Comments on: Monumentally Anonymous

By: The Rev

The Rev — Tue, 13 May 2008 22:08:38 +0000

Good Find Brother, I will raise a Chimay in Brother Oroz’ honor.
The Rev

By: bikesgonewild

bikesgonewild — Sun, 04 May 2008 05:16:17 +0000

…find & read sean kelly’s assessment of the age of specialization…while lemond originally raced “everything”, kelly attributes lemond as being the rider who initially began what armstrong later fine tuned to an art form…

…re: bob freaking roll is right…something very unique about mr roll, to this day…& when phil hangs up his announcing togs, bobke will be even more ‘the man’…

By: GJP

GJP — Sun, 04 May 2008 01:44:50 +0000

Bob Freaking Roll!!!

Seriously though, one of the things that was cool about the Amstel Gold Race was that sometimes, even Lance Armstrong would turn up (he finished 2nd twice, I think? — just going off the top of my head).

I would have liked it if Lance would have continued to turn up at LBL or Fleche Wallone, after all, he did win that one in 1996, but by late April he was usually off climbing all the mountains in France 5 times a day for his Tour prep.

That is, however, one of the things that was cool about Greg LeMond. He would race all those events and not simply focus on a few select goals.

By: sebastian

sebastian — Fri, 02 May 2008 00:31:46 +0000

again, this site is brilliant.

By: Biarnes

Biarnes — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:34:03 +0000

Also Christian Knees (Milram) had finished these six classics this year.

To Brewmeister : Barredo was ill during Vuelta al Pais vasco and could not be in good shape for Ardennaises classics including LBL.

By: Dana

Dana — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 18:10:56 +0000

I bet Juan Jose Oroz would win the GC at Superweek.

By: Laura

Laura — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:31:36 +0000

Tarik beat me to it! I was thinking the exact same thing.

By: Tarik

Tarik — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 03:46:00 +0000

Perhaps Juan Jose Oroz Ugalde is a place holder name for the unlucky Basque or Basquoid who draws the short straw to finish each race for the sponsor? The bearer of the black egg, the flyer of the orange flag, the one man who must finish no matter the race or the course? Basque for John Doe/John jacob jingleheimer smith/steve tilford/your name here? Just a thought.

By: bikesgonewild

bikesgonewild — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 02:58:10 +0000

…something i’ve always enjoyed about old school euro cycling is that throughout the years, contingents of flandrian hard men have slipped their borders & plundered italy’s finest trophies during cycling’s skirmishes…
…& the italians have a wonderful history of responding in kind by returning to their sun splashed land w/ the fruits of their hard won northern spring victories…

…van steenbergen, de bruyne, van looy, van springel, houbrechts, de vlaeminck, merckx, de wolf, (merckx & de vlaeminck…de vlaemick & merckx…you get the picture as these two gentlemen regularly killed in italy) …surprisingly in the last 20 yrs, there have been few great wins by the belgians, in their forays into italy…

…magni, coppi, gimondi, moser, saronni, argentin, bugno, bontempi, tafi, ballerini, bertolami, bartoli, cippolini, bettini, rebellin, de luca, ballan, on the other hand, have all been consistent throughout the years w/ great early spring triumphs surely breaking the hearts of proud flandrian fans…

…& as you mention, lately the spaniards have been searching for more plunder in the cycling world & we’re all well served by these interlopers from the other side of the pyrenees…juan jose oroz ugalde may not yet have the reputation of some of his peers, but he’s a hard man, nonetheless…

By: brewmeister

brewmeister — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 23:47:07 +0000

Great investigative work, and such insight to find the gem washed aside in cyclings gravel. We had a classics podium contest in our club. For LBL, I discarded Valverde, because the Spaniards so seldom deliver in the spotlight of non Spanish races. I did pick Barredo, because Quick-Step HAD to deliver and I felt Bettini was not recovered from injury. I was wrong on both accounts.
Thanks for the great post.