Cycling’s Old and New

By Jessica | Permalink | No Comments | April 3rd, 2007 | Trackback

Most sports - cycling included - are pretty cruel to people over the age of 35. In what other professions do you hear of people “retiring” at the age of 30? Lance Armstrong retired at 34. Mario Cipollini retired at 38. Viatcheslav Ekimov retired (for the second time) last year at the ripe “old” age of 40, and for the last few years of his career was considered ancient in the peloton. The point I’m trying to make here is that cycling is among the many sports which is unkind to those of us who think that the mid-30s are still part of our youth.

Of course, it’s also a rare pro who’s competitive against the best in the sport when he’s younger than 25. It’s a very short window that a professional cyclist has to build and maintain a career, which is why a few stories recently of guys at both ends of that window have stood out to me.

On the upper end of the spectrum (and I have to be careful here, as I’m basically “over the hill” in these terms myself) is a Spaniard by the name of Joan Llaneras Rosello who, at the age of 37, just won his fourth world points title on the track. What makes that story even more interesting is that Llaneras, who was also the reigning world champ in the Madison, nearly gave up racing last year. His Madison partner died in a crash at the Gent six day last November, and Llaneras wasn’t sure he wanted to continue. But he’s also from Mallorca, which is where the track championships were set to be held this year, so he decided to race in front of a hometown crowd. And he didn’t just race at home, he set the track on fire - he lapped the field three times, once on a solo effort. According to CyclingNews, “he dominated the competition and drove the many local supporters into a near frenzy.”

Llaneras was extremely attentive throughout, showing his huge experience in policing the bunch and all attempts by his main competitors to get clear. But his form was also beyond question, riding at a level above the others to take that solo lap, and also leading the strung-out bunch for the entirety of the sixth, fifth and fourth laps before easing back, dropping off the back of the group near the finish and soaking up the applause, the emotions and the memories as he crossed the line.

I have no idea if Llaneras is planning to retire anytime soon, but that kind of result would be superlative no matter when it came in someone’s career. The fact that it came at a point that’s normally when a rider is winding down his career makes it even more special.

Then, on the other end of things, we have a new crop of outstanding youngsters who are achieving results that normally don’t come until later in a rider’s career. At this early point in the 2007 season we’ve not only gotten a better look at riders we’ve seen before, we’ve also been introduced to newcomers who are getting the better of their elders. Many cycling fans had heard the name Alberto Contador before, but this 24-year-old might have been better known for a near-death experience in 2005 with a blood clot in his brain. Nowadays, however, he’s lighting up the peloton and he’s not really happy with second place. He won Paris-Nice last month in addition to winning two stages during the race, and won a stage and the overall at the Vuelta a Castilla y León. If he’s already a force to be reckoned with, there’s no telling what he’ll be up to in three years’ time.

Two new names that we should all probably pay attention to in the future are Riccardo Ricco and Thomas Lovkvist. Ricco is a baby-faced 23-year-old who jumped into cycling headlines last month winning two stages of Tirreno-Adriatico, that race’s overall points classification and a stage in the Coppi e Bartali. Not only that, he was active in attacks in Milano-Sanremo. Lovkvist, who’ll turn 23 this week, won the the Circuit des Ardennes at 19, and the Circuit de la Sarthe and the Swedish National Time Trial Championship at 20. This year, he’s the reigning Swedish National Champion, and were it not for Jens Voigt’s breakaway win on stage two of the Criterium International over the weekend (which netted the German a 48-second lead on GC) he would have won the three-stage event. As it was, he won the individual time trial by seven seconds.

What’s the moral here? I’m not sure there is one, other than age ain’t nothin’ but a number. Or something like that. Seriously, it’s inspiring to see riders like Llaneras who are beyond what some might think is the sport’s retirement age win in such stunning fashion - that’s the stuff of cycling legend. On the flip side, impressive performances by youngsters like Contador, Ricco and Lovkvist are inspiring for a different reason - they give cycling fans everywhere hope for the future of the sport we love.

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