According to other news sources…Normann’s 1st flat repair (tubular) wasn’t properly aligned…he was then stung by a bee (on his knee) and then had the 2nd flat. Tough day.
Faris rocks!
http://www.triathletemag.com/story.cfm?story_id=11172&publicationID=92&pageID=1705
Cncise but quick with some nice photos. Good to see them burniing the midnight oil.
I just did an edit Tom…so not sure if you saw.
Looks like Stadler has some more problems other than just a flat tire…
Of course, #$% happens and that is racing (TD’s stones, for example), but just really tough to swallow for me because I really thought the race was b/w Normann and Faris and was looking forward to that duel.
There was a big piece about IMH on the german tv. Normann couldn’t get the tube from his wheel.
Nice paint on the bike though!
I don’t know about you guys but I imagine that it’s incredibly hard to walk away from a race like that after having trained so hard all year. Incredible when you think about the fine line at that level between a great race and a poor one… in this case a couple of flats.
The other example I can think of is Matt White breaking his collarbone while riding the course before the prologue of the 2004 Tour de France. I think at that point he’d been trying to get there since turning pro in 2001(?). To make it so far and then just miss out like that has got to break your heart.
Wanderer
P.S. I was just reminded of the girl with ‘one leg’ who just missed the cut off time at Kona last year (?)… but I gather she nailed it this year so I guess she can put some of her demons to rest… that in itself is a huge effort.