And thus my procrastinating has paid off, because I now get to conclude with musings on the Grenadier and out-rider of chainsaws Egan Bernal’s Wednesday day-out wearing fine street clothes.
Category Archives: Recap
2021 CDD: It’s All About the Weekend
Often it seems to be the case that the Dauphine needs some relative time to warm up before it gets into full swing. This is an unfair and inaccurate observation. Ah! But when the Dauphine begins, all of us are still just only beginning to come down from our high from following the Giro d’Italia that always goes out with a massive bang in the final week. This year, the Dauphine was actually a week early and the opening stage clashed with the Giro’s final day TT in Milan. Thus Lotto’s Brent Van Moer’s solo-break stage win on the opening day was not as exciting to us as it should have been—I was arduously editing my final stage report of the Giro as I watched. Nor was Bora’s Lukas Postlberger’s similar solo-break stage win the next day for I could not endure another cycling race. In both cases they just barely held off the peloton with Bahrain’s Sonny Colbrelli winning the sprint for second. Luckily, Colbrelli could not be denied on Stage 3, where he took victory. But I barely watched much of that Colbrelli stage until the very finish, too busy was I trying to get my life back in order after a three-week adventure in Italy. I was too busy to even watch any of the Stage 4 Time Trial that was surprisingly won by Alexey Lutsenko (Astana-Premier Tech). It was not until the very last kilometer of Stage 5 that the Dauphine started to suck me in and grab my attention. Until that point I had only been looking to see who was on good form for the looming Tour de France…the top answer was of course: Sonny Colbrelli for any sort of lumpy stage.
2021 Giro Stage 21: A Tidy Ending (Written)
“Another Grand Tour, another three-week lifestyle change is complete. Another great story has been seen, told, and experienced by not just those traveling with the race, but every plugged-in fan around the globe.”
2021 Giro Stage 20: He Rode to Win (written)
‘As Bilbao slid back even with his leader, Caruso gave him a quick pat on the back before he took over the pacing himself. The pat was extremely quick, but the emotion of it was bottomless. As old Caruso put his hand on his teammate Bilbao’s back, he was doing much more than saying “Thank you” for all his work today.’
2021 Giro Stage 19: The Anticipation Holds, No Questions Answered
“I tell you, the Alpe di Mera did not give any great answers to these questions today, but really only kicked the can down the road to tomorrow…which for the sake of the Giro was probably the best outcome possible.”
2021 Giro Stage 18: The Cowboy of the Four Hills (Written)
“Remi Cavagna the TGV in front was doing the same tunnel-vision goal-channeling endeavor, in the Zone all humans are when they do things greater than themselves. He was not trying to just hold off the chasers to add another great result that shall increase the value of his next contract. No! No! He was trying to outrun a tsunami! He was trying to stave off the charging bulls behind. He was being hunted by the wiliest and strongest of Cowboys.”
2021 Giro Stage 17: This Giro is Not Yet Over (Written)
“And then with 3km to go, this Giro really roared back into life. Not only were all the fans all out in full force cheering in the riders’ faces in classic intimate and boisterous fashion to make COVID-19 seem a thing of the past, Simon Yates attacked again…and Egan Bernal wearing the Pink Jersey could not follow.”
2021 Giro Stage 16: Creating a Passo Giau Myth in Real Time (Written)
“Pinch yourself for a second, in what other sport in the post-game interview is the athlete asked to explain what happened to a clueless audience? Now, now, continue running with this idea. No TV cameras. Only race official reports, what can be seen from the cars, and what can be gleaned from rider interviews at the finish. Yes, yes, inevitably there were gaps in the stories. Did the journalists admit or simply omit the holes in the story as they came up? Of course not! They took many grand and imaginative liberties.”
2021 Giro Stage 15: The Floodgates Are Open (Written)
“Well, typically the Sundays of a Grand Tour are slotted to have a highly anticipated stage destined to enthrall the viewership with many hours of action, which should be at most viewers’ disposal on a weekend. But with yesterday’s Zoncolan and tomorrow’s day in the Dolomites, many of the riders really did need the Grand Tour “dog days” transition stage.”
2021 Giro: Battles and Legacies on the Zoncolan
“O! O! As soon as the route was announced, all hearts leapt at the news: on the Saturday of the penultimate weekend, the Giro would have a summit finish on the mighty Monte Zoncolan.”
Cycling Odysseys 