Sigi's tips: The elbow mentality is back

Sigi Heinrich

In Japan, the Olympic Games would now be on the home stretch. Almost over, so to speak. However, the preparation for this major event was not easy. Next year I will – hopefully – be able to use my knowledge of the country and its people. Covid-19 will probably still exist and the virus will continue to influence how we interact with each other, although in Japan people have always placed great value on distance. Shaking hands as a greeting is not only considered indecent, but is also viewed as an invasion of privacy. And I've learned that you shouldn't look too deeply into the other person's face. Intrusive wonder is perceived as unpleasant. Of course, I will remember this and stick more closely to the new greeting technique. Bend your elbows and hold them up and then get to the enemy. That elbow, yes, it did it. A part of the body that has sometimes caused us a lot of trouble (tennis arm, “yips” in golf) has become a pillar of society. Shaking hands was a thing of the past and we rarely used “Hongi”, the Inuit nasal greeting. It's a shame, of course, that with the coronavirus we had to say goodbye to the wonderful French welcome. Four kisses, buttery soft and delicately breathed on the cheek (please start with the left), and with a bit of luck you could smell a seductive perfume. I always enjoyed being at our broadcasting headquarters in Paris. Horror crash overshadows tour of Poland I don't know of any special welcoming ceremonies from the Dutch. Before Corona, people simply shook hands in greeting, as was common practice. After all, a handshake can say a lot about a person. Of course, it should now be clear that the extended elbow will not have a great career in the Netherlands. He was badly abused. Not exactly for an assassination attempt, but at least for an action that he, the modern elbow of the pandemic, was no longer expected to carry out. During the Tour of Poland, Dylan Groenewegen pushed his compatriot Fabio Jakobsen into the barriers using his elbow during the finish sprint. The fall was so violent that one even had to fear for Jakobsen's life for a long time. (He's out of the woods now). Groenewegen also had to undergo surgery (broken collarbone). Other racers received medical treatment. A horror scenario that naturally caused a lot of excitement in the cycling scene. The statements culminated in the remark that this was an assassination attempt, which is of course nonsense. Sloping finish It was simply a process that is not that unusual. Cycling finishes after long flat stages with the best sprinters in the best positions are one of the highlights of every tour. And they are dangerous. In any case, it is surprising that falls occur relatively rarely and this is probably only thanks to the class of the riders. In the present case, the first stage of the Tour of Poland, the fact that things went downhill at the finish also accelerated the fall. The field fought for the best places and the prize money at speeds of more than 80 km/h. One elbow too many caused chaos. It hasn't been a good start for cycling in these strange times, when you might ride better if you didn't get in the saddle at all. Everyone now wants to catch up on everything they missed so far as quickly as possible. There is no longer any room for fair play and consideration. Every man for himself. And the elbow, which was on such a good path, loses its innocence and is back where it was before Corona.

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Sigi's tips: The elbow mentality is back

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