Friday, July 07, 2006
Fisticuffs in the peleton?
David de la Fuente, of Saunier Duval, and Walter Beneteau of Bouygues Telecom, are apparently inventing a new sport combining aspects of boxing and cycling.
According to CSC's Jens Voigt, "the two were riding next to each other and all of a sudden, the Spaniard hits Beneteau full in the face! It was really loud, just like in a boxing match! Beneteau's helmet and glasses practically flew off his head! He swerved, because of course he hadn't been expecting anything like that. Behind them everyone was shouting, 'Hey, are you crazy? If you're going to fight, go to the side of the road! Leave us out of your problems!' Beneteau didn't blink an eye but went directly to the commissaire. I think, that they will throw de la Fuente out of the race."
The two were fined for "irregular behavior".
[Thanks for the tip, neca!]
Update from CyclingNews: "Andrew, an Aussie living in Switzerland, has had an interesting idea regarding the fight between De La Fuente and Walter Beneteau (see above). "Let's take this de la Fuente idea further. For the long (and sometime boring) flat stages, they should have intermediate fighting sprint points where anything goes - kicking, biting, punching, head butting (a la Robbie McEwen) etc. Points for the top 3 in these fighting sprints go towards the "Hardman" jersey - which should be red."
According to CSC's Jens Voigt, "the two were riding next to each other and all of a sudden, the Spaniard hits Beneteau full in the face! It was really loud, just like in a boxing match! Beneteau's helmet and glasses practically flew off his head! He swerved, because of course he hadn't been expecting anything like that. Behind them everyone was shouting, 'Hey, are you crazy? If you're going to fight, go to the side of the road! Leave us out of your problems!' Beneteau didn't blink an eye but went directly to the commissaire. I think, that they will throw de la Fuente out of the race."
The two were fined for "irregular behavior".
[Thanks for the tip, neca!]
Update from CyclingNews: "Andrew, an Aussie living in Switzerland, has had an interesting idea regarding the fight between De La Fuente and Walter Beneteau (see above). "Let's take this de la Fuente idea further. For the long (and sometime boring) flat stages, they should have intermediate fighting sprint points where anything goes - kicking, biting, punching, head butting (a la Robbie McEwen) etc. Points for the top 3 in these fighting sprints go towards the "Hardman" jersey - which should be red."
