This Easter was poor to say that least for me, I picked a cold during the week and by Staurday had turned into a cough, regardless I went to Noyal near St.Malo for a 2/3/Junior race lasting 115km. However I was feeling rubbish at the beginning struggling to breathe and get oxygen into my legs, after the winning break had drifted off up the road , including George, I attacked with Hamish about an hour and 20mins into the race, this move eventually saw the second break go with Hmaish in it alas, I went backwards and began coughing heavily all the way to finishing circuits, hwere after 3 laps of the 7, I pulled out, at this point the peloton was racing for 56th. About 170 started, very windy, some shockingly poor handling skills on show and that's all really. George and Hamish both did well as they did the following day, Sunday, and today, with George taking second yesterday. These races were also 2/3/Juniors, containing less people though then Saturday's race, kudos nonetheless as they were still hard races. Doug Dewey and Sam Allen have continued to put in some fine performances too, with Doug winning the first stage of a 1/2/3 stage race near Brest and Sam finishing ninth overall.
I am feeling much better today and hopefully will be right as rain within the next two days so I can do some training before the next race on Sunday, this should go a little better than my previous outings, damn bad luck. At least i got to watch the Tour of Flanders yesterday, which was brilliant, Cancellara is just incredible, as is Vos, there has been some really good racing these past couple of weeks, hopefully it continues
Well Sagan has dramatically fallen in my estimation unfortunately considering how much of a talent he is after his exploits of exploiting one of the podium women. Now, don't get me wrong, many young men have done similar and made mistakes in their lives, including me, but the issue is this is the third occassion Peter Sagan has done something similar and that is just too much. This is because of the international platform that he is on as one of the best riders around and he can ill afford to repeat this mistake too often as the message it sends out to many is completely wrong. It says if you are really good at what you do, you, as a man, can treat women as you please (within reason obviously, I'm not implying that he is a potential rapist) and that social norms need not apply to you as an individual because you are superior. Sadly Peter you maybe on the bike, but this does not make yourself a better person necessarily than anybody else and you have to learn that. Nowehere does it say that these podium girls can have their bum grabbed, I feel very sorry for that young woman, she must have been mortified.
Many gentlemen will say it is just a bit of fun and that the fact the podium girls are there at all is objectifying enough a maybe a little arse grab is nothing. These gentlemen can not be more mistaken as the line has to be drawn somewhere and maybe I would take it as a mistake and let it slide if this had been the first time he had done such a thing, but it's not. Imagine if it was their girlfriend, daughter or sister who had been treated in such a manner, I would attempt to meet Sagan and do him over as many others also would. The podium girls are there because they are pretty, but it's not like they get a lot out of it all and the world is based to a large degree on a beauty, from women to fruit, from holiday destinations to animals. Sagan does not own the podium girls, it is all their workplace and I and most others are not liable to go grab a female colleague's arse simply beacuse it is wrong, a simple and strong case of sexual harassment.
The first of these instances was signing a female fan's breasts at the Tour of California 2012, not that the woman had asked for this in the first place, the next was wearing a t-shirt at petrol station; https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/388458_10151518741864885_351151502_n.jpg.
The top does not bother me too much as many people wear them, even though this is not even a funny inneudo, but a very explicit message, but when taken into consideration the prior antic and the subsequent one, it looks awfully seedy and ill-judged. The latter judegement is especially true considering he does not speak Enlgish very well, about as well as I speak French, so truly does not know what this mean or the message he is sending out.Unfortunately, whether he likes it or not, Sagan is a big star, and it will continue to ascend if he progresses the way he is, being good on the bike however only gets you remembered by so many, your manner on and off the bike is what gets you admired and remembered by the many. That is the difference between great champions and champions, deeds on and off the battelfield, Dixie Dean, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Sir Steve Redgrave... these guys aren't just appreciated for being great athletes, but for being great beings.
I continue to objectify women, as I also objectify people as a whole, everyday, this is natural and can not be helped, the difference is to know when is the appropriate time, place and company to do such things as the social norms should dictate as well as to what degree. Of course I am going to judge whether that woman is prettier than another, but I don't then go up to the prettier women and grab her arse, especially in front of the world's sporting media.
Rant over, I hope everyone had a cracking Easter and is beginning to race in earnest now. Good luck and stay upright.
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