MetaFilter posts tagged with racing and cycling

The high cost of riding around in brightly-colored underwear

ardgedee — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:25:36 -0800

Why is (Radio) Shack -- a company that only markets to North Americans -- spending $20 million sponsoring Lance Armstrong and his team as he spends a year racing bicycles mostly in Europe? "Somewhere, someone has a Venn diagram showing the crossover between electronics geeks and cyclists. I’m sure those two sets have a lot of crossover." There are only twenty available slots for UCI ProTour teams, the creme de la creme of bike racing -- eighteen were filled in the 2009, leaving two openings and only room for more if an existing team decides against renewing, is disqualified or disbands. (Radio) Shack's signing Armstrong is certain to ensure that publicity reaches beyond the fairly narrow market of American pro cycling enthusiasts, but whether that connotes positive publicity for the sponsor, or remains focused around Armstrong, is yet to be seen -- certainly the oligarchs of Kazakhistan didn't find their profiles improved among the American public while they supported Armstrong's previous team, Team Astana. Also interesting to note are the debuts of Team Sky (as in the Murdoch-owned Sky Satellite TV) and Skil-Shimano (as in chain saws and fishing reels), which put in a surprisingly high profile performance as a wildcard team in this year's Tour de France.

Raise one for the red lantern

ardgedee — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 13:32:09 -0800

As the Tour de France concludes, let's spend a moment commemorating the derrière garde of world-class cycling, those bad enough to come in last but never bad enough to fail, les Lanternes Rouge. If Wim Vansevenant can retain his tenacious hold on 145th place in Sunday's stage he will be the worst cyclist to complete the Tour de France for three consecutive years and set a Tour record. You can, indeed, win by losing. Vansevenant is currently 3 hours, 54 minutes and 51 seconds behind the leader but only 53 seconds behind the 144th placed rider, Bernhard Eisel. While Carlos Sastre and Cadel Evans fight tooth-and-nail for the yellow jersey on the final promenade through the Champs-Élysées fans will be eagerly rooting for Evan's teammate Vansevenant to strike a third blow for the good enough. Those fascinated by the slow end of the train can get their daily fill of news at the Tour de France Lanterne Rouge blog whose author gently reminds those who would mock anybody for finishing last in a 21 day long bike ride of 3,559 kilometers (2,211 mi): "You couldn't hang on his wheel for thirty seconds."

Just Like Rudy if He Had Been a Bike Wheel

turbodog — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 11:21:16 -0800

I Finally own a Zipp Wheel… A little story of how a bike racing fan came to own a fancy, schmancy carbon race wheel during the recently concluded Tour of California. A photo of Hank's work-a-day wheel going pro. The rider was veteran America pro Bobby Julich of Team CSC during stage 3 of the ToC. He managed to come in 32nd just ahead of Astana rider Vladimir Gusev, the other guy in the photos.

Rest is difficult.

OmieWise — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 10:39:53 -0800

The 10th day? A day of rest. Thank goodness for Caroline Yang's TdF photos. Ever wondered why McEwan rides so hard to stay in Green? What Ukrainian joy looks like? When you can wear socks with sandals? She's also got some decent shots of speed skating (oh, and real blood sports, like weddings).

Minor changes to your screenplay

RockyChrysler — Thu, 08 Dec 2005 14:21:43 -0800

An open letter to Lance Armstong.
Subject: Minor changes to your screenplay. You mean once he starts winning, he just keeps winning? There's never a serious doubt that he'll keep winning? It gets a little predictable, Lance. Think about this for a second: Rocky lost in the first movie, and that's the only one that was any good.

gluechunk — Fri, 02 Feb 2001 12:21:45 -0800

Odyssey 2000 has finally ended but many of the riders had complaints (and one person even lost a leg in Sweden).