Sports Poets Society

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/other-sports/how-stephen-roche-finished-in-the-pink-in-the-giro-d-italia-1.1785621 Stephen Roche recalls the 1987 rivalry with Roberto Visentini that almost tore his team apart Wed, May 7, 2014, 10:00 by  Shane Stokes , The Irish Times It is said that time heals everything, but Roberto Visentini might question that sentiment. Twenty seven years ago Ireland’s Stephen Roche went head to head with him in the Giro d’Italia , wresting the race leader’s jersey from his then team-mate and incurring the wrath of Visentini, their Carrera team and the Italian fans. Roche was spat at, punched and endured days of abuse from the roadside spectators but battled on and took the final win. As for Visentini, he crashed out of the race on the final weekend, his wrist fractured and his morale destroyed. Roche thought things had settled somewhat in the years since, but the Italian never forgot. It appears he didn’t forgive either. “Two years ago...

Stage 18 - THURSDAY 20 JULY / 179.5KM Briançon-Izoard The final mountain stage of the race , with the hardest summit finish of the entire 2017 Tour The 2017 Tour goes above 2,000m four times in the whole race, and it does it all in the space of two days. If yesterday was bad, then today could be worse as the finish line is right up in the dead air at 2,360m above sea level. The route describes the shape of a horseshoe and the first section should be of little consequence to the peloton, however weary it is at this stage, because it travels south with more down than up along the Durance valley road. The route makes an excursion along the eastern shore of the Lac de Serre-Ponçon and the cat-three Côte des Demoiselles Coiffées before picking up the River Urbaye and heading upstream. It’s a very gradual climb up the valley road through Barcelonette and Jausiers – the sort of terrain where big groups get away – before turning off left at Saint-Paul-sur-Urbaye ...

STAGE 17 - WEDNESDAY 19 JULY / 183KM A huge Alpine stage, with four very tough climbs, culminating in the high point of the race: the Col du Galibier Here we go: the Alps. The first stage of the final mountain range gets going in La Mure, a modest town south of Grenoble whose claim to fame is being the penultimate stop on the Route Napoléon.   The stage heads east, further into the Isère département before turning north for the cat-two Col d’Ornon. The Ornon is the gateway to the classic Alpine terrain of the Tour. To the northwest is the magnificent Belledonne Massif, with its hydroelectric dams. To the east: the peaks and ski complexes of Alpe d’Huez on the Grandes Rousses massif. The Alpe isn’t on the agenda, though this stage does visit two behemoths. The first is the Col de la Croix de Fer, via the western ascent which it shares, for the most part, with the Col du Glandon. Despite a couple of downhill sections offering some reprieve, it’s a hard climb, and ...

Tour de France 2017 - Stage 9 Nantua-Chambéry - SUNDAY JULY 9 / 181.5 km An absolutely brutal day, with just one fewer HC-ranked climbs – three – than the rest of the Tour put together When the 2017 Tour route was unveiled, the main criticism was that the big summit finishes had been missed. The Col d’Izoard apart, there was no Alpe d’Huez and no Ventoux. But the route planners may be on to something here. In recent years, the strongest teams have suffocated the race on the big summit finishes. These stages have become tactically unexciting. However, some of the best racing now is happening when there’s a climb at the start, even if the riders hate it. The start of this stage is a wonderful chance for a team willing to risk unpopularity to blow up the race – there’s a cat-two climb straight out of Nantua, no descent, then a third cat climb, and again, no descent for another five km. Be ready for the sight at the start of 190 or so riders on rollers, warming up for th...

https://www.pressreader.com/italy/corriere-della-sera-brescia/20160602/281685434101728 Trent'anni fa il campione di Gardone Riviera festeggiò la vittoria al Giro. Dopo di lui mai nessuno così forte, ora coltiva l'attività di famiglia Luca Bertelli, Corriere della Sera Brescia, 2 giugno 2016 Un campione. Un cavallo pazzo. Una testa vuota. Un ricco che sulla bicicletta non ci sarebbe mai dovuto salire. Ognuno racconta la sua su Roberto Visentini, odiato da molti e amato da altrettanti.  I bresciani, o almeno buona parte di loro, lo hanno sempre difeso perché era di Gardone Riviera e un talento così cristallino, dalle nostre parti, ancora non si è rivisto dal 2 giugno 1986. Il suo giorno. Quello del ventinovesimo compleanno, festeggiato con la vittoria al Giro d’Italia dove, tra il 1980 e il 1987, ha indossato 27 volte la maglia rosa.  Oggi ricorre il trentennale, le candeline da soffiare sono 59 e il «Visenta» (abita a Salò) svolge ancora l’attività di fam...

