddle of tears. His front wheel slips and he crashes, breaking his right arm. He will continue the Tour.

Stage 14 is won by Vinokourov, who takes along his one year old baby in a bike trailer for the stage. He literally "rocks the baby" over the finish line.

Stage 15 is won by Basso in front of Sastre and Bettini. In fact all riders in the front group are Italian. They are all disqualified as a raid by French police allegedly discovers receipts for drugs of a total of over €600 million in their luggage (but no drugs). Six months later French police quietly abandon the case for lack of evidence.

Stage 16 is the long-awaited time trial up Alpe d'Huez. Beloki wins by three seconds over Botero and five seconds over Heras (still in yellow). Leblanc is stunned that no Frenchman has yet won a stage and decides to ban all non-European riders from the rest of the Tour. After protests by the US state department, Leblanc reverses his decision and decides to leave US and Canadian riders in. Tyler Hamilton is so happy that he tries to do a wheelie on his TT bike only to fall and break his neck. He will continue the Tour.

Stage 17 is won by Floyd Landis after replacing his radio earpiece with headphones and listening to ZZ Top all day. However, Floyd will not continue the Tour as he does not notice the finish line and keeeps on going. Rumors have it that he is now on tour with the little ol' band from Texas.

Stage 18 is won by Beloki - who promptly breaks down and cries again - in front of Heras who remains in yellow. Joseba will however not go on with the Tour as the entire La Boulangère team is stricken with diarrhea after eating some bad brioches for dinner.

Stage 19 is won by David Millar, again in the rain. He is very happy and thanks all his friends during the podium ceremony, including a tribal medicine man from Mozambique who was seen before the stage in the start area performing a rain dance. Heras stays in yellow.

Stage 20 gets underway with a dispute between Manolo Saiz and Johann Bruyneel after Johann tries to hand out champagne to the reporters at the start line. Manolo accuses Johann of "backstabbing" after which Bruneel punches Saiz in the face. Both roll on the floor fighting and screaming. Leblanc sees the scene and fines them both one symbolic Swiss franc before he bans them both from the final stage.

At the finish line there is a mass-sprint of the peloton which is won by George Hincapie. However George does not believe he won and refuses to go to the podium. Heras rolls in with the main pack, proudly displaying the yellow. At the podium he receives the final yellow jersey of the 2004 TDF with... a USPS logo on it! Some rumors have it that he never left the "blue train", others claim that Bruyneel has offered him a new contract to rejoin the USPS squad. The contract is backdated to January 1 2004.

Epilogue: After reading this message in the snow, I realized that this could only mean that I either had too much eggnog for Xmas or that I have been reading too many Cyclingnews.com reader letters. Either way, I'm waiting for the Tour 2004! Only 135 days left!

Laurent Schoux
Montreal, Canada
Wednesday, February 11, 2004

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Letter of the week

A signed copy of William Fotheringham's Tom Simpson bio is on its way to Laurent.

A cycling fan's prayer

(March 25 2004 - I hit paydirt with this one... I had just started my cycling diary a few days earlier and had this gem of a brainfart.

Actually the tragedy I spoke of was the Jimenez-death in Spain in December 03 and then of course the Pantani death in February 04. I never received the Fotheringham book of Tom Simpson "Put me back on my bike" but "A century of cycling" which was very nice nevertheless.)

O merciful Lord Coppi
Thou who art in the big peloton in the sky
Hallowed by thy name and cycling spirit
Thy next feed zone cometh
Thy protective hand shall be sought for all us unworthy wheelsuckers
On the next climb as on the next descent
Give us during this racing season
Our hourly cycling news, energy bars, and “bidons” full of cool water
Forgive us if we dare to worship other sports
As we forgive those who follow non-chamois protected physical activities.

