"Trust Me.... I'm A Blogger..."

I actually said that at work today.
Someone asked me how I think the Tour will go, and we talked about how the next week is going to be pretty pedestrian and that there is nothing really decisive for a few days, and that everything will probably come down to the Ventoux and this Tour will be all about one awesome stage... my co-worker said "are you sure about that?"
That's when I busted out the above mentioned line.

Anyways... I need to get back to blogging the Tour. What have we had since the disappointment of the Pyrenean Stages (and they were disappointing, because there were too many flat roads before the finishes, except to Arcalis, and that was only lively for the last five or so clicks.) We had a rest day, and that was the best Rest Day in years... because no one was hauled away in handcuffs, escorted by the local cops. Like last year. The fact that I woke up on monday, and all we had were boring pictures like this......

Basically, that's a green pair of shoes. And I got nothing.

...is a good thing. Boring is good on the Rest Day in this tour. I don't need exciting Rest Days. No Thanks.
The above shown shoes belong to Mark Cavendish, and he is all about the green these days. Not in the money sense, but in the sense that the color designates the leader of the sprints competition. But I guess it will bring him a lot of money in the long run... hopefully not to the point where he bails on Columbia, and I don't think that will happen, because he talks about how much the team management has helped him out to be the sprinter he is today. I know he needs to be paid, he needs to make his coin. But I hope he doesn't roll to some flashy outfit just for the money. He will make his money mostly on endorsements, really. The annual salary for cyclists is tiny compared to Football or Basketball, but they make up for that in endorsements, and there will be plenty of cheese for Cav when the big companies come calling... and they will.
I read an article on VeloNews.com that was headlined as follows: Cav Responds To Racist Allegations. I sorta gulped and had a knock in the stomach as to what that would be... well, it was a whole lot of nothing, but here is the nut graf:

Cavendish also said he was a bit anxious during the stage Wednesday when he saw several top sprinters seemingly conspiring on how to beat him.

“I saw all the big sprinters talking and it was worrying me a bit,” he said. “But I said to the guys, all we have to do is to what we do best, and that’s stay together, stay confident and stay focused, and the guys did it.”

The Columbia rider’s morning also started off on the wrong foot with an article published in French sports paper L’Equipe quoting an anonymous French rider who claimed that Cavendish had used derogatory terms towards French riders in the race, and that
 his arrogance was getting on their nerves.


“Cavendish is racist, he's anti-French,” the anonymous rider reportedly said.
 “He should be careful. We're not going to put up with his attitude much 
longer.”

However Cavendish laughed off attempts to discredit him, saying those who couldn’t beat him on the bike might be attempting to defeat him using other methods.

“It was an anonymous French rider and an anonymous author,” Cavendish said. “I just had to laugh at that. I’ve got to take it as a compliment that they keep on criticizing my riding. They are trying to make shit for something else. You know, I have a lot of friends who are French. I made an effort this winter to learn French so I could do interviews. I’m still not confident to speak it, but I can understand it perfectly to answer the questions.

“I just have to laugh about this,” he continued. “I don’t know where it’s come from. I don’t know why it’s come about. What can I do but let people read it how they want to read it? You can’t stop it. I can’t apologize for something I haven’t said. If they want to make shit up, at least have the decency to have the name of the rider who said it, and the author of the article. I just brush it off.”

Cavendish didn’t hesitate to admit that he rubs some riders the wrong way, but said that’s just his personality, and it might be personal, but it’s nothing nationally motivated.

“I get a little hotheaded sometimes, but it's irrelevant the nationality
 of the rider when you get arsey at someone,” Cavendish said. “When you're a rider with a public profile, you can't be friends with
 everybody, it's going to be like that. For sure
 I'm going to get arsey at some lad, because I'm an asshole. But their nationality, and what they look like or where they come from, is 
irrelevant.”

This is so dumb. Since when is being a cheese-eating surrender monkey a race? Are the french a certain race? Really? You frenchies are such dolts. Part of it is whining from the French because, really, they suck at cycling right now. Well, they did have two stage wins, but these guys have not won this race in almost 25 years, they are really an embarassment to the sport that they helped to start. That's part of it, and Cav is right that they're whining because they can't touch him. And I sorta like Cav for these comments. Basically, he wants to win in the worst way. He gets an attitude that no one will come around him if he gets the right leadout, and I like that. As a fan of the sport, I like that he tells the truth when asked a question, and he just speaks his mind. Does what he says bother me? Heck no. Cav will be Cav... and the guy backs it up out on the road, and that is all that matters.