http://www.museociclismo.it/content/articoli/5628-Massimo+Ghirotti%3A+dov%27%C3%A8+la+nostra+umanit%C3%A0-/index.html Tuttobici Numero: 11 Anno: 2007 di Gino Sala È proprio il caso di dire che la vita ciclistica di Massimo Ghirotto è piena di ricordi esaltanti.  Nato a Boara Pisani (Padova) il 25 giugno 1961, professionista dall'83 al '95, statura 1,89, peso 76 chili, un passista che ha onorato la lunga carriera disputando 12 Giri d'Italia, 7 Tour de France e una Vuelta di Spagna. Un gregario al servizio di Roche, Visentini , Bontempi e Chiappucci, e cha ha conquistato ventitré traguardi tra i quali figurano due tappe del Tour altrettante del Giro, un Trofeo Baracchi in coppia con Leali, un Trofeo Matteotti, due Giro del Veneto e la Wincanton Classic, prova valida per la Coppa del Mondo, nella quale ha battuto Jalabert. «Ero nel gruppetto in fuga e quando siamo rimasti in due ho pensato che mi sarei dovuto accontentare del secondo posto - ricorda Massi...

http://www.museociclismo.it/content/articoli/1194-Storia+di+Massimo+Ghirotto/index.html Corre le stagioni 1976 e 1977 tra gli allievi del V.C. Mantovani di Rovigo e conquista 4 successi: in volata a Sarmeola di Rubano, a Fiesso Umbertiano, nella 30° Coppa Città di Este e una "notturna" a Stanghella , dove oggi risiede. L'anno 1978 passa alla categoria juniores nel G.S. Principe di Boschi Sant'Anna; la squadra è ricca di ottimi elementi che raccolgono successi ovunque. Della formazione fanno parte, tra gli altri, il Campione d'Italia Longo, Bedin, Viviani e il velocista Cassetta. S'impone brillantemente nella notturna "Trofeo Città di Badia Polesine", nel Trofeo di Roverchiara veronese, nel G.P. Leandro Faggin a Canalnuovo ed ottiene inoltre alcuni significativi piazzamenti. La stagione successiva è vittorioso a Lendinara, a S. Maria di Zevio, allo sprint a Creazzo, a Stanghella e a Vicenza in una gara tipo-pista. A fine stagione agonistica p...

From SPORTS ILLUSTRATED MARCH 29, 2010 For more than five decades, FRANK DEFORD was the peerless bard of sports journalism. In 2010 he turned his gaze upon himself—a self-examination worth revisiting as we remember SI’s greatest storyteller by FRANK DEFORD, JUNE 5, 2017 / SPORTS ILLUSTRATED THERE ARE MANY ROLES a man plays in life. Son, Husband, Father, Breadwinner. If he is successful: Star, Boss, Grand Old Man. But nothing, I believe, is quite so thrilling as getting to be The Kid. That is, you, as a novice, are accepted by your elders into their privileged company. You are not quite their peer. You are on trial, tolerated more than embraced, but at least you are allowed to step into the penumbra of the inner circle, to sniff the aroma of wisdom and humor and institutional savoir faire that belongs to those old hands. It’s a heady sensation. It was at Sports Illustrated that I was, for the one time in my life, The Kid. I had come to the magazine fresh out of Pri...

No straight-outta-high-school player in NBA history had as seamless a transition to the pros as LEBRON JAMES. And he did it all in front of his hometown fans.By the time LeBron James made by Russ Bengtson, Slam #209, July 2017  By the time LeBron James made his home debut with the Cleveland Cavaliers on November 5, 2003, it had already been something of a rough start for the Chosen One and his squad. Yes, James had scored 25 points — adding 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals — in his NBA debut versus the Kings. But the Cavaliers lost that game by 14, the next by 9, and the one after that by 19 , putting them in an 0-3 hole before even playing in front of their hometown fans. LeBron’s first NBA game at Gund Arena loomed large. He was awful. The Cavs dropped to 0-4 as James posted just 7 points (on 3-11 shooting), getting to the line only once in 41 minutes and missing both of his three-point attempts. He did add 9 assists and 11 boards but was outplayed by fel...

https://cyclist.com.au/travel/col-dizoard-france-high-point/ At 2,361m, the Izoard is one of the highest cols at the Tour de France and has been the scene of many epic rides in the past. Cyclist tackles a true classic. It is early summer in the French Alps but somewhere along the road from the fortified mountain town of Briançon to the upper flanks of the 2,361m Col d’Izoard we seem to have cycled through a wormhole and ended up at Christmas. Snow-dusted ridges surround us like walls of a winter castle, and in the open bowl beneath them are pine forests, slabs of snow, and a cosy chalet with a sloping roof. Looking down on this solitary mountain refuge – built by Napoleon III in 1858 and miniaturised by its epic surroundings – gives the impression we are cycling inside an enormous snow globe. All it needs is a divine hand to shake us around, and the snow will rise up from the curved slopes of the Izoard into the glass sphere of blue sky above, and sprinkle down in flakes al...