Wannabe Bike Girl

So, how about that Mark Cavendish? I like him, I like that he’s not afraid to speak his mind. I like that he wins. I also like Heinrich Haussler, but while he’s not happy with the results of Milan-Sanremo, I am, damn it. Sometimes things work out the way I want, and yesterday just happened to be one of those times. I can’t be lucky every time, but sometimes. And, you know, like my friend Sarah and I were saying, we like the Haussler got angry. It shows he cares, which is really, really nice to see. 

And, honestly, he’s earned the right to call himself great. 

I know not everyone agrees, and I know that people call him arrogant, and it’s hard to disagree. But it’s clear (if you read my football blog) that that’s not something that bothers me — especially when arrogance is accompanied by results. That doesn’t make it right, but at the same time, I don’t find Cavendish to be overly selfish. He knows when to thanks his teammates, he knows when to admit he’s fucked up. And he takes responsibility for his mistakes, not everyone does that. I think that he’s earned the right to let the world know that he has confidence in himself. I also know that he rubs people the wrong way, which is unfortunate. But then again, there are plenty of “big name” riders out there who people just love and who I can’t stand. 

Nothing’s fair when you’re a fan and none of it matters. What matters is that Cavendish won Milan-Sanremo and no one can dispute that he (and Haussler) are pretty fucking amazing.

But, I am seriously pleased that Mark Cavendish won the final stage of Tirreno-Adriatico. It kind of makes up for a lot of the suckage that made up that race this year. I know, I’m going to be a lot less tolerant than I have been in the past, but I have high hopes for certain riders and teams. I want them to win at the expense of everyone else. That’s how it works and that’s how it’s supposed to work. I freely admit that and embrace it.

So, Milan-San Remo, it’s time for y’all to step up and kick some ass. I know it won’t be Sylvain’s day. He’ll be working himself to death for effing Tom Boonen, but that’s okay, too. Because there are other people (Cavendish, Gerald Ciolek and Heinrich Haussler, for example) who I would be happy with if they won.  Perhaps I’ll get to watch some of it, but you sure as hell should know I’ll be following it. After all, how could I not?

I still care.

He finished third over all and got to keep the green jersey. I am so proud of him! I know that it’s not as good as if he’d won the final stage or even the whole thing. But the fact that he was able to keep near the top, beat out Contador (who stole the lead from him) and cling onto third place is pretty good. Especially after the mechanical problems he had during this final stage. I’m also glad he kept the green jersey. Though, ideally I’d like Haussler to be in green and Sylvain yellow, but Sylvain in green is almost as good. Regardless, though, I am extremely proud of Sylvain for the way he hung onto this race. Hopefully this is a sign of better things to come this season. A repeat of last year’s, perhaps. Or maybe even better. 

Final general classification (from CN)

1 Luis-Leon Sanchez (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne

2 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank                 1.00

3 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quick Step                  1.09

Yes, yes you can! If your name is Sylvain Chavanel, that is. Lame, I know. But how could I avoid it? I am so effing proud of him (I’m sure you all realized that already, but whatever). Seriously, he’s done himself proud. I was pleased to see that he’d take the race lead, but to do it by winning the stage (from an Astana?), utterly brilliant. I absolutely adore him and I’m just so happy that he won.

IHT has a nice article about the race here and if you’re curious about the GC, I’ve provided the top then here, aren’t you happy? And yes, it is from cyclingnews.

General classification after stage 3

1 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quick Step                9.29.24
2 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Rabobank                   0.33
3 Juan Antonio Flecha (Spa) Rabobank                  0.36
4 Kevin Seeldrayers (Bel) Quick Step                  0.37
5 Jürgen Roelandts (Bel) Silence-Lotto                0.40
6 Alberto Contador (Spa) Astana                       1.03
7 Luis-Leon Sanchez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne            1.12
8 Stéphane Auge (Fra) Cofidis                         1.14
9 David Millar (GBr) Garmin - Slipstream              1.17
10 Antonio Colom (Spa) Team Katusha                   1.22

One: Thomas Lövkvist won the 3rd Montepaschi Strade Bianche – Eroica Toscana. You probably thought I’d forgotten about him, but I hadn’t. Even though he left FDJ, he went to Columbia, so that was good. And not only he is on my fantasy team, it’s nice when Columbia’s riders win.

Two: Wouter Weylandt won the final stage (and best young rider and possibly points) of the Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen. But you already knew I liked him. No big surprise, of course. Well, maybe for Wouter, because he’s doing quite well. Sadly, he rides for QS, which pains me, still.

Three: And, last and most recently, Heinrich Hausseler won the second stage of Paris-Nice. Which, you know, doesn’t make up for the fact that Astana is leading the race (ugh, Contador), but it does make me happy. Because, apparently, I like it when guys I like win .WHO KNEW?

So hey, look. That’s three things that make me happy about cycling and none of them are about Sylvain. Not that I don’t want Sylvain to win things, because I was pissed that he finished something like seventh on the first stage of PN. But that being said, let it be known that I like other cyclists, not just Sylvain. But don’t get me wrong, if I had to pick one of these guys against Sylvain? You bet I’m rooting for Sylvain. I am nothing if not loyal.

 

Wouter Weylandt in rainjacket by kathyq

So, sometimes things happen in this sport that I care about. Sometimes riders I like get second place. And, hey, sometimes they win! Take, for example, Wouter Weylandt. I bet you didn’t know I liked him. I do, probably the only rider on QS I like aside from Sylvain (obviously). Anyway, he raced in the GP Samyn yesterday and he won it (Philippe Gilbert won it last year, and hey, I like him, too). 

Cyclingnews (as always) has a report with pictures from the race (instead of the picture I posted with this entry, which is from last year’s Tour de Wallonie). But, in cause you’re curious, and I know you are, here are the top ten:

1 Wouter Weylandt (Bel) Quick Step 4.43.28
2 Rémi Cusin (Fra) Agritubel
3 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 0.06
4 Markus Eichler (Ger) Team Milram 0.34
5 Roy Sentjens (Bel) Silence-Lotto 0.43
6 Jérémie Galland (Fra) Besson Chaussures – Sojasun
7 Jan Bakelandts (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Mercator
8 Florian Vachon (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole
9 Geert Omloop (Bel) Palmans Cras 2.06
10 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Besson Chaussures – Sojasun 4.58 

Not that exciting, I know. Sadly Phil was 13th. In other, non-Wouter related news, on Sunday yet another race I won’t be able to watch starts. That is, the first stage of Paris-Nice. If I remember, I’ll probably follow it on either PC or cyclingnews, if they do live coverage.  I say if I remember, because it’s a lot harder to keep track of cycling races now that I work all the time. I’d like to blame my love of soccer/football, but I can’t. Though matches are much easier to remember (even though I keep forgetting when Pachuca plays) than races. Anyway, people I care about who will (possibly) be racing PN: Heinrich Haussler, Steven Cozza, Trent Lowe, Sylvain Chavanel, Nick Nuyens, Philippe Gilbert, Jurgen van Goolen, Mark Renshaw and a couple of others who aren’t on my fantasy team. I doubt I will do stuff like this every week/big race/whatever. But I’m procrastinating today. I hope one of the people I like wins at least a stage, if not the whole thing. At least Armstrong won’t be there. Ugh. 

As an aside, I didn’t get to see it in 2003, but I remember it because that was the year Vino won it — and held up a picture of his friend who died or something. I used to have pictures of that. Man, how time has passed.