Name Translation

[RedheadDane]

Just a random thought... some of the riders have names that can be translated directly into English...
For example;
It's already been mentioned a few times that Fuglsang = Birdsong!
Also; Vandborg = Watercastle...

(Not to mention the ironic that a bike rider is called Armstrong... )

 

[Michele]

The only one that pop up in my mind right now is Sella=Saddle, perfect match for a cyclist.

Let's see if I can come up with any other funny one later on.

 

[Michielveedeebee]

Boonen = beans

 

[hrotha]

Gorka Verdugo = Hangman/Executioner (gotta love this one)

And it's not transparent anymore but I love that Cunego derives from König.

 

[MrContador]

Edvald Boasson Hagen = Edvald Boasson Garden
Lars Petter Nordhaug = Lars Petter Northpile
Svein Erik Vold = Svein Erik Violence
Lars Ytting Bak = Lars Ytting Behind
Thomas Löfkvist = Thomas Leafstick

 

[Beech Mtn]

Every once in a while a machine translation would turn Cipollini into "little onion."

Google sometimes has interesting translations of Astana riders' names:

Grivko = Andrew Crests
Nyapomnyashchy = Eugene Forgetful
Gorazd Stangelj = Much Stangel

 

[Bernardus]

Both Lars Boom (boom = tree) and Theo Bos (bos = forest) should be afraid of Tom Stamsnijder (stam = trunk, snijder = cutter)

Some easy ones:
Tejay from Garderen
Jos from Emden
Max from Heeswijk
Bram de Groot = Bram the Great
Thomas/Erik Dekker = Thomas/Erik Thatcher
Kai Reus = Kai Giant

Rule of thumb: Riders whose surnames end in ing or ink are from the East, these are Old-Dutch/Old-Saxon words meaning farm. Surnames ending in a (ma, stra) or i are from the North. (Tjallingii is a combination)

 

[Pandora]

Just a random thought... some of the riders have names that can be translated directly into English...

Basso = short, low, thin...

 

[saganftw]

im surprised nobody mentioned marco velo

 

[Michele]

Basso = short, low...

fixed it for you

Bono=in slang can mean "handsome"
Tosatto=in local slang from north east of Italy means "boy"
Velo=layer
Scarponi=boots
Gatto=cat
Caccia=hunting
Ratti=rats
Ratto=rat
Fumagalli=smoke-roosters
Gentili=kind(s)
Cannone=cannon
Muraglia=(big)wall
Muto=mute
Pozzovivo=Water well-alive

 

[RedheadDane]

Lars Ytting Bak = Lars Ytting Behind

I thought bak was more like reverse...

Also

Rasmus Guldhammer = Goldhammer


And Hushovd sounds sounda like Hushoved which means Househead

 

[DarkWing]

Ricco = Rich

 

[craig1985]

fixed it for you

Bono=in slang can mean "handsome"
Tosatto=in local slang from north east of Italy means "boy"
Velo=layer
Scarponi=boots
Gatto=cat
Caccia=hunting
Ratti=rats
Ratto=rat
Fumagalli=smoke-roosters
Gentili=kind(s)
Cannone=cannon
Muraglia=(big)wall
Muto=mute
Pozzovivo=Water well-alive

So if Gatto, Caccia, and Ratti all rode together in the one team, we would have cat hunting rats?

 

[valentius borealis]

Don't forget about Sastre (tailor) and Contador (accountant) which have been mentioned on here before.

 

[issoisso]

Not all of these are direct translations, a few just derive from them

Visconti -> Viscount
Valverde -> Greenvalley
Gesink -> Sunk (well, he does crash a lot..)
Ventoso -> Windy
Rojas -> Reds
Monfort -> Strong hill
Moreno -> Tan, dark skinned
Van den Broeck -> Of the bridge
Hondo -> Deep
Costa -> Coast
Machado -> Axe
Dumoulin -> Of the Mill
Hoogerland -> I think it's something like "High country"
Hesjedal -> something about a jacket
Nocentini -> Noxious (that about describes his personality, yeah)

 

[RedheadDane]

Lund = Grove
Klostergaard = Cloister garth

 

[Thee_chisa]

what about tiralongo?

 

[trailrunner]

Flecha = arrow

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Hoogerland = highland.

Vicioso = vicious person
I have a tendency to call Carlos Sastre "Chuck Taylor".

Fabian Wegmann = pathman
Niki Terpstra = of the village (Frisian, not Dutch)
Aleksandr Kolobnev = pigeon (ORuss. kolob "pigeon")
Sergei Ivanov = Johnson
Ivan Basso = deep
Koldo Fernandez = Louis (!)
Bert Grabsch = of the grave
Sylwester Szmyd = Schmidt = smith
Óscar Pereiro = smith
Christian Pfannberger = from the pan (plateau) of the hill
Bernhard Kohl = coal, carbon, cabbage. All of the above
Sylwia Kapusta = cabbage
Iris Slappendal = sleeping valley
Przemyslaw Niemiec = German (unfortunate name for a Pole!)
Leopold König = King
Thomas Rohregger = pipe harrow (farming implement)

You have plenty that develop across borders with a derivation from one language resulting in a hybrid form too - Cunego, from German König, has already been mentioned, and Szmyd is of course one as well, as is Sinkewitz (literally "sinking joke" in German, but is from the Slavic root with -vic). This is clear elsewhere; any Dutch name with -stra is Frisian, any name like Agirre, Iturbe, Echevarria is Basque, and there are lots of Italian names in the north of German extraction.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Cadel= battle (welsh)

 

[Michele]

what about tiralongo?

Let's pass on it

 

[RedheadDane]

Have a quite silly one:

Mørkøv = Darkbummer!

Mørk = Dark
Øv = Bummer

 

[Michielveedeebee]

Have a quite silly one:

Mørkøv = Darkbummer!

Mørk = Dark
Øv = Bummer

now that's hineininterpretirung

Devolder = the tucker

 

[Granville57]

(Not to mention the ironic that a bike rider is called Armstrong... )

I always thought that "Lance Armstrong" would be the ultimate name for one of these guys.

 

[Buffalo Soldier]

Kenny Dehaes = Kenny The Hare
Jurgen Van De Broeck = From The Pants/trousers (literally, but in fact it originates from 'from the swamp')
Kevin Seeldraeyers = The Cordmaker