Indurain was the perfect teammate at a race that he very badly wanted to win. But he settled for 2nd.
He also got 2nd in 1993. Us ‘Merkins don’t realize how close Indurain came to one of the greatest milestones in sport that year. He had already won the Giro and the Tour, taking worlds would have matched Merckx and Roche. But he got 2nd. In this country we just remember the kid that won.
After the race I remember the podium shot with Indurain looking pretty unhappy with 2nd place. Guys like Indu, Musseuw, Fondriest, Ludwig, were giving it full gas in the chase group but couldn’t bring the winner back.
That was the year he rode for Banesto. The team had done a high altitude training camp in Colorado before the race in Colombia.
I forget but results from worlds had some bearing on the number of riders qualified for some subsequent race, and that he was there pretty much to make sure the US had a finisher. Maybe nations that placed in the top 20 got an extra rider in the 1996 worlds or something, I forget.
This is a personal web site and does not represent the views or policies of my employer. If you come across an item that you happen to find offensive then you have not been reading long enough because there are lots of things that are offensive on this site. Sorry…
5 Responses to “I love this finish…”
Indurain was the perfect teammate at a race that he very badly wanted to win. But he settled for 2nd.
He also got 2nd in 1993. Us ‘Merkins don’t realize how close Indurain came to one of the greatest milestones in sport that year. He had already won the Giro and the Tour, taking worlds would have matched Merckx and Roche. But he got 2nd. In this country we just remember the kid that won.
After the race I remember the podium shot with Indurain looking pretty unhappy with 2nd place. Guys like Indu, Musseuw, Fondriest, Ludwig, were giving it full gas in the chase group but couldn’t bring the winner back.
@Bob Schwartz: 93…can’t remember…didn’t some doosh win that year?
WHO WAS TOP AMERICAN?
@timmer: just found it, holy crap I had no idea.
makes sense considering the course however!
That was the year he rode for Banesto. The team had done a high altitude training camp in Colorado before the race in Colombia.
I forget but results from worlds had some bearing on the number of riders qualified for some subsequent race, and that he was there pretty much to make sure the US had a finisher. Maybe nations that placed in the top 20 got an extra rider in the 1996 worlds or something, I forget.