Coronation Hugs
By frank booth 23 July 2006
I won’t get credit for it because just after writing the title “Floyd Landis Must Attack” for a post I never published, Booth fils insisted that I stop thinking about the “Turtle France” and play with him. So instead I’ll say that I’m not surprised Floyd attacked. He never looked under pressure and was clearly the most fit rider in the tour so long as he didn’t bonk. Post bonk, he had a chance to prove his fitness in a way that, as Fausto said, will place him in the pantheon of great riders on a great ride.
So what’s the most striking difference in this year’s tour compared to the last seven? I’ll put forth the genuine affection that riders from other teams have shown to Floyd. Rasmussen gave him a hug after his great stage; Perreiro gave him a full-on man-grapple after yesterday’s stage. It’s clear that Floyd is well-liked in the Peloton, a fact which distinguishes him from Armstrong. I’m not sure if I recall even a discovery rider hugging Lance. There was no doubt that the Peloton respected Lance, as they should have, but a quiet thread of his seven-year reign is that no one, including LeBlanc, really liked him. The possible exception was Hinault who seemed to have a sympatico for a fellow badger-like character.
So now the question is: can Floyd make it back? The surgery he is about to undergo is equivalent to a Beloki re-tread. If he doesn’t, then what will the next year bring? Ullrich (career over, Jan) and Basso will certainly be sitting out suspensions. Cunego has announced he’ll focus on the Giro next year. Sastre, Evans, and Menchov all showed that they can’t respond to the pressure. So who’s left but Kloden? My dark horses are Popyvych, if he finally gets serious about his training and Zabriskie, if he trains his ass off enough to warrant being named team leader for CSC.
Off-the-main-pack cycling gossip that we can’t publish on the front page.
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fausto
Posted 23 Jul 2006 at 10:22 am | Permalink
There are very few rules in grand tour cycling. It’s a little like frontier justice: whatever someone can enforce gets enforced. When the peloton has a true patron, like Armstrong, he gets to make the rules he can enforce. For the first two or three years, Lance won by winning. In the later three or four, he won by enforcing a set of rules that favored him greatly, the most notable of which was that only the last climb of the day counts. With a strong team, Lance was able to enforce that rule.
Frank’s right that Lance did not get loved by the peloton for his iron rule. Floyd won on the kind of guts that makes people love you–hell, he’s just one of the guys who happened to take a risk that paid off. Good for him!
This was a great tour. Anyone who is downgrading Floyd’s victory because the putative favorites were not present should be made to ride El Tour de Tucson in tight denim shorts. Rule number one is the John Allis Rule: you race the race you are in. Floyd won. Frank is also right that the same putative favorites may be absent for sometime. Ullrich: game over. Basso: let’s hope there was a mistake there; he’s the only rider that seems to have some possible excuse. Tyler Hamilton: lifetime suspension for that lying sack of s&%*t.
Discovery needs to find a team leader, and they will probably need to import one. I’m not as sanguine about Popo as Frank is, but it’s still early. In any event, the team will need to be seriously re-jigged in order to be competitive. I don’t think it’s realistic for George to ride his guts out for someone other than Lance; the spark won’t be there. Great teams just can’t change leaders. Look at Renault in the 80s, then La Vie Claire, and Toshiba. You think you should be able to slot in the new leader to the old machine, but it never quite works.
As for Levi, well, he finished with something still in the tank, which proves he’s a complete loser. Deep down, I believe he’s saving it to defend his title at the Tour of Germany. I shouldn’t be so bitter: that’s his level of racing, and I hope he wins again. George Hincapie is a classics rider; there’s no shame in that. Zabriskie is a huge talent with a bright future. He did much better in the hills this year and could certainly develop into an all-rounder.
As for Floyd, he’s the anti-Lance. He did as much for cycling this year by throwing out the Lance rule book as Lance did by writing it. I wish him luck in his hip operation, and I hope he comes back next year and that–at least for a while–we see the kind of parity in the peloton that makes for unpredictable, exciting racing. There will be another patron soon enough, but I hope not too soon.