The four most beautiful words in English
April 4, 2017 § 30 Comments
“I told you so.”
I love the way they roll off my tongue, probably because they roll off it so seldom. On the other hand, rolling off the tongue of others, which they do all the time, they have a somewhat different clang. Noxious, offensive, rude, like cracking the door of the port-o-potty at the races after it’s been open for business for six or seven hours.
But I digress.
I told you in 2014 that Coryn Rivera was pretty much the most awesome American bike racer we have. And I lamented that women’s racing gets short shrift among the cycling fanboy media.
But what I didn’t tell you is that she was going to be the first American to win Flanders. I didn’t tell you that because I had no idea. In fact, if you’d asked me I would have put her chances at no better than 70-30, not because she wasn’t good enough, but because no American has ever won it. Also, I’m a blogger not a fortune teller.
This past Sunday, though, that’s exactly what Coryn did. It’s a landmark of athletic landmarks, and while fanboys at Cyclingsnooze.com and Velomarketingandsales.com were pimping John Degenkolb’s new bicycle (German, 4th), Tom Boonen’s predictions for the race (Belgian, 37th), Peter Sagan (Slovakian, 27th), and Michael Matthews (Australian, DNS), Rivera was preparing to write a different set of parentheses, (American, 1st and 1st Ever). Coryn’s win also puts her at the top of the women’s Pro Tour.
American bike racers have someone to cheer for, and they have for years now. Let’s encourage the fanboy journalists to cheer with the rest of us.
END
———————–
For $2.99 per month you can subscribe to this blog and get none of the news that’s fit to print but all the news that’s fun to read. Click here and select the “subscribe” link in the upper right-hand corner. Thank you!
Cycling in the South Bay 
She looked so strong in the late break in Richmond, it was only a matter of time before she won something big.
Her success should be broadcast front and center by the fanboy industry. Who else do they have waiting in the wings with potential to win a cobbled classic and lead the Pro Tour?
From about 28k to go, Bicycle Racing, Tour of Flanders.
Yee-haw!
And now that video is blocked :(.
prime example of how to make bike racing great again – blocked from viewing in the US (as usual)
Why the eff is this done??
No clue …
I hunted around and was able to view some footage of the high lights. Apparently the entire broadcast is available on the official site.
However in the spirit of promoting this feat and the importance to the women’s Tour, efforts to limit promotion do seem counter productive where ever they come from.
Pretty odd.
I started paying more attention to the pro women’s racing in the last 2 years after my cousin kept insisting it was way more interesting than the men’s races – e.g. Sophie deBoers win at CrossVegas last year, total jump up and down and scream at the tv moment. Ditto with Jenny Rissveds in the MTB realm. Amanda Nauman at BWR and every SoCalCX race she’s in. Now Rivera (2 classics inside of a month?) Women’s racing is awesome. Then I heard some maniac is throwing bags of money for primes at CBRs, women’s as well as men’s. Chicks can throwdown, glad to see they’re getting some recognition and making it pay
You’re right. Parity, fairness, and equality work wonders!
Thank you, @shano92107! Honored to be included amongst those women you mentioned.
You’re welcome Amanda, Good luck with your season 🙂
I think its illegal to live in PVE if you are woman actually –
Talked to her at Tulsa Tough in 2011. She was gracious, and awesome then. Been a favorite ever since.
Low blow Wanky.
Michael Matthews (Australian, DNS) had his eyes on the Tour of the Basque Country where he won the first stage and is currently leading the tour after stage 2.
Not bashing any rider, but CN posted a story about him before the Ronde and how he hopes to win Flanders some day even though he wasn’t signed up for the race. That’s not good coverage when we have Coryn Rivera knocking on the door for a couple of years in a row now. And Matthews is a fantastic rider, no argument.
Agreed, CN needs to up their game.
For sure.
There was a web site that covered Coryn’s Winning Bike, but not her race:
https://www.bikerumor.com/2017/04/02/flanders-pro-bike-feature-ronde-van-vlaanderen-womens-winner-coryn-riveras-sunweb-liv-envie/
Much more interesting than the usual pro-bike profiles and galleries of unobtainium-material frames, rebadged components, and enough extra carbon to have a really, really good BBQ.
Awesome! There’s nothing like signing your real name! “Rebadged components…” So good.
So I go to Velonews to read what I thought would be a nice article about Coryn, but instead only found a lame one after looking for quite a while (Ok, more than a couple of minutes). Seem to me that she would have been the story of the day, being American, uhh first American woman, to win. Fanboys indeed. I’m 5’5, and I look like a giant next her (and next to any of her competition) and she kicks their ass. She’s amazing, not to mention funny and humble.
I meant here competitors seem like giants next to her. Poor word and grammar choice.
I apparently spell well either.
Hahaha!
Yes, how do you not make her your top story? Answer: Fanboys.
Not bashing any rider, but CN posted a story about him before the Ronde and how he hopes to win Flanders some day even though he wasn’t signed up for the race. I meant here competitors seem like giants next to her.
Yes. No interview of her …
I would love to see a women’s Paris Roubaix. Let’s make that happen next year.
Awesome, indeed.