La Fleche Wallone

Last night, I couldn't find anything good on television. HBO was showing some Universal Soldier iteration that starred Goldberg. So I flipped the remote to EuroSports, and I was pleasantly surprised that they were showing a bike race. It was the 2012 edition of the La Fleche Wallone.

I'm not a big cycle racing fan but I watch whenever I catch one on television. Aside from the Schleck brothers, I'm not too familiar with the teams and riders in the Fleche Wallone. If I remember correctly, I tuned in with 45KM to go 'til the finish line. The riders were going uphill in the town of Huy (Belgium). I didn't know the cyclists who were in the breakaway pack nor those leading the peloton. But it's alright, bike races are entertaining. My favorite part is the sprint towards the finish line. Most of the time, the first one to cross the finish line isn't part of the break. Cyclists in teams have different roles - climbers, sprinters, domestiques, and all-rounders, to name a few. Usually, the sprinters are the ones that crosses finish line first for the teams. In last night's Fleche Wallone, the finish line was atop a climb. Actually, the last couple of kilometers (as seen below) of the race is uphill. The winner, Joaquim Rodriguez, is a climber and you'll see him pull away from the two leaders (Nordhaug and Hesjedal) at the 3:10 mark of the video.

It was an awesome finish for Rodriguez. I'm a big fan of sprinters (Mark Cavendish, most especially). But this big win by Rodriguez shows the impressive role climbing specialists have in any cyclist team on tour.

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If you're interested in knowing why I'm a fan of the Manx Missile, below are a couple of features on him.

P.S. I had no idea that there was already an electronic gear shifting system for bicycles until last night. Amazing!