How The Race Was Won – Tour of Flanders 2009

From the Tumblr

May
16



From the “cute stuff” department



May
15


“AND YOU CAN TELL GAZZETTA DELLO SPORT THAT MY LAST WORDS WERE… ‘I’M ON DRUGS!’”
(probably the photo came from here, and before that, originally, from here, probably an h/t due to @inrng as well. Am I the only one who cites things anymore?)



May
15

“Organizers can’t always have five kilometer straightaways for a bunch sprint stage. Today it was the riders who made a mistake.”

 —Francisco Ventoso




May
14

“I am Manolo Saiz, I auction my private collection by personal motives, I want to auction it complete, and whom ever would buy it or show a good interest I would be glad to show this collection and providde further documentaions. The bike are Personal design and passion, therfore I have provide Andres the ability to sell my collection.”

 —Manolo Saiz, who is apparently fundraising again.




May
13


Watching the 1998 version of today’s Giro finish. It’s chopped up, so no time comparison, but the crowd control is totally absent.



May
13


Pozzovivo and podium girls 
(via @ednl)



May
11

“The UCI told Cyclingnews that although no blood tests would be carried out during the race that their Biological Passport system would not be effected.”

 —Cute malapropism in Daniel Benson’s story on the not-so-cute absence of bio passport blood tests at the ToC

For those of you who have better things to know, the verb Benson meant to use was “affect”—”to influence” or “to have an impact on”. “Effect”, as a verb, means “to bring about”—so if you’re the cynical sort, the statement remains unintentionally true.

(typo preserved at TwitPic in case someone fixes it)




May
11


How to tell you have TV guys on your Internet
Example.com is a domain name reserved by the Internet’s powers-that-be for the purposes of…examples. Any time you see Example.com in anything other than a tutorial, it’s a mistake.
Above are some screenshots from my inbox of a recent Universal Sports mailer. The first Giro email I got from them had a similar bug, but I let it slide because everyone screws up from time to time—especially me. But after two strikes…
It might seem like e-pedantry, but image alternate texts are Wicked Important:
1. alt tags are how the visually impaired know about pictures on the Internet
2. alt tags are how search spiders see images
3. In emails especially, images are frequently not loaded for security and speed concerns. Alternate text lets you know what they are before they appear.
4. If you get as much email as I do, you don’t want to open every message. Summary text saves time. But as you can see from the inbox view, this summary text doesn’t say anything useful.
5. On some social platforms, image alt tags are pulled up when images or URLs are posted for sharing.
I think it’s fair to say the Universal Sports’ brand has some competence issues. Locking up little steps like this are how you turn that trend around. Get it together, guys. 



May
11


Even in Denmark, even in 2012, there is no escape from Lance.
(still frame from VN’s Stage 2 Phinney video)



May
10


There’s something awesome in the back of @resultsboy’s car. (Taken with Instagram at Veterans’ Field)