Sign here if you think Henao is a future star on the european scene.

[WindLessBreeze]

LanterneRouge

Plenty of South Americans, including some guys from the Caribbean for low altitude, could compete with the caucasians. Thing is, Hitch, It ain't worthwhile

 

[WindLessBreeze]

MagliaNera

Example: Rafael Infantino (EPM-UNE): Not a pure climber, yet conquered Independance Pass (Colorado); 3rd ITT 5sec to non other than LL; Currently sitting 6th overall. Now, what would happen to the 1/2 Dominican (mother)+1/2 Colombian , if he was to sign for a pro-tour outfit: Most probably he would be spoiled. See, North Americans and Europeans have this superiority complex. He'd take non of it. He's been trained under the DR Police. See? Hitch? He's a true Aryan of sanscrit background.

 

[Mambo95]

Example: Rafael Infantino (EPM-UNE): Not a pure climber, yet conquered Independance Pass (Colorado); 3rd ITT 5sec to non other than LL; Currently sitting 6th overall. Now, what would happen to the 1/2 Dominican (mother)+1/2 Colombian , if he was to sign for a pro-tour outfit: Most probably he would be spoiled. See, North Americans and Europeans have this superiority complex. He'd take non of it. He's been trained under the DR Police. See? Hitch? He's a true Aryan of sanscrit background.

Spoiled how?

Now in don't know anything about Infantino's background, but let's look at another Colombian who has come to Europe - Rigoberto Uran.

Now, as a teenager he had to sell lottery tickets to help feed his family, and until a couple of years ago, that family slept on dirt floors. He could have stayed in Colombia where he could have ridden for his own victories, but unfortunately he went Europe where those nasty Europeans 'spoiled' him and made him ride for Valverde and Wiggins. Admittedly, he earned a lot of money and now his family now have a nice house and financial security, but is that really worth trading in the fleeting glory of a podium place in the Tour of Colombia?

You can't eat Palmares. Nor do they keep you warm at night.


One of my favourite cyclist's quotes is "This is my job, it's not a f***ing hobby". So many fans don't grasp that fact with their BS romantic idealism.

 

[Mrs John Murphy]

Yeah, cos if he'd stayed in Columbia he'd be eating mud and dirt, but thanks to coming to Europe he's been civilised and he's rich now. Are you posting from ignorance, prejudice, or just patronising the natives, Mambo?

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Yeah, cos if he'd stayed in Columbia he'd be eating mud and dirt, but thanks to coming to Europe he's been civilised and he's rich now. Are you posting from ignorance, prejudice, or just patronising the natives, Mambo?

Wait, what?

One poster said that talented Colombian's shouldn't go to Europe because they'd be "spoiled", and you think that the guy who responds by saying that it's a job and a really talented rider is better of riding where the money is is a bigot? Because he said that Uran came from a dirt poor background?

 

[Mrs John Murphy]

Admittedly, he earned a lot of money and now his family now have a nice house and financial security, but is that really worth trading in the fleeting glory of a podium place in the Tour of Colombia?

In other words you can only earn money in Europe, money is the only thing that matters, and anything that he might achieve in Columbia 'the fleeting glory of a podium place in the Tour of Columbia' is worthless.

The original poster cited the sneering patronising superiority complex of European and North Americans towards Latin Americans and Mambo provided a perfect example of it.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

In other words you can only earn money in Europe, money is the only thing that matters, and anything that he might achieve in Columbia 'the fleeting glory of a podium place in the Tour of Columbia' is worthless.

He didn't say that you can only earn money in Europe. A much more reasonable interpretation of his actual words, unless he's a complete idiot, is that you can earn much money in Europe if you are talented. And that's much more reasonable because it's bleeding obviously true.

He didn't say that money is the only thing that matters, but instead made the much more limited and more reasonable comment that cycling is a job. It's how these guys put food on the table. And you can't eat wins. That again, is obviously true.

He also didn't say that a podium place in the Tour of Colombia is "worthless", he said that glory is fleeting.

Perhaps next time you might consider arguing against the case he actually made rather than arguing against a case you wish he'd made.

 

[Mrs John Murphy]

You see the post one way, I see it another. I see a post that contrasted coming to Europe where money, security and happiness is to be found with Latin America where there is only poverty, no future and dismissed as worthless fleeting success in races like the Tour of Columbia. Europe = good, Columbia = bad.

Maybe I've misread the post, these things happen, but it seemed to me to reflect the inbuilt sense of sneery superiority that North Americans and Europeans have when it comes to Latin America.

Anyway back to the issue in hand. I hope Henao will be huge star.

