"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Cool story from ATOC Stage 4

Jurgen Vandewalle had some special help after flatting on the PCH.

www.ridersready.net

Nice video. And the Julich interview was simply hilarious :)

Big respect for Boonen and Bettini.

The video was removed. Anyone know where else it could be viewed?

really? I was able to watch both videos.

Removed from where? They're there now, and their .... damn, I was trying to find a way to use all three forms of that word in one sentence.

Vids only work in Explorer, not firefox......

worked fine for me in firefox.

Big respect for Boonen and Bettini.

Yup.
I've always had it.

Thanks for posting the link Event....hey, why don't you cross the pond this summer and come hang on this side with us during some of Superweek?!

I also remember a story from Velo News last year about a young rider on the American national team who was struggling over one of the climbs at the Tour of California. He was coming off the back near the summit when he suddenly felt a hand on his lower back, giving him a push up the hill. He looked over to see none other than the current World Champion Paolo Bettini giving him a helping hand - literally. :beer:


An interesting quote from the site:

"If you're a domestique rider, you spend your entire career living in support of your team leaders. The higher your number in the team sequence, the lower stature you enjoy. The team leader is always number 1, therefore, on the QuickStep team, 2x world champion Paolo Bettini is number 21. So of course, my post today deals with number 28, the support rider named Jurgen Vandewalle."

I thought that the team leader was usually given the number ending in "1" (1, 11, 21, 31, etc.) and that the rest of the team was assigned the following numbers in alphabetical order by their last names? Since the letter V is towards the end of the alphabet, it would make sense that Vandewalle would have one of the highest numbers on the team. I never thought that the hierarchy system extended all the way through the team's range of numbers.

I thought that the team leader was usually given the number ending in "1" (1, 11, 21, 31, etc.) and that the rest of the team was assigned the following numbers in alphabetical order by their last names? Since the letter V is towards the end of the alphabet, it would make sense that Vandewalle would have one of the highest numbers on the team. I never thought that the hierarchy system extended all the way through the team's range of numbers.

I don't think it goes past the first few. Obviously the leader gets x1, then the reserve or co-leader gets x2. I have a hard time believing any sort of ranking would mean much after that.

How would assign a meaningful order to guys like Millar and Daneilson on the same team? Neither are the leader and they both have different specialties.

I also remember a story from Velo News last year about a young rider on the American national team who was struggling over one of the climbs at the Tour of California. He was coming off the back near the summit when he suddenly felt a hand on his lower back, giving him a push up the hill. He looked over to see none other than the current World Champion Paolo Bettini giving him a helping hand - literally. :beer:


An interesting quote from the site:

"If you're a domestique rider, you spend your entire career living in support of your team leaders. The higher your number in the team sequence, the lower stature you enjoy. The team leader is always number 1, therefore, on the QuickStep team, 2x world champion Paolo Bettini is number 21. So of course, my post today deals with number 28, the support rider named Jurgen Vandewalle."

I thought that the team leader was usually given the number ending in "1" (1, 11, 21, 31, etc.) and that the rest of the team was assigned the following numbers in alphabetical order by their last names? Since the letter V is towards the end of the alphabet, it would make sense that Vandewalle would have one of the highest numbers on the team. I never thought that the hierarchy system extended all the way through the team's range of numbers.


All part of the misunderstood world of the bike racer :rolleyes:

How would assign a meaningful order to guys like Millar and Daneilson on the same team?

That's not difficult.

I don't have the roster in front of me. I purged it with all the other stuff when I turned in our vehicle.
But I clearly recall that Kroon was #8 on CSC's numbers, and that doesn't follow the alphabetical order.
It may be arbitrary, but my point was that if you're not the lead dog...