Really, you all must go to cyclingnews.com and click through to the pictures from Stage 4 of the Tour of Hong Kong Shanghai. 132 km of the dirtiest, wettest, most muddy I have ever been on or off a bike. The only redeeming factor being he return of my orange pride: my basketball of a helmet. The conniving South Afrikaners "found" it in the hotel lobby Tuesday night and waited until moments before the start of today's stage to tell me they had it. They claim I didn't look professional enough wearing it. I say they just wanted to steal my powers! Excuse my judgement, but Crummiest Team Ever, those Afrikaners.
Another example, a little long winded but it proves my point. At the end of the previous stage (3a), 2 of their riders finish 1st and 2nd, in front of our Lisban who was 3rd. There is a time bonus awarded to the top 3 on each stage: 10, 6, and 4 seconds. In the overall classification for the race, the guy who wins Stage 3a is not the team leader in the overall but is behind his teammate who was 2nd on the stage... BUT, the results for the stage have the two guys accidentally reversed (1st in 2nd, 2nd in 1st), thus giving the greater bonus and bigger advantage for the overall win to the rider who didn't actually deserve it. Confusing, yes, and the difference is small, but the point is that the team didn't tell the race officials that the posted results were wrong, and held on tightly on the tiny bonus. And for what? It's subtle, but innately dirty.
There are at least 4 pro teams here of various levels. The boyish pros from Johannesburg have just a bit too much sense of entitlement for their skill level. Just my two cents...
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