Handlebars down for Kiwi Brothers not in arms
In Belgium, Alex Revell is a sporting celebrity, while back home in New Zealand, few have even heard his name. Ben Stanley profiles a Kiwi competing in the bizarre world of cyclo-cross.
WHEN KIWIS think of Belgium, regular cliches pop into mind. Chocolate, waffles, Tintin, beer.
When Belgians think of New Zealand, the expected cliches largely crop up again. All Blacks, haka, Lord of the Rings, sheep.
And Alex Revell. Who? To any Kiwi who met him Down Under, Revell’s biggest talking point would likely be his big, bushy moustache – facial furniture you’d expect of an American Civil War soldier, or Africa- conquering Imperial explorer.
But to Belgians, he is something much more. The Wellington 28-year-old competes as a cyclist in the ranks of the country’s professional cyclo-cross league.
It’s a form of cycling that might not register for many sporting fans across the world – but one that drives Belgians absolutely bonkers, especially in the country’s northwestern province of Flanders.
‘‘It didn’t take long for people to recognise me racing. The moustache probably helped – and being a New Zealander too,’’ Revell said from Louisville, Kentucky, where he will compete in the UCI CycloCross World Championships this weekend.
‘‘The novelty of it all wasn’t lost on people. They’d never heard of a New Zealander racing cyclo-cross before, really. Everywhere I go now, people know who I am. It’s a real thing, it’s pretty unexpected stuff.’’ A literal combination of mountain-biking, road-racing and cross-country running, cyclo-cross is quite something to watch.
Riders take on courses that are a mix of hills, steps and flat stretches, and usually take between seven and nine minutes to finish. Competitors will usually
It didn’t take long for people to recognise me racing. The moustache probably helped – and being a New Zealander too.
Alex Revell
have to carry their bikes up the hills, while long muddy patches will ensure most are covered head to feet by the time the race is over.
During the race, the first lap time from the fastest rider sets how many laps will be done by the field in the allotted hour of the race.
Riders get eliminated if they fall behind the race leader by around four minutes, meaning only around 50% of starters actually finish events that start with around 60 elite riders.
Bikes are similar to road bikes, apart from fatter, knobbier tyres. These can be swapped in a race if, and when, breakdowns occur. Revell has not exactly lit Belgium on fire since he moved there last September. His first few races saw him finish towards the back of the field, leading local fans to jeer him, and mockingly calling him ‘‘Sven’’, after modern day cyclo- cross legend Sven Nys. Gradually Revell, the second Kiwi to compete in Belgium after mountain- biker Kashi Leuchs five years ago, improved, and now is a middle-of-the-pack finisher. Fan clubs sprang up in his, and his moustache’s, honour – and he is now known through the country for his impressive mouth merkin.
Images of fans with Revell’s name and moustache emblazoned on caps, umbrellas and jackets are a common sight on the side of the majority of races. He is now approached at supermarkets, airports, bars and restaurants Belgium-wide, thanks to his fame.
‘‘The place of a bicycle in society is pretty big over there,’’ he said. ‘‘Ever since the bike was invented 150 years ago, they’ve just loved it. For cyclo-cross, nothing much else goes on in winter, so people are happy to get out with a big jacket on and cheer. It’s a really good spectator sport, you get really close to the riders.’’ Cyclo- cross was introduced here by American cycle mechanic Mike Anderson, who settled in Wellington seven years ago.
Since then, the sport has been organised into a six-stop national series, and a national championship. A number of clubs have sprouted up around the country. Revell believes the sport has room to grow hugely in New Zealand, given the popularity of mountainbiking and multi-sport here.
‘‘I’m sure there are a lot more people that could get involved,’’ he said.
With Belgians filling around 30 of the top-50 cyclo-cross riders in the world, a top finish at the world champs is not likely from Revell, or fellow Kiwi Genevieve Whitson, originally from Palmerston North, but now living in Scotland.
Revell will head back to New Zealand following Louisville. Competing in Belgium has been a financial battle and he admits if he heads back next year, it won’t be for the full season. Heading to the United States, where the sport is also growing, is another option.
Revell knows he’s not the best – but recognises his own progress in a sport unfamiliar to most Kiwis.
‘‘I’m going as hard as I can, but it’s really difficult for me, because I’m not an elite Belgian, whose grown up with it for the last 20 years.
