Fabian Cancellara, Cadel Evans, Bradley Wiggins, Andre Greipel, Marc Cavendish, and the Phenom Peter Sagan. No these are not obscure fantasy baseball pitchers who I've been using lately. These are the names of the men I wake up to every morning as I eagerly check their statuses and what position they are in.
I'm talking about Le Tour de France, the epitome of the sport of cycling, a month-long event through the heart of France that attracts the most talented riders from across the world and pits them together in a race that spans thousands of miles, past high mountaintops, gorgeous lakes, and populous cities of France. Through watching the last two years of the Tour I've learned about the intricacies of the Peloton, the "king of the mountaints" contest, the "points classification," and of course the coveted "maillot jaune," the yellow jersey symbolizing the best overall rider. I've learned that Marc Cavendish, the Manxx Missile is the fastest man in the world but still needs his "lead-out train," what it means to sacrifice yourself from riders "on your team,"
Ironically, I didn't follow cycling or the Tour de France during its heyday (at least in the US), when Lance Armstrong dominated the sport for years and brought it into relevance. No, I discovered cycling years AFTER the Armstrong era, after the doping era, and at a time when the sport doesn't seem to be gaining momentum in the US, even though summer in the US is a bit lacking in the sports (you got baseball, tennis sometimes, and what.... golf?)
I learned about the Tour de France during my run in July last year in ESPN Streak for Cash (I know, lame). I used cycling for wins No. 12, No. 16, and No. 17........( in fact, the last 2 bets before the Colombia-Peru debacle on July 16). I don't even remember why I selected the first prop.....I seem to remember I was in a haze while studying for the bar, was in unknown territory having never gone beyond W11 on Streak for Cash before, and saw good odds and message board consensus (I know, very reliable) that this rider named Marc Cavendish was "a good bet" to win Stage 9 of the Tour de France. So I put my W11 on the line on this "Cavendish" not knowing that there are more than 200 riders at the Tour de France and that he'd have to beat all of them to the line next morning, also not realizing that the Tour de France coverage starts at 4:30AM IN THE MORNING (West Coast time). The next morning, I woke up to turn on the Tour de France, not seeing Marc Cavendish ANYWHERE and having a gut in my stomach. Why o why did I pick this prop without knowing ANYTHING about cycling, never having even seen Marc Cavendish, and especially since there seemed to be a MILLION riders, and he was nowhere in sight.
As luck would have it (literally), Cavendish's HTC Highland team got him through the flat part of the course and gave him a perfect lead-out train that day, leading to a pretty easy (relatively for a sprint course) victory, getting me my W12, and the rest was history. Every morning from that day on, I watched the Tour de France, biding my time until putting my W15 and W16's on the line, respectivelly, and achieving the desired result (another Cavendish win over his archrival Andre Greipel) and a mountain stage (Thor Hushovd took a surprising victory), winning my Any other Cyclist prop v. 3 other riders. A new sports interest was born. I'm addicted to Tour de France cycling. The announcer, with his British accent and running dialogue, is very engaging and calls a great sprint to the line.
This year I've watched A LOT of coverage of the Tour de France, becoming a bit of a "connaisseur" (learn that vocab word, high school students!) and I'm still every bit as interested as I was last year, despite not having a long streak on the line. I've enjoyed the rise of this Peter Sagan kid (just 23) who is ridiculous.......a sprinter with the ability to go up a hill, and on his way to winning the green jacket (for sprinters) without the help of a leadout train. Kid is sick. A great story, might be the saving grace of a Tour de France lacking a lot of star power and marred by early crashes. PLEASE, do not have Sagan pull out because of injury!!!
Hence the beginning of a passion for something new. Good lesson for how to develop new interests: try new things!!! Things happen by accident, but you could help out that process. Now every July, it's......Tour de France time.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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