Vuelta a Espana - Blazin' Saddles: Tough guy Roux

Eurosport - Fri, 18 Sep 11:17:00 2009

French youngster Anthony Roux showed he likes to live life dangerously after holding on to win by the slenderest of margins in Talavera de la Reina.

Anthony Roux - 0

Cynics will suggest that Blazin' Saddles' use of 'tough' in the headline was simply to facilitate the subsequent employment of the word 'guy' which in turn, when followed by the name 'Roux', would have concluded an unlikely pun regarding a former French football coach extraordinaire.

And they would be right. But that should not take anything away from the efforts of 22-year-old Roux the cyclist who defied all rules of logistics and probability to hold on to the first major win of his career.

Quite how he managed to keep the oncoming peloton at bay after riding almost 190km out in front with four others is anyone's guess - but it made for gripping viewing at the end of another otherwise dull day across Spain's monotonous flatlands.

Roux's win was so close it was cycling's equivalent of that scene in 'Raiders of The Lost Ark' when Indiana Jones reaches back and grabs his fedora just in time before a huge stone comes crashing down over a doorway.

Or, for that matter, of that scene in 'The Temple of Doom' when Indy reaches back and grabs his fedora just in time before a huge stone comes crashing down over a doorway. And, while we're at it, of that scene in 'The Last Crusade' when - you get it!

While Harrison Ford's character was able to pull of the same astounding trick on numerous occasions, BS would be surprised if Roux is ever able to recreate the same dramatics that he served up in Spain - even if he has many years ahead of him as a pro rider.

BS doesn't know what Indy would have made of Roux's stud through his lower lip were he still gallivanting around today, but it's likely that it would have got the same treatment as that crazed sword-wielding maniac in the Temple of Doom.

With that shiny monstrosity in his chin, Roux now has the ignominy of joining Tyler Farrar (earring), Mark Cavendish (myriad sunglasses), Vladimir Karpets (mullet) and Alexandre Vinokourov (goatee) in cycling's fashion hall of shame.

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Back to the racing, it was interesting to see the (non) reaction in the peloton when race leader Alejandro Valverde got a puncture early in Wednesday's stage.

BS seems to remember the Spaniard not being so generous when his main rival Cadel Evans got a flat over the weekend.

Follow Blazin' Saddles throughout the day on www.twitter.com/saddleblaze

Felix Lowe / Eurosport

Comment 1 - 9 of 9

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  1. @derek You sound a bit homophobic... and you seem to be­ a bit blind... where are the gay overtones you speak­ of, not to mention the spelling mistakes?! Maybe you­ think a reference to Indiana Jones is camp to the­ extreme.

    From , on Fri 18 Sep 9:31AM

  2. What a load of rubbish. I'm tired of all these gay­ overtones in this 'column', not to mention­ primary school spelling mistakes. What is it with this­ BS idiot?

    From derek, on Thu 17 Sep 9:25PM

  3. BTW, that's a great picture of Roux spirting all­ over that girl's face and neck! She loves it...

    From , on Thu 17 Sep 5:51PM

  4. Oh, I'm sure Evans questioned something. It's­ never his fault. I had just assumed he would question­ the neutral support.

    From tomas.americano, on Thu 17 Sep 12:26PM

  5. Calm down, I don't think BS actually expected the­ peloton to ride clear of Valverde on a flat stage - he­ was just making a point. Wasn't there a time when­ riders waited for their rivals when they suffered­ things like punctures in the mountains? Like when­ Armstrong crashed to Luz Ardiden and Ullrich waited for­ him... Anyway, I can't really get involved in the­ debate because I didn't actually see the stage­ where Cadel punctured. I gather it was more bad luck­ for Evans (with the replacement tyre / bike problems)­ rather than foul play from his rivals (although Evans­ did question the neutrality of the Shimano support­ car). Anyway, it seems BS has ruffled some feathers so­ i'm sure he's pleased!

    From , on Thu 17 Sep 10:27AM

  6. Last time I looked, Evans was NOT in the leader's­ gold jersey when he punctured and Valverde WAS. Also,­ do you not think any attempt at a breakaway would have­ been swallowed up on the flat stage?

    From fotodelicto, on Thu 17 Sep 10:23AM

  7. Also it wasn't Valverde that attacked Evans when he­ puntcured, it was Rabaobank that uped the tempo with­ Juanma Garate.

    From Wayne, on Thu 17 Sep 8:58AM

  8. It's absolutely amazing that "BS"­ (bullsh**) gets so much free air. He's biased,­ wrong most of the time, and generally out of touch with­ cycling. Please Yahoo, make it stop.

    From DaveW, on Thu 17 Sep 2:57AM

  9. Are you crazy BS? Evans flatted 14km from a mountain­ top finish. At that time Sanchez was behind Evans yet­ he was able to ride past Evans to within 20 seconds of­ the GC leaders. Evans was 47 seconds back. It's­ like you're suggesting there should have been an­ attack on the leader on a flat stage a long way out­ from the finish. Do you even watch these races? Any­ races?

    From tomas.americano, on Wed 16 Sep 10:03PM
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