Lame Sports

Brazilian Guy Wins Stage of US Cycling Race Few Knew Existed

By Carol Pearson

Many Americans probably find it hard to believe that an outdoor sport, such as cycling, has already started its season.  As a few die hard cycling fans may be aware, however, the 2008 Tour of California is currently going on and is set to end tomorrow.  There was an exciting sprint finish at the end of Stage 6 today, though. 

The riders sped toward the line and Mark Cavendish of Great Britain crossed the line first.  One would think, then that Cavendish would be the victor of the stage.  Instead, however, the race winner was none other than Brazil’s Luciano Pagliarini.

How did this happen?  It seems Cavendish, who races for the ironically named “Team High Road”, cheated a bit by hanging on to a car when he lost site of the main field and was trying to catch back up.  He was penalized by 20 seconds, putting him well behind the Pagliarini.  Most race watchers were slightly disappointed that the race was decided after the fact by a group of judges, but were relieved that Cavendish was not disqualified for drug use.

Marty Jones, an occasional cycling fan who stumbled upon the race accidentally while walking to his neighborhood grocery store, said, “While I think it would be amusing if a guy from a team called ‘High Road’ got disqualified for drug use, there is a bigger part of me that is grateful he just got penalized for letting a car do all the work for him.”

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