Well this "feel good" story might not be enough to counter-balance all the negativity (doping scandals, riders dropping out with 2 stages to go, crashes, allergies and colds) coming out of procycling these days, but when a person stands up and stands out shouldn't that be recognized?
Juan Manuel Garate (Quick Step-Innergetic), the Spanish National road champion, crossed the finish line first today after a long and hard Stage 19 of the Giro d'Italia, but the real victor (and class of the field) was Jens Voigt. The 34 year old German, who along with teammate Bobby Julich (CSC), was up in the 22 man break to cover any possible moves for race leader Ivan Basso. Although Voigt, by far the stronger sprinter, reached the final meters with Garate, he waved the Spaniard forward to take the victory. Why?
According to Procycling, "because, in the German's eyes, his contribution to the 22-man break which characterized today's stage didn't merit first place."
"I wouldn't take a victory like that," Voigt declared at the finish-line. "It would have been a victory without honour because I didn't work for it. I said to myself that if I got to the top [of the San Pellegrino] and hadn't worked, I wouldn't sprint. I hadn't done any work all day and no-one moaned or shouted at me[...] No, if I'd have attacked I'd have felt as though I'd flicked Garate."
"While Riis admitted that he didn't wholeheartedly agree with Voigt's decision, Garate paid tribute to the his sportsmanship. "It was a nice gesture," said the Spaniard, who has now won stages of the Tours of Spain, Italy and Switzerland. "I imagine that it didn't feel right to him to win having not done much work on the front. I don't know whether or not his gesture changed the result, but i thank him anyway."
How's that for a class act? Today's stage could have been a nice anecdote for Voigt to pass along to his grandchildren someday, but for a man with an already impressive palmares, it proved to be just another arbitrary and unnecessary notch on his belt.
2 comments:
What do they say? Great minds think alike? Look at our two posts -- separated by one minute!
too funny
Post a Comment