Maillot Jeune Time and other tales Part I

Possibly the most eagerly awaited three weeks for cycling fans is at hand. Le Tour is upon us. The most famous cycling race of them all the big daddy- 'Tour de France'. This year the tour will be very interesting as there are lots of mountain top finshes both in the Pyrennes and the Alps. I will try and give a brief about the main contenders and their chances. 

Alberto Contador: The defending champion has just completed a magnificent Giro d' Italia win in convincing style and looked unbeatable in the mountains and very good in the time trials as well. He will be the man to beat in the race. However the Giro was a very difficult and gruelling this year and how much toll it has taken on him is till to be seen. Contador has also shown that he does not require his team too much in the mountains and can attack and decimate his opposition by himself. In my opinion he will still win the race.




Andy Schleck: The runner up from the last two editions of the race. Andy tries to peak for the tour and does not pay much attention to too many other races. He has a new team by name but with a lot of his old helpers. He is tipped by many to in fact beat Contador this year being fresher of the two. He should be up there contending for the win. The only issue with Schleck is his time trial skills which are not at par with the champion. Last year he lost the race in the time trials. This year there has been no marked improvement in this discipline in the races he has done. He will finish within the top two unless something unprecedented happens.



Cadel Evans: The almost man who has come second twice. Once to a newcomer named Contador in 2007 and to Carlos Sastre in 2008 after being continuously attacked by Sastre's teammates the Schleck brothers. Last year he had participated after the Giro and had nothing left in the tank. Plus he has always been unlucky with crashes and injuries. His team was new last year and was trying to gain recognition therefore he had to enter a lot more races than usual. This year the synergy with the team would be better and he should be more relaxed and fresh for the race. The problem with Evans is that his team is very weak in the mountains where you need to have strong helpers. Also it has to seen how he will cope with the attacks of Alberto and Andy when the race reaches the mountains. However his solid time trialling abilities should get him close to the podium. 


Samuel Sanchez: The Olympic road race champion was 3rd in the race last year till the penultimate day time trial when he was overtaken by Denis Menchov. Menchov is not here this year. Sanchez should do solidly in the mountains and his team has always been very strong when the road slopes upwards. The major problem he faces is the Team Time Trial at which his team is historically abysmal. He may have to spend a lot of time playing catch up to the other contenders due the time lost in the team time trial. 

Robert Gesink: Now the sole leader of the oldest team in cycling after the departure of Menchov. He had rollicking start to the season and comes into the event with a lot of confidence. Last year he was very poor in the time trials and lost a few races because of that. However this year he has improved his time trialling immensely and even managed to defeat the current world champion in the discipline. He is a very decent climber but not the exlplosive type like Contador or Schleck. He is more of a steady like a diesel engine tapping out a even pace with a large gear. A few people feel that his improvement in time trialling has come at a cost of his ability to climb mountains. How he will do only the coming weeks and roads in the mountains of France will deside. 


Ivan Basso: The former podium finisher and last years Giro champion was considered as the main challenger to Contador and Schleck. He did not defend his Giro crown to concentrate on the Tour. He was building up form until he was involved in a training accident on the roads of Mount Etna. This has left him a little short of training and condition to possibly challenge for the win. However he may feel better by the time the race reaches the mountains and he may very well be in contention. 


Here I have to end the first part of my contenders for the Tour de France. Part II will have the other main contenders and a few people to watch out for in the race.


Calcutta quizzing is in a bit of a quiet phase right now as the Tax man or the Great One has gone across the pond for some sort of mid career upgradation. I don't know how the government of our country can upgrade a person who probably has more knowledge than the entire two houses of parliament put together. After the great one is back quizzes will be happening thick and fast. On other fronts heard from NH that AHJ has an offer at the land of the Burj from Hyatt and is still undecided. Meanwhile I will try to write in as soon as I can. Its a little difficult with work  and all. Adios Amigos.

Some Journeys and Meetings

Been a while since I sat down to write something. Continuing from last time as I had predicted Alberto Contador won the Giro by a whopping margin of over 6 minutes from his nearest challenger. However he maybe stripped of the crown by Court of Arbitration of Sports for a miniscule amount of Clenbuterol found in his blood during last year's Tour de France. His case is not going to be resolved before the Tour and we may end up with a situation that he maybe stripped of 3 grand tour wins. 

