I'm actually overstating things quite a bit. Rider 3 is very nice. I’ll still take the high road though and instead embrace my inner sniffer.
I now offer you some winter motivation. If watching Levi & Co. (as opposed to Lance & Co., or Levi Strauss & Co). suffer through absolutely heinous conditions isn’t giving you the juice to get through your next trainer session, the video below might.
Tutto solo. I love it. Translated, it means “all alone.” Props to Belgian Knee Warmers for finding this.
Now THAT is the way to lay down an attack. He hit the front going what, 10 mph faster than the rest of the group? Check out Ballan’s form. An upper body that quiet during an attack that hard in the last 3K of the World’s? Totally impressive.
The Italians rocked this race. Bettini’s group gets caught, and Ballan immediately puts in a massive attack. Check out the part about at about 1:30 into the clip. The Dane was pulling at warp speed and who’s on his wheel? Bettini and Cunego. Awesome.
If you like cycling and haven’t been to a big race in Italy and experienced the Tifosi, you must do this at some point in your life. I’m surprised those commentators didn’t have heart attacks. I'm quite sure that at least one Italian woman in her 50's passed out.
The topic of chamois sniffing reminds me a story a friend once told me. He was a pro riding mostly in Europe at the time for U.S. Postal. A bunch of chamois sniffers (kind of like I am now) asked whether Phil Liggett had ever commentated about him. The answer was no, but in private he said that his real goal was to make enough money to pay Paul and Phil to commentate while said rider was in bed with his girlfriend. “Oh me oh my, he’s really on the ride of his life today...”
You get the idea.
