Thursday Thirteen: 13 Fantastic Finishes!

28/3/2013

Ciao a tutti! Hi, everybody! It's another rainy Thursday here in Italy, and you know what that means: it's time for a Thursday Thirteen! It's also only fair to warn you: since I'm working hard to get 27 Stages polished up all nice and pretty for a late Spring release, and since I've been watching cycling races as the season kicks into high gear, I've naturally got cycling on the brain.

This week, I'm begging your indulgence as I share with you (in no particular order):

13 Fantastic Finishes!

1) First, a highlight from Le Tour, featuring one of my favorite riders - David Millar of Garmin-Sharp. He won on my birthday, which was a much a birthday present for me as it was a victory for the team. Heh. I'm not ashamed to admit it - I was so happy with the result, I wept after the race was over.

2) This is a long clip, but it's fun not only to watch Iljo Keisse do his thing, but to listen to the commentator losing it as he does. Fantastic, indeed!

3) There's no commentary on this one, but I don't think it's necessary anyway. The women's road race at the Olympics was amazing - and Marianne Vos is the most consistently fantastic road rider around - gender be damned.

4) Don't believe me about Vos? Check out her performance in the 2012 World Championships. Fantastic, no?

5) Stage Three, Tour de France 2011 - Tyler Farrar dedicates his win to his best friend, Wouter Weylandt, who died in a crash during the 2011 Giro d'Italia.

6) A train stopping the peloton mid-chase gave a dose of controversy to the finish of the 2006 Paris-Roubaix race. Nevertheless, a fantastic race.

7) Another Stage Three win at the Tour - this time in 2007 - but surprise, surprise, it's NOT who anyone would have expected in a sprint finish! Fantastic!

2010 was a banner year for fans of Fabian Cancellara.

8) First, a fantastic win at E3 Harelbeke against formidable competitors.

9) And then, an even more impressive win at the Tour of Flanders.

10) And that was followed up with a still-more fantastic finish at L'enfer du Nord: Paris-Roubaix.

11) Taking another tack... "Fantastic" doesn't always mean "Great", but something more along the lines of: "Daaaaang!"

12) Or, as in this year's Milan-San Remo race, where they began by riding in snow and ice, and finished in driving rain and wind? Fantastic can simply mean: "It's over! Go warm up!"

13) And, finally, "Fantastic" can just mean "Sagan's at it again."

So, there you have them: 13 Fantastic Finishes!

Don't worry. I'll get this out of my system eventually.

Maybe.

In the meantime, just enjoy the candy.

After all...

Candy is dandy!

Ciao for now!

22 Comments

Colleen@Looseleafnotes link

28/3/2013 08:26:45 am

It must feel great to be the first to break through the finish line!

Nice pose on the man candy shot but his veins kind of freak me out.

Kimberly Menozzi link

28/3/2013 09:40:45 am

Well, as most riders say, "I don't ride for fun - I ride to win." :)

I find the veins fascinating, actually - and yet, when it's a bigger guy (bodybuilder type, I mean), I get freaked out then.

Maybe because I see cyclists' legs so often the veins don't bother me as much?

Janet link

28/3/2013 08:29:46 am

Interesting! Thanks for playing :-)

Kimberly Menozzi link

28/3/2013 09:42:15 am

Thanks, Janet! I participate nearly every week, too! Hope to see you here again next week! :)

Paige Tyler link

28/3/2013 09:06:02 am

Fun TT! Love the eye candy!

*hugs*
Paige

My TT is at http://paigetylertheauthor.blogspot.com/

Kimberly Menozzi link

28/3/2013 09:43:00 am

I thought you might enjoy that, Paige. ;)

Anthony North link

28/3/2013 10:06:23 am

Great finishes. Has the 'candy' stumbled? :-)

Kimberly Menozzi link

28/3/2013 10:49:39 am

Thanks, Anthony. I had fun picking the ones to use. :) And I don't know. I'd better check to see if he has any "owies".

Alice Audrey link

28/3/2013 10:34:18 am

I love the smile on Marianne Vos's face as she approaches the finish line after the big attack.

What a shock the train is. You just don't expect that in a race.

Kimberly Menozzi link

28/3/2013 11:30:59 am

I know, right? I was so happy she won at the Olympics - which surprised some people (including, I think, my mother), who understood me rooting for Fabian (and AUGH! what a heartbreak that was!), but not the US team's riders I'd have been pleased if an American had won, definitely, but I almost never root for the Americans at the Olympics - and though I love-love-LOVE some of the US riders, my heart went to others last year.

Case in point: Marianne Vos. :)

Kimberly Menozzi link

28/3/2013 11:34:20 am

It was a shock to have the train at that point - there was a massive amount of criticism afterwards, saying the organizers should have planned for that (it's not like trains are unpredictable, right?). Other folks criticized Cancellara for going ahead (though I believe it was clear when he crossed the tracks and the barriers hadn't come down yet), and the chase group for taking the chance and crossing after the barriers had come down. Downright dangerous, that - so it was all a big mess, in the end.

Then again, Cancellara's lead was considerable by that point, and it was unlikely he'd lose it, train or no train. Alas, we'll never know.

Heather L link

28/3/2013 11:43:14 am

How did I know this topic was going to involve cycling? :-D

Kimberly Menozzi link

28/3/2013 01:13:17 pm

Ummmm... I dunno! ;) Heh.

Mia Celeste link

28/3/2013 04:46:57 pm

Hooray for such action filled photos. Thanks for letting me feel a part of this race.

http://www.miaceleste.com/?p=239

Kimberly Menozzi link

29/3/2013 11:10:47 am

If you have the time, come back and watch a few of the videos - some of them are simply amazing - and Fantastic! ;) I'm glad to make you feel a part of the event, too. (Hopefully, 27 Stages will do the same!)

Shelley Munro link

28/3/2013 10:24:24 pm

I bet some of them are pleased to get over the finish line.

Kimberly Menozzi link

29/3/2013 11:12:02 am

Some of them are ecstatic to make it at all! LOL! It makes all the effort worth it, they say. :)

Julia Phillips Smith link

29/3/2013 10:23:47 am

I haven't ridden a bike in decades. I can only imagine how all of those fantastic finishes feel, but you must know a part of it.

Kimberly Menozzi link

29/3/2013 11:14:59 am

I was fanatical about my bike when I was a kid. Then I reached my teens and cycling fell to the wayside. When I was sixteen, I got a bicycle again, and another when I was twenty, and another when I was almost thirty. I just couldn't stay away! When I moved to Italy, the first major purchase I made was a bicycle and I use it more than ever now.

And I'm kinda-sorta in the market for another, soon. Heh.

I've never ridden a race, though, and now it's too late for that. Maybe in the next lifetime? ;)

Stephanie Sullivan link

1/4/2013 07:37:21 am

Love the clips, Kimberly! And the photo is...well, um...HOT!!! I'm sorry it's taken me so long to reply to your TT list. I'll try and do better next time. Have a great week!

Kimberly Menozzi link

1/4/2013 08:43:42 am

Yay! I'll have a couple more for next time, after Fabian's fantastic finishes the last couple of weeks! And no worries on how long it took - I hope to see you here next Thursday, too! :)

Colleen link

4/4/2013 11:18:28 am

Gotta wonder what that tattoo is of! The doctor I'm watching is HOUSE these days. Mushroom dish sounds good but I need a little more protein to keep me from being hungry for many hours.

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Thursday Thirteen: 13 Fantastic Finishes!

13 Fantastic Finishes!

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