Cyclocosm

the How The Race Was Won® cycling blog

Menu
  • How The Race Was Won®
  • The Recon Ride
  • The Week in Bike
  • Music
  • Rants
  • Graphics
  • Bikes vs. The World
Menu

The Only Thing Lamer Than Condator's Salute

Posted on 25 July 2009 by cosmo

Dude, you’re wearing a hat that has a stylized image of your own salute on it, at the race in which you used that same salute? Don’t be that guy. hat

Seriously—can you imagine Virenque wearing a baseball cap with a single finger, extended skyward? I’ll tolerate the excessive polka dots; if the race gives you the jersey, you might as well match. But your own trademark salute while still at the race? Simply not done.

thoughts on “The Only Thing Lamer Than Condator's Salute”

  1. gait_analyst says:
    25 July 2009 at 11:49 am

    Wow, I’d say Contador’s ego has gone straight to his head.

    Reply
  2. David Lewis says:
    25 July 2009 at 12:51 pm

    Er … doesn’t the winner of the tour x2, by a whack of minutes, deserver a bit of ego?

    Reply
  3. Bike McCall says:
    25 July 2009 at 3:03 pm

    Ego isn’t the “problem” here. It’s like Bono wearing a U2 t-shirt while on tour.

    Reply
  4. Bike McCall says:
    25 July 2009 at 3:04 pm

    …And no, Bono didn’t.

    Reply
  5. shaun elliott says:
    25 July 2009 at 3:22 pm

    you don’t want us to get started on the Armstrong EGO? do you!

    Reply
  6. rainbow says:
    25 July 2009 at 5:33 pm

    If Contaor was as lame as his pistol, he’d be lucky to finish lantern rouge.
    the only good use for that pistol is to use it on the publicity assistant that reccommended it and placed the order for the hats. We know 1 exists lets hope thats the extent on the item run. But i can imagine they are being hawked on the strees of Madrid right now and there is a long que of sickoo phants wanting them to get signed.

    Reply
  7. elton says:
    25 July 2009 at 9:02 pm

    did you check out pics of his rear TT wheel? not much better.

    Reply
  8. Dolomite says:
    25 July 2009 at 9:30 pm

    Does he incur a fine for that hat because it’s not part of the “sponsored kit.” Does Armstrong get fined for “doing it his way”?

    I hope they both do.

    Reply
  9. god of thunder... says:
    25 July 2009 at 9:58 pm

    good point shaun. we are discussing ego’s that are still in the shadow that your lancliness’ ego casts.

    Reply
  10. luc says:
    25 July 2009 at 11:16 pm

    Why are we discussing his hat when we could critic the mechanic who took away the rear view mirror on Andy’s bike;-)

    Reply
  11. gait_analyst says:
    26 July 2009 at 6:19 am

    “Wow, I’d say Contador’s ego has gone straight to his head” (this was an attempt to make an equally lame joke about Contador’s hat). sorry for the ego debate.

    Reply
  12. shaun elliott says:
    26 July 2009 at 7:04 am

    god’s ego included

    Reply
  13. henkio says:
    26 July 2009 at 8:58 am

    virenque?
    he wishes he would have thought of that first.

    he would have a whole clothing line with the pointy finger.
    and a perfume.

    ‘tricheur’ by richard virenque

    Reply
  14. Dave says:
    26 July 2009 at 9:30 am

    yo dawg, we heard you like victory salutes…

    Reply
  15. Sebastian says:
    26 July 2009 at 11:19 am

    sorry, but there’s no excuse for polka-dot shorts. or any shorts lighter than dark blue.

    Reply
  16. Sebastian says:
    26 July 2009 at 12:11 pm

    Also, re: the hat, there’s an old Simpsons line that’s relevant here:

    Lisa: “I don’t think Radioactive Man would wear a smock with a picture of himself on it.”

    Milhous: “He would if it were Halloween!”

    Reply
  17. Sophrosune says:
    26 July 2009 at 1:47 pm

    This is it? This is the petty little annoyance that’s got you all riled up. Let’s go through some annoyances.

    You win the TdF in 2007 for a team that had no clear GC favorite going in (Leipheimer? Please.) And then you follow your DS to a new team after the sponsors pulled out because…well, having a Spanish guy win is not the same as LA. Only problem is the team your DS takes over is shady group from a former Soviet republic and your team doesn’t get invited to the next year’s TdF. So, what do you do? You remain loyal and stay with your DS and proceed winning the two other Grand Tours.

    But wait! While you’re winning the Vuelta (largely on your own effort as your main domestique decides to ride his own race only making a 30-second pull on just one of the climbs), the fabled ego maniac from Texas decides to make a public announcement that he will return to cycling. After spending the rest of your Vuelta fielding questions about this return, you quietly ask your DS to let you out of the contract as you know what he really wants to sit in team cars with movie stars and rock stars (being a glorified chaffeur for the rich and famous is better than just being a DS any day). But he flatly refuses. Winning Castilla y Leon, Pays de Basque, Giro d’Italia, and the Vuelta d’Espana in the same year don’t get you out of an abusive relationship. Oh no, you don’t!

    But finally after you beat the motherfu**ers at their own game, they don’t even play your National Anthem as you’re given the Yellow Jersey. That’s annoying!

    Reply
  18. rainbow says:
    26 July 2009 at 4:58 pm

    bang
    your all second
    (or less)
    love AC

    Reply
  19. rainbow says:
    26 July 2009 at 6:05 pm

    Winners win.
    Great Winners are Gracious in defeat. Which is the way my mother summed it up to me.
    ‘and attend the victory parties of their vaqueros.’
    Could someone be kind enough to tell my mother she was wrong! What are you doing tonight Lance?

    Reply
  20. Sheriff says:
    26 July 2009 at 9:59 pm

    Lance has gone down and Alberto proves again that he is the best of todays day and age but i give props to andy schleck for riding the climbs the way he did.

    Reply
  21. David Lewis says:
    26 July 2009 at 10:22 pm

    Kinda thought LA had “changed” a bit this year. Ditching the party … well, it makes him look like a dick … and he was doing so well coming across as somewhat human …

    But … next year’s tour should prove interesting …

    Reply
  22. joe says:
    27 July 2009 at 4:31 am

    *** he does it for his younger brother who has cerebral palsy. Its a charity thing ***

    Reply
  23. Josh says:
    27 July 2009 at 8:10 am

    Merchandising. Ego discussion aside, it’s a smart business move because many clowns win shell out some Euros for that hat.

    Reply
  24. Maz says:
    3 August 2009 at 11:51 pm

    Euros have no taste. They’ll buy it.

    Reply
  25. Pingback: Cyclocosm – Pro Cycling Blog » The Season of Talking Tough

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

About the Author

a headshot of Cosmo Catalano

Best known for his How The Race Was Won® video series, Cosmo Catalano began blogging about pro cycling from a bike shop in 2005. Between then and now, he's designed cycling infographics, built cycling web apps, and supplied cycling content to print and broadcast media, all in the name of backing up his near-endless criticism with proof that it can be done better. He complains about cycling on Twitter at @Cyclocosm.

Newsletter

Tip Jar

How The Race Was Won® Video Archives

How The Race Was Won p/b CyclingTips - Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift

Archive

All Categories

Search

© 2025 Cyclocosm | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme | Privacy Policy