Ted King fighting through the pain barrier. Graham Watson photo
The French have always been weird creatures at best, and
rude at their normal. Well, after Stage
Four of Le Tour de France, apparently not too much has changed. Soldering on through pain, and in the spirit
of the sport, Ted King got boned.
In case you have not been following the news out of Le Tour,
Cannondale rider, American Ted King, was caught up in a big NASCAR style wreck
on Stage One of the race. He separated a
shoulder, and was pretty scraped up and bruised. In immense pain, King rode as part of
Cannondale’s Team Time Trial effort, fell behind, and finished seven (7)
seconds outside of the time-cut. It was
then the Tour Organizers showed their true, nationalistic bigotry.
Per the malleable rules of Le Tour, King was informed he was
disqualified from further competition. I
(and a host of others) call the rules malleable because other riders have in
the past missed the time cut by margins way larger than King’s, yet were
allowed to continue. The only difference
many see between the two instances is that King is an American domestique, and
the others were big team, big name European riders. If the “Rules are the rules” (as Team
Cannondale was told) then why are they not enforced across-the-board on every
rider and every team? At least that
answer would have carried some credibility, then. The fact that this rule (and a host of
others) has not been universally enforced shows the Organizers are full of
shit, and the rule book is written in pencil.
So, here is the bottom line: The rules are enforced against
an American rider on an American bicycle, but not against Europeans. OK, fine.
Next time any of the Frogs come over here, I say we should give them a
very unfriendly welcome and put ketchup in all of their food.
Meanwhile, the madness which is Le Tour continues. Only God knows what stupid things the
Organizers will do next.
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