Quizzing meanwhile has been in full flow in Calcutta with everyone doing quizzes right left and centre. The grand old man did his usual quiz which was a total disaster. The reviewers had a field day ripping apart the quiz as it had so many mistakes that it makes Christina Aguilera's performance at the Superbowl seem well coordinated. The old man has lost it or his cronies are giving him questions which he hasn't checked.

Went for 2 quizzes in the gateway to the northeast. Met some very nice people and ended up winning a good amount of cash with the doc. Now my focus shifts to the most famous cycle race of all- 'Tour de France'. I will try to write a pre-race analysis of favourites and stages to watch out for. Till then sayanora all.

Maglia Rosa and other snippets

This month has been spent mostly watching the Giro d'Italia. For people who are confused its one of the grand tours of cycling with Tour de France and Vuelta Espagna. In my opinion Tour de France is the least enjoyable of the 3 as the riders are very defensive. The title of the post is derived from the pink jersey given to the general classification leader of the Giro.
This Giro was one of the most mountainous with huge climbs like the legendary Monte Zoncolan (Google it and you will see). Eventually it has become about one man 'El Pistolero' Alberto Contador. Arguably the greatest grand tour racer after Eddy Mercx (though I feel Mercx wouldn't have won so many now). Contador really nailed his opponents by attacking on a relatively flat stage with a climb near the finish to come 2nd and then decimated the opposition in the Mountain stages at Mount Etna and Grossglockner where he gifted the stage to the rider who could stay with him till the end. At Monte Zoncolan he came 3rd but ahead of all his serious rivals. Then he put an exclaimation point by winning the mountain time trial by 34 seconds. The rest of the top 10 were withing 16 seconds of each other. He is 5 minutes ahead of his nearest rival and I think the race is over. There are 4 stages still left and it would actually take an act of god for him to lose. 

On the personal front the discussion about the various quizzer friends of mine is being continued where I am going to introduce a few new characters. Firstly the Cold Warrior who is a new addition from the suburban circuit but is an immensly enjoyable individual who was trying to sit in a quiz from a hospital ICU bed. Then there is the indomitable duo of Muffler and Silencer who are amazing as they have recorded the questions of nearly all the quizzes of last 5 years and wonderful people to know. There is the Smoking team who are made up of the engrossed one, the friend of Shaggy, the lord of kailash and the imdb featured one. All the characters turned up at a recent quiz done by the ancient mariner. The quiz was more fun with certain glamourous models coming to cheer for a team. The quiz will be featured in Fox History. Watch this space for further info. Gotta go now. Take care and arrividerci to all. 

Return of The Prodigal

Life was very difficult for last few years with the final conclusion of the disaster which was my marriage in a divorce. Getting back to Calcutta was also a happening which from a career point view did not look very promising but surprisingly has been very fruitful in all ways. The main joy I have is to be back amongst my friends the quizzers and quizzing fraternity. The taxman, the ancient mariner and the doc being the most prominent amongst them. The hairless hessian controller has not been quizzing too much. Some new friends made like the respectable wise one whom I will rename as 100-Nose and the ever enthusiatic DD-Dinda. Some new discoveries like the football-fanatic. Now there has been a new circuit of Calcutta which is the suburban circuit. Got to sign off now. But the tales will continue.Ciao.

The IPL and etc

The IPL-2 is back, however this year being away from the shores of our country to faraway South Africa. The best thing to happen to ipl this year is the new blogger who claims to be a player in the Kolkata Knight Riders and has given a live insight in to daily and nocturnal habits of the players and others. It is not very difficult to guess the various individuals considering their nicknames. The writer is absolutely brilliant and his wry Bong sense of humour makes for great reading unless of course you are being referred to in the blog.

Going into the cricket its more hype and performances have been generally mediocre. The IPL being a showcase for new Indian talent is being slowly lost in the mad rush to earn as much moolah as possible. The old guard are the ones really shining: Sachin, Dravid, Gilly, Warnie, Matty Hayden, Kumble etc have done greatly. Amongst the newer players only a few have impressed: Kamran Khan and Yusuf Abdullah being the most notable. RP Singh and Pragyan Ojha have impressed amongst the established new brigade.

The action and the innovation that was the first IPL is no longer evident. Maybe if it came back to India the things would improve.
As far as my own life I am languishing in the national capital. I have few means of solace: My book, my booze and my conversations with Nigel Harris(NH) and Adrian Hardwick Jones (AHJ). Cheers.