Better of ED: WORLDS’06: Salzburg Shenanigans!

“I’m by no means happier than after I’m writing.”
~ Ed Hood, as spoken to Martin Williamson from the passenger seat, driving alongside a stage route on the Tour de France.

Expensive Readers – Our beloved colleague and pal Ed Hood suffered a severe stroke in February.  We don’t anticipate Ed will make it again into our bunch, so we’ve began a GoFundMe web page to assist Ed along with his future.  Learn the total submit right here – and please think about donating.

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We’ll be posting a number of Ed’s work from the previous 16 years, as a result of nice story-telling by no means will get previous.

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World Highway Championships Retro: It’s arduous to maintain monitor of the occasions that Ed Hood has attended – simpler to depend these he has missed. His first Worlds for PEZ was in Salzburg again in 2006, no group time trial in these days, the occasion didn’t return till 2012, however Ed was there for all of the highway motion, right here is his stroll down reminiscence lane.

It was method again in 1983 after I attended my first Worlds – Goodwood within the south of England, but it surely wasn’t until 2006 earlier than I coated the Worlds for PEZ. The sequence that yr was in lovely Salzburg, Austria. Listed here are just a few reminiscences from what was an incredible Championship greater than a decade in the past to place you within the temper for the 2018 Worlds as they return to Austria, this time in Innsbruck.

There weren’t many sofas beside the roadside on the 2016 Worlds in Doha – the cliché is that ‘the riders make the race.’ However so do the followers and notably the Belgians on the Worlds… with pils.

Salzburg is fairly central in Europe and the French, Italian – and Belgian followers have been all there full with life measurement cut-outs of Tommeke munching on a sandwich.

I spoke to a few completely wasted Belgian guys late on the Sunday night time after the Elite race; “do you get a coach residence now?” says me. “Oh no! We drive the automotive residence now, immediately!”

And people Dutch followers do like their ‘oompah’ band – when you’d had just a few beers they sounded tremendous.

The primary race of the sequence I coated was the Elite Time Trial and was fortunate sufficient to observe Eire’s David O’Loughlin over the attractive, rolling however technical and difficult parcours.

The Irishman would end thirtieth on the day.

David Millar was again from the wilderness and rode to fifteenth spot behind the winner. Millar rode an unheralded however wonderful highway race in Salzburg, launching a late solo assault which took loads of chasing down by The Bigs’ groups. He’d finish the highway race in thirty fifth spot.

That controversial man Vino was in kind and took the bronze behind the USA’s David Zabriskie and. . .

. . .behind the person who not too long ago took his second Olympic Time Trial Championship – Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara. THE time trial rider of his era.

The parcours was nicely suited to massive Suisse fashion, lovely surfaced however rolling and technical – he ate it for breakfast.

I typically surprise what grew to become of this chap – he was using the following race I attended, the U23 highway race. Christopher ‘one thing or different,’ all the best way from Kenya.

A few of his U23 GB group mates tried to make themselves as small as potential firstly in a ‘I want was anyplace however right here’ sort of method. Not Cav, laughing, exhibiting off his Telekom crash hat so we’d all know he was a stagiaire with the German Tremendous Staff – you possibly can see had ‘it.’

Then got here the Elites – Alessandro Ballan didn’t win the 2006 Worlds, he’d have to attend till 2008 and Varese to do this, however he was elegant and you possibly can inform he was headed for the highest. His run-in with the Italian Authorities over ‘doping’ is way from easy and plenty of really feel the massive Italian has been singled out and made an instance of.

From future champions to previous champions – Cipo was there, natch! The person drips with charisma and the ladies drop at his toes – when he retired the game misplaced a giant persona.

Regardless of it being a pleasant gentle, sunny day in Salzburg, massive Russian Vlad Karpets, like a superb professional, was taking no probability and was wrapped up cosy – he did look a wee bit like a big backyard gnome although.

Naturally, Fabian Cancellara was a centre of consideration with the media. One journo requested; “what are you hoping for as we speak, Fabian?” To which the massive man replied; “I hope for sunshine within the sky – and in my legs.” You wouldn’t get that reply from sir Brad. . .

Michael Boogerd was a giant favorite with the followers – and a favorite for the race. The 1999 Amstel winner’s talent set was nicely suited to the parcours but it surely wasn’t to be.

Within the fashion stakes that yr, ‘finest shoe and sock combo’ needed to go to Australian flyer, Robbie McEwen. Branded ‘prickly’ I at all times discovered him to be chatty and well mannered – silver in Zolder in 2002 was as shut as Robbie obtained to the rainbow; he was fifth on this sunny day in Salzburg.

‘Killer’ Di Luca broke my coronary heart not as soon as however twice. He by no means rode to ‘make up the numbers’ – at all times aggressive, standard with the followers and his group mates, an incredible professional. However given a second probability he blew it, happening arduous after getting caught for his second and terminal bust not lengthy into his comeback from his first ban. ‘Dodgy Doper’ or not, the person seemed the half, so cool, take a look at his Bianchi’s paint job matching his nationwide strip completely – such a pity. . .

What odds would you’ve got on the bookies on one in all these guys profitable a Grand Tour? If we’d had a crystal ball, Chris Horner would have made millionaires of us along with his 2013 Vuelta triumph. On the day Freddie Rodriguez was finest US finisher in fifteenth spot.

The winner on the day was Paolo Bettini from Erik Zabel and Alejandro Valverde, the person behind ‘The Cricket’s’ win was former Het Volk and Paris-Roubiax winner, the late Franco Ballerini, the group Capo. The massive man from Florence scored a hat trick of wins within the Worlds as supervisor, two from Bettini and one from Ballan. Sadly, Ballerini died in a automotive rally crash in 2010 – he’s sadly missed.

# Keep tuned to PEZ for the boys’s highway race on Sunday. #

Salzburg 2006 podium: Alejandro Valverde (Spain) third, Paolo Bettini (Italy) 1st and Erik Zabel (Germany) 2nd.