Can you believe the German press? Ripping into Ullrich like a moldy piñata? Please. If they should be punching anyone in the nuts, it’s themselves. “Ohh, vee never thought Ullrich was cheating!” “Jah, he only won zee Tour de France a year before zee biggest drug bust in zee history of zee sport!” “He is such a liar, jah?” You’d think the German media’s license for wide-eyed naiveté would have expired after 1933. The fact that other Puerto suspects are not likely to face a similar public thrashing no doubt further salts Der Kaiser’s wounds; in fact, somewhat ironically, Jan’s late-exposed guilt puts a serious dent in the case against Lance Armstrong.
At least one German won’t be claiming he’s “just following orders”, though – Petacchi’s been benched for Flanders, leaving the ageless Erik Zabel to ride for himself. It’s reflective of a trend, really; racing seems to have more than its share of dangerous old farts this April. 38-year-old Lars Michaelsen’s last hurrah will be in at Roubaix, while 36-year-old Nico Eeckhout walked away from this to contest today’s DePanne sprint with a broken rib. While 20-something Daniele Benatti still won, it’s doubtful he’ll be a serious a contender as old Rambo come Sunday. If Eeckhout does manage to cross the line first in that Belgian champ’s jersey, I imagine the church bells will be rung extra hard.
Despite the fact we’re only two days into DePanne, the Ronde already dominates headlines – English and otherwise. Personally, I’d be content with tagging along at DePanne and grabbing up little tidbits of Flandrian news (for example, that Predictor-Lotto must use their high-end Noahs at Paris-Roubaix), but people are already trying guess from where Sunday’s decisive attack will be launched. Yes, everyone has Flanders Fever – everyone, that is, except RoadCycling.com, who still seems to think it’s last weekend. “Cycling info as it should be” my foot.
Ahhh, the “we were just kidding around” IM exchange between Andreu and Vaughters. It really raises the possibility that Jan was, like many others, involved in systematic doping in the 90s, but then backed away. At what point, one has to wonder, was he tempted back to drugs or blood doping. Will Jan spit in the soup and tell all?
Your predictions for Flanders Cosmo et al?
i’ll stick my neck out and say Nuyens, Boonen, O’Grady, Gilbert and Paolini in that order.
i can’t wait.