O blessed Lord Bartali
Lead us not into the abyss of doping controversy
But give us the strength to spin away 6 hours a day at high cadence
Blessed be thy accomplishments and the accomplishments of the Merckxs, Indurains, Armstrongs, Ullrichs and [Insert Name Here]s

O kind Lord Anquetil
Let the heathens not come to France to misuse the hallowed event of the Tour
For political, religious, anarchistic or terrorist purposes
But rather allow the “Caravane du Tour” to pass in a competitive, economic and entertaining environment
As it ever was and ever shall be

O powerful Gods of Cycling
Protect the fanatics and crazy supporters
And lead them not into the path of riders when taking pictures
Forgive them their drunken cheers
And let them enjoy the flying colors of the peloton,

AMEN

PS: ...and puleeeeeze... No more tragedy this year... We've had enough for a while.

Laurent Schoux
Thursday, March 25, 2004

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USPS sponsorship #1

(March 2004 - I was on a roll... And I could not help by commenting on the USPS sponsorship debacle.)

This is in response of Mr. Adelman's letter commenting on the USPS sponsorship...

Good call! We all know that the USPS cycling team will not last forever. Probably, if we're lucky, the team under the USPS name will go on a season or two after the Lance-Man has called it quits. Sorry for the other talent but unless a new star emerges in the next season or two, the interest in the team will loose its momentum. Die-hard fans need to hang in there! We do not want another 7-Eleven or Motorola disappearance into cycling oblivion.

May we humbly suggest a couple of additional sources of revenue for the USPS marketing effort, in order to generate even more profit and allow the continuation of the USPS Cycling team...

- Comparative advertising (and competitive as well). Have Lance and the boys take on the UPS, FedEx (and other) cycling teams (if they don’t have any… they should get some!). See who comes out first and film the entire thing for a publicity stunt.

- Remake a movie called "The Postman" starring Lance as the guy who delivers the first "maillot jaune" to the Americans after a long dry spell (Starring Bob Roll as the "weird" Bridge City Mayor, where the peloton has to cross in order to get to Paris)

- Organize cycling camps (Hey Trek Bicycles is doing it with success) with the boys in blue. Instead of just having a media/sponsor event at the training camp in the late (or early) season, have a fan day as well. Recently I read an article in Cycle Sport magazine about what fdesjeux.com cycling (in France)is doing every year for their fans. Ok it's free for them but myriads of USPS fans would eventually cough up a few greenbacks to get a chance to ride with the team. Donate half to LAF or other charities and bag the rest as profit.

- In 2002 I visited the US and went into several post office branches... NONE of them had any cycling team merchandise and/or memorabilia. Why not ? Fans would just looooove Lance posters, hats, key chains, shirts, socks, bags, watches, stamps, books, cards, mugs, mouse pads, freezer-magnets, umbrellas, rain-ponchos, watches with Lance's arms as hands (à la Mickey Mouse), cell-phone cradles, pencils, pens, typewriter-covers, oven-degreasers, bagel-slicers, and vacuum-cleaner bags... Oh well, maybe that's just me :-) Point is: Use brand recognition with Lance's star power. How about a bobble-head series starring the 9 TdF riders (for each year) and Johan as Bonus? I have always been wondering why the USPS did not put Lance or/and the boys on collector's stamp series... It would be right up their alley...

Laurent Schoux
Montreal, Canada
Friday, March 26, 2004

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David get outta there!

(April 9th 2004 - A well-meant advice for David... but little did we know that he had EPO-problems at the time.)

A couple of years ago David Millar wasn't happy with the team and at the start of last year's season he talked about it in the press. At the time the problem(s) may have been resolved but... The organization behind the scenes was bad (see prologue TdF for DM and other members of the team).

The Cofidis team may be the state-of-the-art French team, according to some pre-season reports but I tend to strongly disagree. Fdjeux.com seems more professional to me.

With the latest developments and as a cycling fan I can just give DM one piece of advice: GET OUTTA THERE! There are other teams than Cofidis in the world and there are other teams that can use one of the world's best cyclists.

