Pro Cycling News – Vuelta Rest Day, Trouble in Poland

Oh, sure, just because the Vuelta stops for a minute, the whole cycling world just shuts down and stops putting out new stories? Jeez, look at ProCycling; as of 10:30am EDT today, this was their lead story. “Menchov frustrates Heras” indeed. Did they even hear about Stage 15? Well, you won’t find that sort of lazy, arse-dragging here. No sir. We never stop because, frankly, we’ve got nothing better to do.

So, you hear the one about the Polish bicycle race? No, seriously though; it looks like the Tour of Poland is turning into a real Polish bike ride. Alexandre Vinokourov, who was slated to be T-Mobile’s GC man for the event (for real this time) will not receive his visa from Polish authorities in time for the race. This is a real bummer, as Vino could have conceivably taken the ProTour lead during the event. What’s even more interesting is that Andrey Kashechkin, Dimitriy Muravyev and Dimitriy Fofonov, all of whom are, like Vino, former Soviets, were also unable to secure travel clearance in time. I remember once on “The Sopranos,” Tony’s Polish maid and Russian mistress’ sister didn’t get along; I’ll bet these visa disputes are the root of all that. No, I guess it probably has more to do with this or this (ruled by the Tsar), or this, and also probably this, though this is probably freshest in their minds.

To make matters worse for the Polish national tour, two Spanish squads, Illes Balears and Euskatel-Euskadi might end up missing the start today because that same crappy weather that made yesterday’s Vuelta stage so epic I guess kind of put a hamper on Spanish air travel in some regions. The riders and support staff could still make the event, presuming they’re up to a 20-hour bus ride followed immediately by a week-long stage race. Come on, guys, don’t wuss out on us now!