19 July 2009

Days of le Tour...

Of course, le Tour is going on. Everyone on here no doubt knows this, and if you don't, pull your head out of your ass, and start watching. It's been, eh, not too bad so far. I'm watching it as I write this now. I was in California last weekend for a wedding, and there is something to be said for waking up around 7, watching the last little bit of the race, and starting the day. West coast knows where it's at.

Anyway, I've got some comments on the Tour. Mostly about yesterday. As folks undoubtedly know, Hincapie got douched by Garmin and his old "friend" Armstrong and Astana. Look, George is a class act. Even today, he's not talking shit about what happened yesterday. Is he disappointed? Yeah, no doubt. Is he talking about it with those in the media? Nope. Why? He's all class. He's had many a disappointment over the years in bicycle racing, and yesterday, would have been a great way for him to take yellow (no doubt for probably just a day, maybe 2), and have the peloton show some love for the man from South Carolina. Did they let it happen? No, no indeed. And really, I can't see why. As mentioned above, George, class guy. I don't know too many people in the sport of cycling, and or who follow cycling who don't like the guy. I've met him many different times over the years of riding and racing in the Southeast, and he's genuinely a decent fellow. His brother is also a decent fellow. And their parents are decent people. Also, there are some people in the peloton (cough-Garmin-cough) who shouldn't have just made enemies big time with the strongest pro team in the sport right now, that being Columbia. I can see it now. Stapleton will do all he can to fuck up Vaughters' program and I can say, I'm all for that. Fuck that guy. He sucks.

Moving on to Vaughters, or JV. We get it. You're supposed to be "the smart guy" in the world of team directors. I like what you're doing with Garmin, and I like a lot of the riders on the team, but you sir, are a grade one douchebag. Stop being such a dick and acting all superior. The argyle was nice for a little while, time to find something new. Those sideburns, fucking shave that shit. You're not in college anymore after all, and they make you look like, well, I don't know what they make you look like, but you look freakin' ridiculous. I know you don't like Hincapie because he wouldn't give your team free clothing back a few years ago, but Jesus H. Christ, get over it. Seriously, stop concentrating on just the team time trial. Sure it's nice to show yourself out there, and show you can be the best team in a time trial, but that's only one stage. I'm very impressed with Farrar as well. The kid has got the goods, and needs a little extra something, and he'll be winning stages shortly. But Vaughters, stop being a dick. Your guys should have been nowhere near the front yesterday. No reason really. The only reason I can think of is to screw Columbia, and in turn, Hincapie.

Then we have Astana. Lance throwing up his hands basically saying we didn't do anything to take away from George. Bullshit you guys didn't. You had a bunch of your boys riding tempo on the front when the gap got up to 8 or 9 minutes. AG2R should have been the team doing it, and instead, it was you guys. Amazing really. All of those years Hincapie toiled in the mountains and the flats for Armstrong and Johan, and what does he get in return? Fucking hosed. Nice play boys, nice... I can't wait until Vino comes back shortly, and gets the 2 of you fired, and you'll be racing in the US under the Mellow Johnny's banner.

As you might be able to tell, I think the group should have let Hincapie wear the jersey. They didn't. They'll pay for it I believe in the near future. It's sad really, again, because Hincapie is all class really, and has had some bad luck over the years (broken bikes, ditches, stronger teammates, no sprinting ability, bad tactical know how, and so on). I think yesterday really just made me a bigger Columbia fan. Cavendish is brash, and I like that. He's kind of a dick as well, which also makes me smile. As someone once said, it ain't bragging if you can do it. Cavendish makes it look easy taking wins. Now, since he's making no doubt a ton of money, let me put 2 words out there for you: Dental Hygiene. Use some of that money and get those baked bean teeth fixed up a little bit.

Rant, over...

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