Laurent Schoux
Montreal, Canada
Friday, April 9, 2004

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Open letter to the World and Canadian TV Executives

(June 29 2004 - A letter I send to cyclingnews.com and to other Canadian web-sites and newspapers. No official feedback other than the cyclingnews.com-readers)

Dear Mr. Media Executive,

I am desperate because I cannot help but feel deeply frustrated about cycling in Canada.

It's this time of year again... Summer, sun and cycling. For a lot of us, riding a bike is more than just transportation, more than just physical exercise, more than just riding... it's a way of life. Living in Montreal we experience a special kind of frustration every year when we are confronted with the ridiculously patched (if at all) roads that resemble (as one of my fellow riders put it) the "Ho Chi Min Trail after a bombardment". But hold your comments, the famous Quebec potholes are not the subject of this letter. There is another frustration if you love the sport of cycling. Since the Tour de France is upon us and since Canadian television viewers are graced with some coverage of the single biggest yearly sporting event in the world (yes the numbers of world-wide TV spectators and road spectators are higher for the 3 week Tour than for any other yearly sporting event) we cannot help but wonder why we are only blessed during this time of the year?

Now I do want to get off on a rant here: Why does OLN Canada only show the Tour de France and not (as their US counterparts) the spring classics, the Giro d'Italia, the Vuelta a España, other world cup races? Why do the two biggest sports channels in Canada (namely RDS or TSN) not show any cycling? Why does Canal Evasion ( somewhat the French counterpart to OLN) not show more cycling? Why?

I understand that Canadian TV stations are a little more North-of-the-border-oriented and therefore show more Canadian shows. I understand that fishing, hunting, and boating (just to name a few) are fun and may have their followers. But there are also millions of cyclists out there. There are thousands and thousands of cycling fans out there. We would welcome even a tape delay or a summary report of races such as Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the Het Volk, or Milan-San Remo. And mind you, we are not picky. Show us a tape delay of a race at 3:00am and we WILL set our VCRs and tape it. Cut the race into small 5-minute segments and stuff the schedule with commercials for exercise machines, juicers and miracle hair growth products and we WILL not mind.

I would love to see a program director go to a newsstand, compare the number of specialty magazines for boating, fishing, football, soccer, Formula 1, and cycling and sit down and rethink the overall schedule for the upcoming months.

Cycling rules and should not be treated like the distant cousin that nobody wants to see all year round but is nevertheless invited for Xmas dinner (i.e. the Tour de France).

Keep on riding and (hopefully more and more) watching!

Laurent Schoux
Montreal, Canada
Tueday, June 29, 2004

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Letter of the week

The Tour 2004

(July 2004 - I wanted to be the first to get the ball rolling... This was so cool... and the responses were great ! I got letter of the week for the second time and won a pair of Rudy Project sun shades :-) )

Ok all you schmengies out there... Since we all had such a great time between the 2003 Tour's final stage on July 27th and the 2004 prologue on July 3rd with regards to analysis (Did Ulle wait?) speculations (Did Lance eat Donuts?), predictions (Mayo will win and Heras will be second), especially here on Cyclingnews, let me kick off the stone and set the avalanche in motion for this year.

Question 1: One of the best climbers ever, namely Federico Bahamontes has criticized Virenque's record breaking win of the Polka dot jersey. Notwithstanding a taste of sour grapes, let me ask the big question: "Why is there no public outcry about Virenque ? He has admitted to doping back when he was at Festina. And yet... he has kept his Jerseys from the Festina years. So in all fairness... How many did he win "clean"?" Let's be honest... if Millar looses his WC title... Should Richard not be stripped as well ?

Question 2: With a probably mistake of focusing on the Tour AND the Olympics and the recent (for him) sub-par overall performance of Jan Ullrich (although he rode 2 great time trials and helped secure the team victory) one question comes to mind: "Why is he not given a contract with a "Win-Clause" (e.g. You win the tour, you get money! You end up second or lower, you get a warm handshake!)?" Without it he may not win another Tour.