Revenge season. That’s what I’d call this time of year. Get a little too skinny, and suddenly, some rain and a little hill is just too much to take.
Long seasons take a toll. Mark Cavendish may indeed be growing weary after a season of winning pretty much everything—he, too, was shaken out from the Tour of Ireland finale, while those toiling in the shadows, waiting for their moment, pounced.
Battered, season-long contenders can take inspiration—and occasionally share in a wins—from their teammates, but for the most part, this is the moment for riders to make up for misfortune.
Tyler Farrar took a win that he considered at the very edge of his abilities at ENECO, after missing the classics season from injury. Today, Farrar lost the lead to Edvald Boassen Hagen, whose rest during the TdF is now paying dividends.
Need I point out that the Vuelta is a veritable rogue’s gallery of riders who couldn’t quite get it done at the Tour? Sean Kelly, Tony Rominger, Laurent Jalabert, Alexander Vinokourov, Roberto Heras, among others, have all won the race—albeit many of them claiming the Golden Jersey in the race’s April-May incarnation.
After a few less-than-stellar years as American cycling’s GC heir-apparent, I’m excited to see what sort of damage a well-rested Tom Danielson can do this September. and looking even further forward, what Alessandro Petacchi can do against the youngsters, now that he’ll be sprinting a full ProTour schedule.
To be fair to Cav, there where 57 DNF’s on the final stage into Cork. Horrendous rain and two monster hills (23% & 25% respectively) was even enough to scare off many of the GC contenders (within 26 seconds of the lead).
Cavendish quit on the same hill in the same race last year, and it wasn’t even raining then.