Sweat365 » McEwen Overcomes Crash, Wins Stage One
Post by:Brad Hefta-Gaub
Sunday, July 8th, 2007 at 11:22 am | 2 Comments
In a dramatic stage one of the Tour de France Australian Robbie McEwen demonstrated again why he is one of the best pro cyclists in the world. After crashing over his handle bars with less than 12 miles of the 126 mile course from London to Canterbury to go, McEwen with a gash in his right knee and contusions to his wrist was able to rejoin the peleton, and somehow pass more then 150 other riders to take the stage win in the final few meters.
“The first thing I thought was that I had broken my wrist,” said McEwen, who races for team Predictor-Lotto. McEwen, who is known for his amazing ability to appear from almost nowhere to take dramatic stage wins was in his best form, demonstrating a never say die spirit which captures the imagination of spectators from around the world. “I couldn’t feel anything. … It’s worth that pain to have a stage win in the Tour de France.”
Although stars like McEwen receive the most attention in pro cycling, events like today highlight the team aspect of the sport. Riding for 4 hours, 39 minutes, and 1 second, sprinters like McEwen are able to complete dramatic sprint finishes thanks in large part to the hard effort and precision execution of complicated strategy by their teammates. After crashing with only 12 miles to go, McEwen couldn’t afford to race aggressively to return to the pack, for fear of depleting crucial energy. Instead he depended on his teammates to return him to the field, where he could demonstrate his unique skill in navigating a crowded peleton to reach the front of the pack.
“This is definitely one of the best ever,” said McEwen, who has won seven stage races this year, and now holds the Green Jersey for points leader in the Tour. “After the crash I hurt myself — hurt my wrist — but the boys brought me back. I still can’t believe I won this stage.”
Congratulations to Robbie and team Predictor-Lotto on an amazing victory!
For more information on the Tour de France, visit the official website. For more information on Robbie McEwen, see wikipedia or his official website.
Filed under: Cycling, News, Tour de France |
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2 Comments: :
McEwen Overcomes Crash, Wins Stage One
July 8th, 2007 8:25 pm
Mitch Roberts says:
very exciting finish today - what has happened to Ullrich though?
July 8th, 2007 8:45 pm
Brad Hefta-Gaub says:
Mitch, you’ve probably been so busy with your Ironman training that you missed the part where Ulrich has retired from racing and is trying to avoid prosecution from German authorities in possible fraud charges related to his involvment in the Spanish Blood Banking/Doping operation.
It’s really quite sad what’s happened to the sport of cycling. But I am hopeful that things will get cleaned up and the sport will return to it’s glory days.