‘‘I think people appreciate that, and why they encourage me so much. The combination of being a foreigner and doing a foreign sport, and doing my best – and generally doing all right.’’ A NATIONAL Football League ( NFL) season where nothing seemed to follow the script has produced a classic Super Bowl encounter with a subplot fit for a Hollywood blockbuster.
Tomorrow’s game between the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens will be the first time in the Super Bowl’s 47 years that two brothers will go head-to-head for American football’s biggest prize, not on the field, on the sidelines.
John Harbaugh is Baltimore’s head coach and his counterpart with San Francisco is younger brother Jim. Born 15 months apart, the pair have been competing against each other all their lives.
‘‘ Anybody who has a brother, especially one that’s close in age, gets it,’’ John told the media contingent assembled ahead of tomorrow’s game in New Orleans.
‘‘You just grow up fighting for everything. You fight for the extra hotdog. You fight for girls. You fight for everything. We both got our girls, but we both want a victory this week.’’ Their sibling rivalry has dominated the build-up to a game that has been dubbed the Har-Bowl, and Jim, like his brother, was happy to talk about their childhood battles.
‘‘As to who won and who lost, I can’t remember. I have a hard time remembering what I did last Tuesday,’’ he said.
With a bit of luck, the brothers might have squared off in last year’s Super Bowl, but the Ravens and 49ers both lost in their respective conference championship deciders.
But fortune was on their side this season. Last year’s champions, the New York Giants, missed the playoffs and the 49ers easily saw off the Green Bay Packers, champions two years ago, in the divisional round at home, before erasing a 17-point deficit to beat the Atlanta Falcons for the NFC championship.
The Ravens looked a forlorn hope of making it to the Super Bowl when they lost four of their last five regular season games, but found their form when it mattered, surviving a double overtime nailbiter against the Denver Broncos, then upsetting the New England Patriots in the AFC decider.
Their amazing turnaround coincided with the return of their veteran linebacker Ray Lewis, who was most valuable player when the Ravens won their only Super Bowl back in 2000.
Lewis, the heart and soul of the franchise after 17 years with the Ravens, is retiring after the game. Doctors told him his career was already over when he tore his triceps during the regular season, but he defied the odds to make it back for one last shot at a second title.
‘‘The only thing on my mind is getting my team-mates to touch the Lombardi Trophy. The retirement will take care of itself,’’ Lewis said. ‘‘When the clock hits triple zeros, no matter what happens, that will be my last ride. There is no greater stage to do it on.’’ While Lewis has been the inspiration, quarterback Joe Flacco has been the architect of Baltimore’s stunning turnaround. Boasting one of the strongest arms in the game, he has found his targets in crucial moments, despite remaining one of the most underrated quarterbacks in the NFL.
‘‘I don’t know if I would say I’m dull, but I’m prob- ably close to it,’’ he told reporters.
No one is calling San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick boring. A fearless runner who kisses his heavily tattooed biceps whenever he passes for a touchdown or rushes for one himself, Kaepernick is enjoying a meteoric rise.
He started the season as the backup but did such a great job filling in for Alex Smith after a concussion that he kept the job and won an instant cult following.
‘‘Three months ago I could go anywhere,’’ he said. ‘‘Now it’s a little bit harder.’’ Kaepernick is already being compared to Steve Young and Joe Montana, San Francisco’s Hall of Fame quarterbacks from the team’s golden era in the 1980s and early 1990s.
The Niners won five Super Bowl titles in the period, just one short of the overall record held by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Ominously, they have never lost a Super Bowl, but this will be their first appearance in 18 years.
Las Vegas bookmakers have installed San Francisco as slight favourites, although none of the odds makers are predicting the 49ers will have it all their own way in the ‘‘Big Easy’’, the nickname for New Orleans.
The city is hosting the Super Bowl for the 10th time, but the first since the Louisiana Gulf Coast region was devastated in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina, which caused more than 1800 deaths, and billions of dollars in damage.
The city has been rebuilt and the Superdome, the venue for tomorrow’s game which had been a refuge for thousands who lost their homes during Katrina, has undergone major renovations in preparation for the Super Bowl.
Officials estimate the Super Bowl will inject US$434 million into the local economy and trigger another tourism boom. Tens of thousands of visiting NFL fans are expected to flock to the bars and clubs on Bourbon St in the city’s historic French Quarter, while an estimated worldwide audience of more than 160 million people will watch on television, as the greatest extravaganza in American sport becomes a real family affair.