 

[hfer07]

common people-the thread is being derailed by some ridiculous & ignorant statements-some folks here really need to get informed before they dare to write such rubbish

the fact of the matter here is that Henao has got received a very unique opportunity to develop his talent and further his career properly-opportunity very rare for my compatriots to take advantage of, considering how "foreign" our sport men are still looked upon in Europe & USA-even with a rich history and proven commitment to cycling. But why is so important still? because being signed by a Pro-Tour team at young age, and having the privileged to participate in the most prestigious races around the world not only provides the rightful exposure for Colombian cyclists, but most importantly-it broadens the path for many of my compatriots to be considered & selected by other Pro-teams too.
now the world has just discovered the quality of Infantino--guess what-there are many of them in my homeland with the skills to earn a spot in Pro-tour teams, but sadly they don't have the exposure to be looked upon-Why?-we sadly don't count with the proper sponsorship for the sport,since wrongfully the wealthy companies there seem to support & somehow find more "profitable" Football(soccer) than Cycling-even when the second one has given the country the most victories around the world......
so yes- money matters for our cyclists-specially when they come from the agricultural sector, or a very poor class sector , where they ride the bike for pure "love to the sport"-combined with a part-time job to support that dream........So -for us-Colombians-when a compatriot like Henao is selected to be part of an elite group of athletes at that level of the sport-YES-IS BIG DEAL- because is the result of the hard work, the resilient will to overcome adversities, the discipline to put the hours of training in a tough enviroment with very poor conditions & equipment limitations,just to be better & stronger-but also combined with the humility, the integrity & the warmth that our compatriots will bring to the sport, along with the most important value-that fierce instinct to attack in the mountains without following scripts!!!!

Wishing the best, once again and many times more to Sergio Henao

 

[buster1]

Would love to see Haneo become a future GT star but for that matter I would love any of the previously mentioned Columbians to be a GT star cause I love the way they animate a race especially when it goes upwards.

Only concerns is his TT whilst he can obvioulsly improve it slightly if he tries to improve it too much you may see him lose a bit of the climbing abitity which makes him so good to watch. Other concern is how he will go with the Europen lifestyle etc.

But I think he is more likely to suceed (& by succeed i mean be right there when the whips are cracking in GT's) than Porte, Phinney and most of the others mentioned at the start.

If theres any seats left on the bandwagon save me a seat!

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

don't worry, easily podium at giro next year has already been confirmed.

 

[dolophonic]

Nothing is easy at the Giro...

 

[Duartista]

don't worry, easily podium at giro next year has already been confirmed.

The big advantage Henao has over Uran and Duarte as a GT contender is that he seems much more resilient. He won the Vuelta a Colombia aged 22, which is a huge achivement, and when he has a bad day he usually manages to limit his losses.

I wouldn't expect him to podium his first GT (I realise you were being sarcastic there), but a top 10 in the Giro or Vuelta next year is within his capabilities, IMO.

 

[Nielsa]

but it seemed to me to reflect the inbuilt sense of sneery superiority that North Americans and Europeans have when it comes to Latin America.

I don't buy it. First reason: tons of Latin American football players are stars in a number of Euro leagues and they get paid and cheered on just as much as comparable Euro players. Ronaldo(real one), Tevez, Javi Hernandez, Suazo etc etc, didn't/don't get sneered at. In Napoli and you will find street shrines for Maradona like this: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Diego_Maradona_Napoli.JPG
And not just the big international stars, in the Norwegian league there's Celso Borges from Costa Rica who was captain of his team at the age of 22 and is a big star in the team's city.


Second reason: I don't have an inbuilt sense of sneery superiority when it comes to Latin America, thankyouverymuch.

 

[Duartista]

I don't buy it. First reason: tons of Latin American football players are stars in a number of Euro leagues and they get paid and cheered on just as much as comparable Euro players. Ronaldo(real one), Tevez, Javi Hernandez, Suazo etc etc, didn't/don't get sneered at. Go to Napoli and you will find street shrines for Maradona like this: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Diego_Maradona_Napoli.JPG


Second reason: I don't have an inbuilt sense of sneery superiority when it comes to Latin America, thankyouverymuch.

I think this is an interesting point. The big idea behind the pro tour, as I understand it, was to emulate the big European football leagues by concentrating the best talent from all around the world in an elite group of teams. However, whereas Real Madrid or Chelsea don't care too much about the nationality of their players, the majority of cycling teams favour, to a greater or lesser extent, riders from their own country. This is a real problem, IMO, especially as the bias is shared by GT organisers in their distribution of wildcards.

