Not JUST on the DAY !

“ Being the best that you can be “ , is something to which everyone should aspire  !

Too often in recent years , we have seen in the Bike Road Racing scene , some expected results and then the winner fades away . Each year there are the Men’s World Road Racing Championships in a different country each year . Great store is set by participating countries in getting their man to the line . Not always are the favourites the winner but Mark Cavendish was the overwhelming favourite last time out .

As World Champion people expect that they will continue into the next season winning other events BUT this seems to be an unrealistic expectation in recent years . Many feel that winning the World Road Race Title jinxes them for the rest of the season . Perhaps other racers pay more attention to any moves they try to make in their events and thwart their efforts for the victory ?

Mark Cavendish on the other hand has worked hard through the off season and with a victory in the Tour Down Under set the season rolling in his favour . Multiple Victories in the Giro d’Italia sees him honour the World Championship in a way that has not been achieved in the past decade .

Next Month we have the Tour de France and shortly after the Olympics and Mark intends to pursue success in both . Certainly , after missing Medals at Beijing , he will be totally focussed on remedying that missing part of his palmares .

With the demise of Team HTC his “ Train “ is now part of several other teams but his talent is such that he has continued to podium whether led home by the train or making his own way to the line . As versatile as he is , I am sure that once the Olympics are over he will be setting the next set of targets !

On a personal note , he has also become a father this year , and his wife and child were travelling with him during the giro .

GOOD LUCK MARK ! You have done a superb job of showing off the World Champ Shirt !

Not JUST on the DAY !

GIRO D'ITALIA 2012 Signage

Is it my imagination that the Giro d'Italia does not use " signs " anymore ? You know , those pink  plastic squares that in past years were everywhere , hanging from so many imaginative places ?

During the past days in Italy , i have found that " Giro  Signs " are so few and far between that i can spend many kilometres wondering about whether i am on the right road , particularly since the red & white plastic tape is virtually non existent , as are the crowds i have come to expect in past years .

Riding the route from the Bra area today through the southern and Eastern edges of Torino , i found that when i called out " Ozzie , ozzie , Ozzie " as i have in past years , there has been very little response .

Generally signage on the roads can be confusing , leaving an urban area you can see roadside markers which are useful if on the bike , however the blue " Distance " signs are another story ! Starting a section of any road you will in the short distance of a kilometre discover that the number posted will be 3 or 4 different distances ranging over as much as 10 km ! How confusing can it be to see 46 become 52 then 43 then 48 as you rie along ?

Can go on for hours about different situations in a variety of countries over the years as i pedal the " Pro Tour routes " !

In the Giro presentation there was mention of how the Economy was having an effect on the efforts the organisation was making BUT really reducing the signage is not the way to go !

GIRO D'ITALIA 2012 Signage

Leige-Bastoyne_Leige : The Race ?

Eurosport is available to my neighbour , so that is how I saw the last 60km of the “ Luttich-Bastogne-Luttich “ today . Rarely go to the one day races since all those involved are so busy , you are interrupting them if you strike up a conversation . Certainly riding the route in it’s entirety would be out of the question since the distances are about my limit and usually point to point allowing little chance of a short cut when kicked off the course . 20km to the finish the race is compact and then Nibali makes a run for it ! There is a largish group with one thing , mostly , in common , they all have numbers ending with 1 ! My impression was that these were the team leaders , people like Cunego and Voekler , etc . As time passed and the kilos were eaten up by Nibali , these guys started pfaffing around , wasting time , looking at each other . So the distance disappeared and the deficit grew , finally Inglinsky decided to make a run . As the kilos dropped below 8km to go , Eurosport was still showing 43sec deficit , then the deficit disappeared and the race continued . All of a sudden we see a shot over the shoulder of Inglinsky of Nibali in the distance . He is not 43 sec behind , in fact in very little time he is up with Nibali , who sits up for a moment to see what is about to happen . Well that short pause obviously upset Vincenzo’s rhythm because as soon as Maxim stepped on the gas Vincenzo was unable to find the energy to contest the last kilometre ! Looking at Twitter I see a few tweets which caused me to wonder what was really going on at the “ meeting ” those other Racers were holding whilst first Nibali then Inglinsky were securing their Podium positions ? Jon Vaughters said : Congrats to Maxim Iglinsky. Can't say I saw that coming. He's been a good one day rider for a few years now tho. Garmin-Barracuda said : Congrats to the argyle -- @DanMartin86 5th @ryder_hesjedal 9th & @alex_howes covering attacks! #LBL Ryder Hesjedal said : Great work by the whole team today. We had a plan and everyone delivered perfectly! Great way to close out the Classics! Cervelo said : Great riding by @Ride_Argyle at #Liege! @DanMartin86 5th @ryder_hesjedal 9th & revelation @alex_howes once again animating the race! To have finished in these positions Dan and Ryder must have been involved in the “ parlay ” ? What are they and Jonathon discussing now ? Perfection for me would have been a group sprint and then ALL would have seen a far different result ! Tweet from Steep hill : 14 Big Photos of the attack, finish and podium of Liège-Bastogne-Liège; http://bit.ly/IJqSKl (Nibali not happy on the podium) Guess Vincenzo is asking himself what more he could have done ? He reminds me of Leisel , the Aussie Swimmer , who displayed sour grapes on the Athens 2004 Olympic Medal Podium ! Vincenzo you did good , better perhaps than you planned ! Remember Eric Zabel sitting up on the San Remo finish line , allowing Oscar Freire to take the win by a nose ?

Leige-Bastoyne_Leige : The Race ?