Sports Rubbish » Cycling

Move over Tour de France, it’s the Tour de Pigeon

Jonathan Sacks — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 02:50:11 +0000

If you’re looking for a sport to watch this month, but feel that the Tour de France is just too mainstream, France’s pigeon racers hope you will give their sport a look.

The French pigeon fanciers’ association, which I believe is what anti-gay marriage protesters have been warning us about, is in the middle of running a pigeon-version of the Tour de France.

From Reuters:

“With this Tour de France, first and foremost we want people to get to know our sport,” said Jose de Sousa, president of the French pigeon fanciers’ federation, which boasts 800 clubs and 14,500 members. “In the future, we plan to contact the organisers of the Tour de France to set up departures at the same time,” Sousa said.

Releasing a ton of birds at the same time as cyclists sounds in no way like a bad idea. It’s not as if cyclists have any trouble avoiding animals.

Plus, ff I wanted to watch a sporting event where the competitors crapped all over the place, I would watch a Royals game.

Pigeons race for Tour de France top spot [Reuters]

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French cycling race interrupted by cow crash (Video)

Jonathan Sacks — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 00:27:13 +0000

The epidemic of crashes in races in France today continued during cycling’s Critérium du Dauphiné, a warm-up to the Tour de France.

Competitors had a major beef as a herd of cows brie-fly joined the race, failing to mooove out of the way as the bikes tried to get past. Several riders were chucked to the ground in the attempt to out-flank them.

Tired Of Horse Racing? Consider Cow Cycling [Deadspin]

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Theo Bos Crashes Daryl Impey During Tour Of Turkey: Video

Jonathan Sacks — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:28:20 +0000

During the Tour of Turkey, leader Daryl Impey was in the middle of the pack as it approached the finish line.

Impey was riding close to the edge of the road near another rider, Theo Bos. Bos thought that Daryl Impey was getting too close, so he pulled him down by his jersey and threw him headfirst into a fence along the side of the road, making both riders crash.

Impey still won the Tour of Turkey, as rules state that riders who crash in the last 3km of a race receive the same finishing time as the stage winner. He did get back on his bike to finish.

The price of his victory was “a fracture of the third disk of his lumbar vertebra, a micro-fracture of his neck, a facial trauma, a few broken teeth and a deep cut in his lips,” all of which necessitated an overnight hospital stay.

Afterward, Theo Bos said, “I am sure that I only wanted him off. He threatened to come my way and I was already as good as in the fence.”

While uneven fencing can be partially blamed for Bos feeling that he was being pushed towards it & he was already crashing, it was not an appropriate response to then pull down another rider. It’s shocking that it appears Theo Bos will not be punished in any way for this. While accidents do happen, the video pretty clearly shows Bos reaching for Daryl Impey. Actions like that have no place in cycling.

Now, if they created a sport that combined cycling and roller derby (Keirin on steroids), that would be an entirely different story.

Impey wins Turkish tour despite hard crash [VeloNews]
Theo Bos Pulls Down Daryl Impey During Tour Of Turkey [FanIQ]

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Lance Armstrong Crashes In Spain, Breaks Collarbone: Video

Jonathan Sacks — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 19:49:53 +0000

Lance Armstrong’s Tour De France comeback may be in jeopardy after he was involved in a major bike crash during today’s Vuelta Castilla y Leon race in Spain.

Following his crash, Armstrong could be seen grimacing in pain on the side of the road. He was then loaded into an ambulance and taken to Hospital Clinico in Valladolid, Spain.

According to Lance Armstrong’s Astana team director, Johan Bruyneel, the injury was a “clean collarbone fracture without complications. Should be fast recovery.”

However, Armstrong will be transported back to the United States, where he could need surgery to repair the broken collarbone he sustained in the crash.

Lance Armstrong told reporters upon leaving the hospital, “I think for the Tour it’s a very big problem. I’ve never had this happen before; it’s pretty painful. I feel really miserable.”

Crashes are common in cycling, so Armstrong was lucky to have not sustained a serious injury up until today. Even if he can recover, this will certainly limit his training during the run-up to the Tour in July.

Armstrong Injured in Cycling Crash in Spain [New York Times]

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Crack Addict Cyclist Chad on Intervention

Jonathan Sacks — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 06:23:00 +0000

Good evening Sir, my name is Chad. I come from a rough area. I used to be a pretty good cyclist, but then I poked Lance Armstrong. That is why I am addicted to crack.

That seems to be what Chad is saying on A&E’s Intervention.

Way back when, Chad was on the US Postal Service cycling team. He showed a lot of potential, so he was invited to participate in a camp at an Olympic training facility. It was at this camp that he had a meeting with Armstrong that apparently changed his life forever.

In a former teammate’s words: "Lance Armstrong was already a big star at that point. I think a lot of the young riders that were there were in awe of somebody like that. Chad wasn’t necessarily somebody in awe of anything."

Other guy: "Chad walked up to Lance and called him a ‘doughboy’ and pushed his belly in and Lance got really upset."

Chad: "Needless to say, the next morning I was asked to leave the Olympic Training Center."

This put Chad’s life into a tailspin. He fell into drugs, derailing a once-promising career.

Chad poked Lance Armstrong, yadda-yadda-yadda, Chad ended up a crack addict and on a cable television show where families confront addicts.

Meanwhile, Lance Armstrong is off with Kate Hudson.

The lesson here as always is: Life really sucks sometimes when you’re not Lance Armstrong.

Did Lance Armstrong Cause Man To Become Crackhead? [Best Week Ever]

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Scottish Duathlon Competition Gets Insurance Against Loch Ness Monster Attacks

Jonathan Sacks — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 05:05:00 +0000

When planning an event, it’s important to take into consideration anything that might go wrong, and then do whatever you can to prepare should the worst happen.

The organizers of the First Monster Duathlon, which will take place around Loch Ness in Scotland on September 2nd, have taken risk planning/publicity stunts to a whole new level.

They have taken out a £1 million (almost $2 million) insurance policy against a Loch Ness Monster attack. Should any competitor be eaten by Nessie, the insurance will be paid out.

According to Jon Woodman at Royal and Sun Alliance, who are providing the insurance: “This is one of our more unusual requests but it certainly gave our team something to get their teeth into.”

Participants will be running and cycling around Loch Ness, presumably also keeping an eye on the water at the same time. While the odds of an attack are quite slim, you never can be too careful.

Source: (Yahoo)

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Fidel Castro is a Sports Addict Just Like You

Jonathan Sacks — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 06:22:00 +0000

The Pan-American games are going on right now. I wouldn’t have known either had I not read that story the other day about the Brazilian fencer getting stabbed by his brother.

Cuban leader Fidel Castro sure does know about the games though. He has been watching so much of the coverage that he has been forgetting to eat and take his medication.

Castro said: “I hardly take my eyes off the television. Sometimes I forget the time of some food or some pill. I don’t miss an event on the television: weightlifting, taekwando, rowing, cycling, beach volleyball.”

He also applauded women’s artistic gymnastics, calling it a “beautiful sport”.

Let’s see… beach volleyball, women’s gymnastics. We know what sort of pill Fidel is NOT forgetting to take.

Source: (Yahoo)

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