 

[Mrs John Murphy]

There are also plenty of people who sneer at Latin American footballers - hence Alan Sugar talking about signing 'Carlos Kickaball' or Andy Gray asking 'but could Messi do it on a cold wet night at Stoke?'.

Watching the baseball, Jon Millar used to patronise the Latino players by very graciously 'allowing' them to speak Spanish so they could say 'hello to their friends and family back home'.

 

[Nielsa]

"'But could Messi do it on a cold wet night at Stoke?'"

Those kinds of pundits say this all the time about Spanish, Italian and Portuguese players. Ignorant? Yes of course. And I wouldn't watch a football game commented by that kind of person. But it's got nothing to do with Latin America, it's rather a general xenophobia on the part of those kinds of people.

I took offense by your statement that all Europeans have an "inbuilt sense of sneering superiority to Latin Americans." The way parts of the English media was talking about Fernando Alonso (from Spain) when it was him vs Lewis Hamilton, well it was pretty sad. But I haven't seen anything like that about a Latin American sportsman.


I have no idea what goes on in baseball so I won't comment on that.

 

[William H]

I think this is an interesting point. The big idea behind the pro tour, as I understand it, was to emulate the big European football leagues by concentrating the best talent from all around the world in an elite group of teams. However, whereas Real Madrid or Chelsea don't care too much about the nationality of their players, the majority of cycling teams favour, to a greater or lesser extent, riders from their own country. This is a real problem, IMO, especially as the bias is shared by GT organisers in their distribution of wildcards.

I don't think there's a higher proportion of Brits on Team Sky than there is at Manchester United.

 

[Angliru]

Spoiled how?

Now in don't know anything about Infantino's background, but let's look at another Colombian who has come to Europe - Rigoberto Uran.

Now, as a teenager he had to sell lottery tickets to help feed his family, and until a couple of years ago, that family slept on dirt floors. He could have stayed in Colombia where he could have ridden for his own victories, but unfortunately he went Europe where those nasty Europeans 'spoiled' him and made him ride for Valverde and Wiggins. Admittedly, he earned a lot of money and now his family now have a nice house and financial security, but is that really worth trading in the fleeting glory of a podium place in the Tour of Colombia?

You can't eat Palmares. Nor do they keep you warm at night.


One of my favourite cyclist's quotes is "This is my job, it's not a f***ing hobby". So many fans don't grasp that fact with their BS romantic idealism.

You site one example, but there are others where it is stated by a rider where they feel fortunate to get paid to do what they love to do, I think Tondo was a fine example of that. It is a wide spectrum of riders with varying attitudes about their profession.

 

[Nielsa]

the majority of cycling teams favour, to a greater or lesser extent, riders from their own country. This is a real problem, IMO, especially as the bias is shared by GT organisers in their distribution of wildcards.

Agree, and for example Antioquia would have been a so much better wildcard pick than freaking Saur-Sojasun. And with some WT teams sending their F-teams to the Vuelta and Giro...

I hope Henao and Urán will open some eyes. But I think it's a case of ignorance rather than outright racism towards Latin America. I don't buy the idea that everyone from Jonathan Vaughters to John Lelangue are racists who want to keep Colombians from succeeding in cycling.

 

[roundabout]

Agree, and for example Antioquia would have been a so much better wildcard pick than freaking Saur-Sojasun. And with some WT teams sending their F-teams to the Vuelta and Giro...

I hope Henao and Urán will open some eyes. But I think it's a case of ignorance rather than outright racism towards Latin America. I don't buy the idea that everyone from Jonathan Vaughters to John Lelangue are racists who want to keep Colombians from succeeding in cycling.

Open eyes?

Uran is very good but hardly an eye-opener. Henao is unproven.

I don't really see ignorance just because more Colombians aren't chased after by European teams.

 

[Duartista]

Open eyes?

Uran is very good but hardly an eye-opener. Henao is unproven.

I don't really see ignorance just because more Colombians aren't chased after by European teams.

I think it is more a question of sponsor interests than ignorance, but I doubt many teams take that much interest in what is going on in Colombia (though that is hopefully changing).

 

[Michele]

As reported on another topic, Sarmiento just signed with Liquigas who usually prefer italian/east european riders (due to sponsor reasons I guess).

 

[Escarabajo]

As reported on another topic, Sarmiento just signed with Liquigas who usually prefer italian/east european riders (due to sponsor reasons I guess).

Great. He is a good talent. He was with the best in the Fedaia stage in the Giro.

 

[Escarabajo]

I don't think there's a higher proportion of Brits on Team Sky than there is at Manchester United.

Yes, but that is one example. In its majority Duartista is right. Most teams favor riders from their own country. In cases where they find riders for a different and specific country is because they have a target business in that country, that's all.