Monday, March 13, 2006

cycling etc.

I am enjoying OLN's sunday coverage of cycling. I am looking forward to next Sunday and the coverage of the one day race in Italy. I am sure that Daniel knows more about it and it's history. I guess that one of the favorites is Boonen (?). Not sure if any americans will be in the race.

4 comments:

  1. Alessandro Petacchi is also a favorite. Milan-San Remo is called a "Classic", and goes way back in cycling history. Eddy Merckx won it the most -- 9 times!

    ReplyDelete
  2. It sounds like an interesting race. Are there team strategies or is every man for himself? I think it was Benneti (?) who was injured in the Paris-Nice, will he be able to ride in this one? As much as I admire Lance, Merckx seems to have dominated a larger variety of races during his career. I am impressed by that.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is a bike race, so yes, there are team strategies. Usually a sprinter wins it, but his team must get him up the few climbs in the race leading up to the final meters. Paolo Bettini, a favorite, was injured in the Tirreno-Adriatico week-long race (which overlaps with Paris-Nice), so he probably won't affect the race too much.

    Lance Armstrong was a Classics rider back in the day, but when he returned from his illness, Johan Bruyneel told him he could win the Tour de France. He is an American and does things accordingly. He has certain objectives and completes them with flying colors, and ignores all other races.

    Eddy Merckx is from Belgium, and his prime was the late '60s to mid '70s. Back then everyone would do many more races, and Eddy desired to win each and every race he entered. No, he didn't win them all, but out of the 1800 races he entered, he won 525. Eddy Merckx was the greatest cyclist of all time. See this graph at Cycling Hall of Fame.Com. Eddy "le Cannibal" Merckx is #1, and Lance is #6.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Back in the day, I, too, was something. Glad to know someone remembers us has beens and can pass the information on to other. Thanks, Daniel!

    ReplyDelete