Worlds Apart

Yesterday was the last day of the weeklong 2007 World Cycling Championships held in Stuttgart, Germany. The “Worlds”, as it is fondly called, is the third most popular and the third most sought after victory after the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia. What makes the world champion different from the tour champion is that the winner gets to wear the “rainbow jersey”, a white jersey with diagonal rainbow stripes, for a year, which makes him stand out in the peloton.

The first worlds was held in 1927, but about a decade ago, the bright minds of the UCI rearranged the cycling calendar, moving the worlds to from August to early October. The result was that the marquee names of cycling, and most especially the winner of the Tour de France, didn’t bother to contest the Worlds, as it was too late in the season. Even Lance Armstrong, as the reigning Tour champ, didn’t bother to show up in the worlds,  and so did current Tour champ Alberto Contador.

The Worlds should have been the culmination of the cycling season, the place where the greats battle for one last time before hitting the beaches but alas, the Worlds last week was an arena for the idiotic battles between the  UCI, the national cycling federations (of Spain, Italy and Australia) the host city of Stuttgart and the riders.

The cause of the disagreement was the “alleged” link in the doping documents from Operation Puerto against Alejandro Valverde and Allan Davis. When the Court for Arbitration in Sports ruled that the Spaniard, Valverde, could race, the UCI had no choice but to allow Davis, an Aussie, who has a similar case with Valverde, to race.

Paolo Bettini, the defending champion worlds champion, has a different problem. Before the Tour this year, the UCI twisted the riders arms into signing a document saying that among other things, if they tested positive for doping, they’d give up their year’s salary and that they have to provide a DNA sample if asked. While Bettini agreed with the latter, he wasn’t willing to give the former. The document wasn’t legal of course, and Bettini wasn’t giving in to the obvious blackmail so the UCI reluctantly gave in.

If you think that’s the end of the story, wait. The mayor of sport of Stuttgart took the case to court, saying that if the UCI will allow Bettini to ride, they’ll take away the TV coverage of the race and sue the UCI!!! Good thing the German court made the correct judgment and quashed the stupid complaint!

THE UNWANTED

Erik Zabel, the most successful German cyclist today, is unwanted by the Stuttgart organizers after he confessed that he sued EPO back in the 90’s. It was the German Cycling Federation who wanted Zabel here……German Rudi Altig, the 1966 road world champion, was also snubbed by Stuttgart after supporting the selection of Zabel…..Even the greatest cyclist of all time, Eddy Merckx, wasn’t spared by the Stuttgart organizers. Merckx riposte was this: “dumb people are everywhere, even in Germany.”……The 1991 world champion, Gianni Bugno wasn’t in the guest  list, too. The worlds was held in Stuttgart the year Bugno won…Also missing in the race start was Danilo di Luca, the current Giro champion. Pressure from the organizers, after he was named in two investigations, was the reason.

Yesterday, September 30, would have been my Mama’s 74th birthday, had cancer not taker her life away back in 2001. Happy Birthday Ma, I missed you so bad!