[email protected] (Davide Tosi) wrote in message news:<
[email protected]>...
>
[email protected] (Tony) wrote:
>
> >I was listening to a sports talk radio show yesterday on my drive to work and they were
> >discussing the recent woes of the local football team. Some fans were calling in saying it was
> >perhaps the worst loss of all time. It got me to thinking of the cycling equivalent.
> >
> >So, what is the worst pro cycling race loss of all time?
>
> I think some of the Worlds' lost by the italian team might fit very well in
> it.
>
> Like: 1978 at Nurburgring. Moser is the defending champion and obviously the strongest on in the
> race. About 20-25 km to go, he breaks away with Gerrie Knetemann, a good time trialist but for
> sure not a good sprinter. Moser is too confident of winning, probably pulls too much and gets
> beaten by a quarter of a wheel.
>
> 1981 in Prague. In the leading group of about 30 riders there are 8 italians, among whom top level
> sprinters like Saronni and Moser. Saronni should be the elected leader, but no one works really
> for him. Just a climber (Panizza IIRC) leads him out in the sprint, exposing him too early in
> front. Old fox Freddy Maertens takes his wheel and burns him out when Saronni starts slowing his
> speed, altough the flemish rider was already a falling star, who did not win anything important in
> the last few years.
>
> 1990 in Japan, Utsonomya (sp?). A breakaway is making it, with a dozen of riders still having
> about 5 minutes over the peloton with just a few laps to go. Although future classics winner
> Franco Ballerini is the break, the italians lead the peloton's chase. No other real stars in the
> break, the best riders being probably belgian Dirk De Wolf and Dag Otto Lauridsen. So the chances
> of Ballerini winning could be very high. The whole italian team gets exausted in the chase and
> when with 1 lap to go they almost get the breakaway they don't have the power to control the race
> any more. The late great Rudy Dhaenens escapes, finding a great help in De Wolf, who had not been
> caught yet. The two flemish riders start to pull each other in Baracchi Trophy-like fashion and
> arrive 1st and 2nd. The group about 50" behing is regulated by Gianni Bugno.
>
> 2001 in Lisbon. You all remember about Simoni being chased by Lanfranchi and Bettini sprinting
> with no help to end up 2nd, don't you?
It was 1998 at a mountain bike race at some isolated ranch in northern Nevada. I was doing my first
race as a sport after upgrading from beginner. There was still snow at my house so I had not done
too much mountain bike training I had done some cold weather road riding and I felt ready to
challenge the 24 mile course.
I started out fine but after 10 miles I was bonking and the big climbs were still ahead of me. I
spent the next 2 hours forcing each pedal stroke and the guy on the motorcycle came looking for me.
I finished dead last except for the 14 year old girl who stopped to rest and fell asleep.
I was out in the high desert sun so long that I had patterns from my helmet vents sunburned on my
bald head. That has to be the worst loss ever. Gus