Afterlance

[ornoth_cycling]

This is a copy of a posting I just made here entitled “Afterlance” in roadies

Okay, I’ve about had enough of people bemoaning the state of American cycling. Yeah, we’ve lost ole Lancey-pants and Iron Tyler of the Vanishing Twin, but are these people myopic?

Let’s have a quick review:

• Bobby Julich
• Floyd Landis
• George Hincapie
• Levi Leipheimer
• Tom Danielson
• David Zabriskie
• Chris Horner
• Freddy Rodriguez
• Jason McCartney
• Tim Johnson

These guys aren’t just collecting a paycheck for domestique duty in support of European stars; they’re protagonists in their own rights, attacking, winning races, and leading top pro teams.

How many wins and podium places will it take to re-educate those people who wondered what we were gonna do when Lance retired?

I say: stop fantasizing about a lack of strong American riders, because there are so many Americans doing great things in the European peleton that it’s difficult to choose which one(s) to root for! Has American cycling ever fielded a group this strong?

In all honesty, I’m really looking forward to this year’s grand tours.

Comments

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

One of my coworkers (who really doesn't know anything about cycling other than Lance) said the Tour wasn't going to be interesting this year. I started sputtering. It's the first year the Tour will be really interesting since the '90s! Yarrrr!

Don't know what to be more excited about; the fantastic state of American cycling, or the possibility that Mr. Cute himself, for my fave team, might top the podium this year (that'd be Ivan Basso).

Mmm.

[ornoth.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm an amateur at boy-watching, but I think David Millar seems a reasonable choice...

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

All ye need to know comes from Crazy Jane (crazyjaneski.typepad.com), assuming she updates this year. She didn't do last year, but the archives are well worth reading.

(I admit a certain bias; cycling is so heavily male-dominated -- and I went to an engineering school; it's hard for male domination to bug me -- that any sort of knowledgeable female commentary at all is more than welcome. But she also has a ...unique...writing style. :)

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

(How could I fail to add the bike-specific rest of the URL? crazyjaneski.typepad.com/le_tour_delicieux)